Hello comrades. I don't think I've ever posted a particular question on this site but I've been thinking a lot recently about zoos. Specifically should they exist? Are they a good idea to have them while the world is being destroyed by capitalism? Should they exist after the revolution?

  • jack [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I'm a firm zoo defender. You can say "nature preserves" all day, but until you have a system that enables large scale, uninterrupted reserves backed by governments that give a shit, critically endangered animals need a place to survive. That's what zoos are. They're arks.

    Read Stationary Arkby Gerald Durrel, the guy who formulated this idea, to learn more. There is plenty to be critiqued about zoos, but they are enormously valuable for conservation.

    • joebidensexappeal [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Disagree, the only reserves of value for animals are nature reserves. We shouldn't bring animals to where they wouldn't naturally be, we should seek to exterminate invasive species, we should even try to end the concept of owning a pet cat or dog and try to reintroduce them into the wild.

      • jack [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Idealism, top to bottom, and a fundamental misunderstanding of what resources are currently available to conservationists, what zoos do, and what animal domestication is.

        I mean, imagine saying we need to exterminate invasive species but also that pets need to be "reintroduced" to the wild (the dogs would starve and the cats would be an awful invasive species as they already are in many places).