I thought exactly the same when I watched Our Zoo the other week, such a huge shame. I would have loved a second series especially as George brought in a Lion at the very end. The second series could have been set from the start of WW2 or something.
Chester Zoo Chester Zoo Discussion and questions 2023
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I thought exactly the same when I watched Our Zoo the other week, such a huge shame. I would have loved a second series especially as George brought in a Lion at the very end. The second series could have been set from the start of WW2 or something.
You are not alone, I was also gutted.
Is it just me, or does anti-zoo propaganda generally reek of elitism?
Lafone
Well-Known Member
The problem with the article and indeed the born free video it’s about is it uses examples from nothing more recent than 2000 and most of it concerns the 1960s or 1970s. The born free video is about an elephant who died let alone was kept many years ago.
Most people would agree there was some poor practice in zoos years ago, what the article does is distort / ignore any change.
If the Guardian wrote a comparable article on almost any subject and acknowledged nothing from the last 20 odd years it would be just as invalid. That they don’t (imagine an article on other social issues such as racism in the U.K. where the entire base of evidence was from 1970) suggests this ‘opinion’ piece on zoos was just lazily written. It’s the token ‘support a good cause’ article and the journalist plainly couldn’t care less.
The comments are interestingly balanced and many are pro zoo or at least pointing out the ancient anecdotes in the article itself are indeed ancient.
Can’t see anything ‘elitist’ in it myself it just looks like the journalist googled ‘born free says zoos bad’ and summarised their views based on practice from a different time.
On this occasion the Guardian isn’t educational and has constructed fiction. But mostly that’s what newspapers do.
No, it's definitely elitist. Note the description of absolutely everybody who visits zoos - poor stupid people, not like the rich clever people who read the Guardian - as 'sociopaths.' It's an article by and for Good People Who Think Good Things.
yes agree with you it uses outdated examples that anyone who has visited a modern zoo would know
It’s definitely not a balanced article, I subscribe to the Guardian but this is the worst article that I have seen from them that I can remember
The author states that animals are better off and happier in the wild , in an ideal world this is true but unfortunately in the modern world zoos are nessersary to educate and do conservation work as a regular visitor to UK zoos like most here i see the conservation work that zoos do
Even locally in the UK they (Chester zoo) have helped by breeding and releasing rare butterflies back into restored habitat.
Worth noting in the Guardian's defence that the 'Comment is Free' strand this article is part of is regularly used for opinion pieces a long way from the paper's own editorial policy and even in direct conflict with it - it's basically an intentional 'free speech' section you enter at your peril..!
Lafone
Well-Known Member
It’s definitely lecturing in tone. These oped pieces are normally a bit trash and this one is that. I expect a bit more from the Observer but this journalist is ex Times and their op-eds are usually just pokey stick nonsense.
I don’t think sociopaths are poor by implication from this article however, though isn’t it nice to know everyone here is one!
Lafone
Well-Known Member
Yes it’s a good point that op-Ed’s are usually like this. Though this writer really lays it on.
I can translate
Carinotetraodon tranvacorius = Malabar dwarf puffer fish, one of my favourite species.
Wild-caught or captive bred? While I have seen some captive bred, 100% of available animals by traders are still wild-caught (there is legal export quota for this species so it´s not illegal to trade them).
Strathmorezoo
Well-Known Member
Any series about zoos are OK with me
I know that this species is not too hard to breed, because I have done it: the pair in the photo above are spawning. But they are not prolific.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Apologies if I have missed something, but might I ask what these enclosures hold, and are they part of an upcoming development or will they remain offshow?