West Midland Safari and Leisure Park West mid
- Thread starter KJ
- Start date
So they now have three ??? cant they be housed where the other one is ???
taun
Well-Known Member
Finally, have they had to move any other out to make room for them?
Okay last time i went (summer) they had at least 5ish cheetahs some of which were quite young. they had two amur leopards in the discovery area. the cheetahs are in a drive thru exhibit (there were tow enclosures for the cheetahs), before the african wild dogs.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
At last does this mean they have moved on some other Tigers to another poor un-suspecting zoo for them to suddenly take them back.
taun
Well-Known Member
Breeding programme directors dont really have a say in what happens in zoos & safari parks. Most will adhere to the recommendation, other will bend the recommendations a little and others will ignore them
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Most will adhere to the recommendation, other will bend the recommendations a little and others will ignore them
That's just it, they are only 'recommendations'. They can't enforce them.
Whats the point of having these directors if zoos and safari parks are either going to bend recommendations to their will or just plain ignore them?? At the end of the day they are their to help keep a varied gene pool in the animals that are in captivity so as if anything happens to the wild population the animals may be viable for re-introduction. If these places aren't going to help do this then maybe the likes of Born Free have been right all along and keeping animals in captivity is pointless. I know its maybe a bold statement to make but surely if these places are thinking about their financial future rather than the particular species future on this planet then as an animal lover i'd rather the creatures were in the wild rather than adding a few more zeroes onto a financial report at a zoo/ safari park. Yes without zoos/ safari parks the likes of the Pere Davids Deer and the Przewalski's (pardon my spelling) horse would be extinct but those were times when money didn't make the world go round and there were a few decent people that saw what was happening and wanted to preserve them. I do acknowledge though that the number of zoos aimed at saving the creatures do outweigh those that are out to make a profit but still it just angers me 
taun
Well-Known Member
The problem Bobby_21 is that without money zoos cannot exist. Plus 90% of zoos use some of this money to protect the species it cares for in the wild.
Most zoos do adhere to the recommendations, however WMSP has a few species that are not part of a breeding program and therefore can breed this animals willie nilly and therefore like with there normal coloured "bengal" tigers they have little space for them because they want to keep white tigers, as it draws more visitors in.
WMSP is bad example for this, as I dont like how most safari parks operate.
Although zoo have taken on this new important role in helping save endangered animals by in-situ projects and captive back up problems, there are for a lot of people just entertainment some where to go for a nice day out.
Most zoos do adhere to the recommendations, however WMSP has a few species that are not part of a breeding program and therefore can breed this animals willie nilly and therefore like with there normal coloured "bengal" tigers they have little space for them because they want to keep white tigers, as it draws more visitors in.
WMSP is bad example for this, as I dont like how most safari parks operate.
Although zoo have taken on this new important role in helping save endangered animals by in-situ projects and captive back up problems, there are for a lot of people just entertainment some where to go for a nice day out.
There's always been a huge gulf between Safari parks and more conventional zoos. All are commercial concerns but most zoos are nowadays heavily involved in animal conservation as well as exhibition, Safari Parks are simply money-makers.
Some Safari Parks are now begining to exhibit rarer species and may be slowly moving into 'conservation' sphere too but its a slow process. When I visited West Midlands recently it looked little different toa 1960's Safari Park- the same crude indoor/winter housing and basic enclosures- though the species lists both here and elsewhere are increasingly impressive.
Also I'm surprised the RSPCA haven't had anything to say about the Hippo Lake at WMSP, they are living in filthy black foetid water and the housing and land areas are extremely basic too.
taun
Well-Known Member
Also I'm surprised the RSPCA haven't had anything to say about the Hippo Lake at WMSP, they are living in filthy black foetid water and the housing and land areas are extremely basic too.
True it is an awful enclosure. The land area also being way too small for the size of the hers they have.
I'm actually surprised they can live in that water without being poisoned by it. The RSPCA would be quick to complain if it was a dog's water bowl, but not for a herd of hippos apparently...