Harambe documentary

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Erik E. Crown said:
Sadly, their gorilla program offers nothing to gorillas in the wild, except for under 1% of the gross revenue that they contribute. But breeding sentient beings for ticket sales of zoo babies is a cruel practice that should be stopped. As we evolve so should our relationship to animals.
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Just out of curiosity, where did you get that information about 1% of gross revenue contributing to gorilla conservation in the wild? Are you referring to Cincinnati or just zoos in general? Also, bear in mind that most AZA zoos (including Cincinnati) are non for profit institutions and much of their income goes toward the care and upkeep of animals.
 
I don’t really know what I find funnier: A movie that takes ideologue actors as experts or people trying to challenge the worldview of the director of said movie, who sounds like he is determined to continue thinking that zoos are gorilla mills and won’t seem to change their mind anytime soon.
 
PossumRoach said:
I don’t really know what I find funnier: A movie that takes ideologue actors as experts or people trying to challenge the worldview of the director of said movie, who sounds like he is determined to continue thinking that zoos are gorilla mills and won’t seem to change their mind anytime soon.
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For me, it's just getting the information out there. I didn't wish to be snarky on my end (because A, it's not worth it and B, I wished to invite genuine discussion) but if there's none to be had, then that's that.
 
StoppableSan said:
  • Loud noises all day: I can agree to an extent, which is why zoos employ measures like acoustic tiles (National's Ape House) or carpeting to soften the noise from guests. Foliage as utilized in zoos like Bronx, Sedgwick County and North Carolina also help. I do think zoos should have docents to "shush" visitors.
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Most zoos use soundproof glass in Ape House design. If you go 'behind the scenes' on the gorilla side you'll find the noise is muffled, often to almost nothing. Of course that doesnt include people who insist on banging the glass or using flash. But gorillas usually turn their backs or use 'hidy' places if they want to escape attention. Visitor Noise always seems worse in indoor areas, perhaps because people are more excited by close proximity with the gorillas. Outside they are more distant and don't usually cause quite such a reaction.
 
PossumRoach said:
I don’t really know what I find funnier: A movie that takes ideologue actors as experts or people trying to challenge the worldview of the director of said movie, who sounds like he is determined to continue thinking that zoos are gorilla mills and won’t seem to change their mind anytime soon.
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The way I see internet debates like this, they aren't to convince the person obviously stuck in their position, they're to persuade and inform other more neutral viewers who may come across a page like this on their own at some later time.
 
StoppableSan said:
Agreed, it's called the following:
  • Recycling your old cellphones so the Congo doesn't continuously get strip-mined for coltan.
  • Donating to the Dian Fossey Foundation.
  • Visiting reputable zoos that genuinely care for their animals, which is most if not all AZA zoos.
  • *not* pushing a seemingly one-sided, anthropomorphizing documentary on a beyond unfortunate situation.
To address your individual points:
  • Loud noises all day: I can agree to an extent, which is why zoos employ measures like acoustic tiles (National's Ape House) or carpeting to soften the noise from guests. Foliage as utilized in zoos like Bronx, Sedgwick County and North Carolina also help. I do think zoos should have docents to "shush" visitors.
  • Bad diets: this point makes no sense. Diets have DRASTICALLY improved and continue to improve. When I read "Hey Mister, Your Alligator's Loose!" by Gary Clarke and "The Stationary Ark" by Gerald Durrell, they both highlighted how zoo diets have drastically improved to benefit animal health. Before, the mentality was just to feed an animal enough to survive. Nowadays, varied diets and pellets from companies like Zupreem and Mazuri have eradicated any malaise an animal would get from an otherwise nutritionally deficient diet. If an animal's coat is shiny and their eyes are bright, that's one indicator that an animal is doing well in a zoo setting. Zoos have also been open about what they feed their animals, all you gotta do is ask.
  • Hot wire on trees: no hotwire, no trees. Great apes are incredibly heavy, incredibly intelligent and incredibly destructive. Philadelphia allows their gibbons and orangutans access to live trees, and once the sycamore trees in the gorilla exhibit are better established (which they have been establishing over the past 12-14 years), the hotwire'll be taken off of those. Leipzig Zoo has a good system where they "rotate" which trees their great apes have access to in order to allow the remaining trees time to regenerate. Kansas City's chimpanzee exhibit (to my knowledge) has ZERO hotwire, though the exhibit is also three acres.
  • Life in "small cage nighthouses" - have you seen Zoo Atlanta's ape nighthouses? Or Bronx's gorilla nighthouse? Or Auckland Zoo's orangutan facility? Or Los Angeles' chimp penthouse? (Which was praised by Jane Goodall as one of the best chimpanzee facilities in the world). Zoos have animals in nighthouses to A, give the plants in the exhibit time to breathe and B, keep the animals safe at night or especially during bad weather. That said, zoos are now allowing animals the choice to go between their night quarters, dayrooms or outside exhibits at night, though the latter usually means beefed-up security.
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At least at Toledo Zoo, there were docents who've helped to control volume levels for certain sensitive species and situations (most recently with Kirk, the baby African Elephant that was born recently).
 
Erik E. Crown said:
Sadly, their gorilla program offers nothing to gorillas in the wild, except for under 1% of the gross revenue that they contribute. But breeding sentient beings for ticket sales of zoo babies is a cruel practice that should be stopped. As we evolve so should our relationship to animals.
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I feel it's important to point out that this post implies that breeding is not a natural behavior that occurs in wild gorillas to begin with, but something the shadowy figures at Big Zoo have introduced so they can maintain their "under 1% of gross revenue" ticket sales, and further implies that the active prevention of breeding (a natural behavior in the wild) is somehow more ethical for the animals' own welfare than allowing it.
 
TheFrogLady said:
At least at Toledo Zoo, there were docents who've helped to control volume levels for certain sensitive species and situations (most recently with Kirk, the baby African Elephant that was born recently).
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They named an African Elephant, Kirk?
I want to buy a baby name book for every zoo. Would it really be so hard to name each newborn something from the area from which the species originates? Case in point a giraffe, Mshangao (surprise) was transferred to the Bronx zoo for breeding. A donor sponsored him and wanted his name changed to Jigsaw. I understand the importance of donors, but really? Is "Kirk" sponsored by William Shatner or just a millionaire trekkie?
 
A MermaidNamedMiranda said:
They named an African Elephant, Kirk?
I want to buy a baby name book for every zoo. Would it really be so hard to name each newborn something from the area from which the species originates? Case in point a giraffe, Mshangao (surprise) was transferred to the Bronx zoo for breeding. A donor sponsored him and wanted his name changed to Jigsaw. I understand the importance of donors, but really? Is "Kirk" sponsored by William Shatner or just a millionaire trekkie?
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At the very least, Kirk's dik-dik was definitely named by someone who didn't have a good relationship with Shatner.
 
A MermaidNamedMiranda said:
They named an African Elephant, Kirk?
I want to buy a baby name book for every zoo. Would it really be so hard to name each newborn something from the area from which the species originates? Case in point a giraffe, Mshangao (surprise) was transferred to the Bronx zoo for breeding. A donor sponsored him and wanted his name changed to Jigsaw. I understand the importance of donors, but really? Is "Kirk" sponsored by William Shatner or just a millionaire trekkie?
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It’s short for Kirkwood, a place in South Africa with a dense elephant population (not the Captain Kirk of Star Trek fame :p)
 
If anyone is looking for a good comedy I would highly recommend the movie, haven't laughed like that in a long time. Biggest take away for those who don't want to watch it (Don't blame you at all) is the Cincinnati Zoo is a evil company that has control over the entire city and keeps hundreds of animals in tiny cages behind the scenes :rolleyes:. Not sure if any facts were used in the making of this on a serious note but that's okay right? Regardless it's probably better we give it as little publicity as possible to not spread this piece of false information but I will give credit to the director for creating this piece of golden comedy.
 
Jonathan Petersson said:
If anyone is looking for a good comedy I would highly recommend the movie, haven't laughed like that in a long time. Biggest take away for those who don't want to watch it (Don't blame you at all) is the Cincinnati Zoo is a evil company that has control over the entire city and keeps hundreds of animals in tiny cages behind the scenes :rolleyes:. Not sure if any facts were used in the making of this on a serious note but that's okay right? Regardless it's probably better we give it as little publicity as possible to not spread this piece of false information but I will give credit to the director for creating this piece of golden comedy.
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Is it just as misleading as Blackfish was?
 
TheFrogLady said:
Is it just as misleading as Blackfish was?
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I would say it is even more misleading. Blackfish did present some factual evidence about SeaWorld and the captivity of marine mammals (even though a lot of it is false), but this documentary is trying to create drama and make up situations that have never occurred. It's trying to make something large and scary out of a one-time situation. For example, they visit the fire station in Avondale near the zoo and ask them to speak about Harambe. The fire station directs them to talk to the zoo about the death of Harambe, and then it is claimed that the zoo is some big evil power that is keeping everyone quiet about the death of Harambe. I think the main guy that was interviewed put it best: "I am the only man in the city of Cincinnati that is looking into the death of Harambe," as frankly there is no big money scheme or fraud to look into. A tragic situation happened, and the zoo had to take drastic measures to ensure the safety of a child.
 
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