Comments on: Mostly Animals from the San Francisco Zoo

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 26 May 2011 18:52:55 +0000

Lisa,
I found your blog entry while looking online to see if the SF zoo has elephants. It is May, 2011. If you are still wondering if a zoo is “good fun or just plain mean”, look at “In Defense of Animals” website http://www.idausa.org. You will find exactly the information you are pondering. Hopefully, two years later, you have found your answer. Zoos are just plain mean.

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 06:40:42 +0000

When you were in Oz, you should have headed on down to Sydney. It too is a very old zoo, in the heart of Sydney, but there are very few “jailhouse” exhibits.

While animals in captivity may seem cruel. Some species in the wild are hunted almost to extinction, with the zoos being the only safe breeding habitat.

You know what’s ironic? Nearly every blog reply is from a guy! LOL

I happened upon this site by Googling images for n00b BTW.

AVC

By: Douglas King

Douglas King — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:07:37 +0000

I agree – Zoos and aquariums now seem like animal jails to me. I remember the day that my point of vie switched. I was at the Stanley Park Aquarium in Vancouver BC. I was looking at the Orcas and realized their dorsal fins were permanently warped from swimming in circles, because thats all hey could do in their cramped quarters.

I know that Zoos and aquariums help save endangered species. I also feel that its very important for young people to connect with nature and animals and for many the zoo is where this happens. If young people don’t connect with nature they won’t fight to protect habitat and then the zoo will be all that’s left.

By: Edwin

Edwin — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:59:26 +0000

If you’re ever in the San Diego area, then you have to check out the San Diego Wild Animal Park in Escondido,CA. That place is amazing!

It’s a 1800 acre wildlife sanctuary for over 3000+ animals. This place is not your typical “zoo” since most animals are “free” and in a natural environment.

Check out their amazing exhibits:
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/exhibits.html

They also have different tours to see the park and animals up close. Heck, they even have a Segway tour! One of these days, I’m going to do this.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:56:13 +0000

Lisa, I just finished watching a webinar on zoo photography and drifted from there to National Geographic’s website ( http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/admin/mt-search.cgi?tag=bird s&blog_id=59). Another good thing zoos do is a lot of work to save / restore threatened and endangered species. I’d say animal lovers should get involved in protecting animals and making sure our community zoos are properly funded to ensure that their occupants are well cared for and have appropriate facilities. (And btw, iPhone 3.0 rocks – now if I just accidentally drop my iPhone 3G in the toilet, I might have to replace it with an iPhone 3GS.)

By: Anthony Brown

Anthony Brown — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:47:31 +0000

Greg,

As I said earlier, zoos are non-profits – every dime that comes into the zoo, is put towards advancing the zoo’s mission, which is caring for its animals, connecting visitors to wildlife, and advancing conservation action.

Most zoos are very old (the San Francisco Zoo celebrates its 80th anniversary this year) and with that age, comes many exhibits that need to be renovated and/or improved. The most exciting thing about managing animals in captivity, is that there is more than just exhibit modifications that can improve an animals well-being!

As an animal care professional, I’ll tell you I’d much rather live at a zoo with a compassionate workforce who are always advancing husbandry, training, and enrichment programs, in an older exhibit, than some snazzy zoo exhibit where that emphasis isn’t as important.

If you think about the animals in most peoples lives, are the dogs and cats that live with really rich people, better off than the ones that live with the lower/middle class? Some of the happiest dogs I’ve seen live with homeless people (haha, I’m not endorsing homeless people have animals, and thats a whole different conversation, I’m just trying to stimulate a thought process).

–
Anthony Brown
Animal Keeper – Penguins
San Francisco Zoo

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:55:47 +0000

This is taking me away from playing with my new iPhone software (it took wayyyy long to download…) but,

I think zoos do help people to appreciate wildlife and turn a lot of people on to helping save some of the natural world so that there are still wild beasties. But zoos should give animals room to behave and they should create as natural an environment as possible. Old fashioned cramped cages are not cool. I’ve had a macaw for over 30 years – I feel for him / her. Hasn’t seen another macaw in all that time, doesn’t go outside, no sex, etc. Animals aren’t here for our entertainment.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:56:34 +0000

Wow what a discussion, as long as the animals are kept well I’m all good :)

By: Mostly Lisa

Mostly Lisa — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:29:51 +0000

@Anthony — thanks for that. it makes me feel better knowing there are people like you caring for these animals!

By: Anthony Brown

Anthony Brown — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:48:37 +0000

The mission from the San Francisco Zoo’s website:
“The San Francisco Zoo connects people with wildlife, inspires caring for nature and advances conservation action.”

The San Francisco Zoo (like most zoos) is a non-profit, whose sole purpose is to care for the animals it is home to, connect people with these amazing creatures, and help advance conservation action.

People tend to make the mistake of comparing zoos to prisons, when it’s actually more like club med for animals. Almost the entire collection at the San Francisco Zoo was born in captivity, or rescued from the wild.

I encourage you to learn more about what makes the zoo tick! If you have any questions about our zoo in particular, feel free to reach me at anthonyb[at]sfzoo.org

The video’s great, I’ll be re-tweeting it via the twitter.com/sfzoo account now!

–
Anthony Brown
Animal Keeper – Penguins
San Francisco Zoo