Counterpoint: under capitalism the only way to fund a large animal medicine and rehabilitation facility is by charging admission for people to look at the animals.
Basically I agree that in a just world there's no reason for a zoo to exist but in this hell-like society i can't imagine another way to have the research and medical portion exist. Now I'm having an internal debate over whether the medical and research parts justify the zoo parts so I'm just gonna hit post
We can't even handle stray/unwanted cats and dogs, even though that's a serious problem we encounter every day. Zoos and aquariums do a lot of work with research and rehabilitation of animals. Cheetahs and white rhinos would have gone extinct by now if it weren't for zoos (though white rhinos are down to two females left in the world).
It's really shitty how animals have suffered dire consequences for human behavior. And humans won't even change the system to help our own pets, let alone our own species. Zoos charging admission for people to see something educational for the animals' benefit isn't a problem in the grand scheme of things.
Note: this only applies to accredited zoos and aquariums. There are non-research/rehabilitation facilities run strictly for profit, though they're becoming rarer as more governments around the world pass laws against them.
Counterpoint: under capitalism the only way to fund a large animal medicine and rehabilitation facility is by charging admission for people to look at the animals.
Basically I agree that in a just world there's no reason for a zoo to exist but in this hell-like society i can't imagine another way to have the research and medical portion exist. Now I'm having an internal debate over whether the medical and research parts justify the zoo parts so I'm just gonna hit post
We can't even handle stray/unwanted cats and dogs, even though that's a serious problem we encounter every day. Zoos and aquariums do a lot of work with research and rehabilitation of animals. Cheetahs and white rhinos would have gone extinct by now if it weren't for zoos (though white rhinos are down to two females left in the world).
It's really shitty how animals have suffered dire consequences for human behavior. And humans won't even change the system to help our own pets, let alone our own species. Zoos charging admission for people to see something educational for the animals' benefit isn't a problem in the grand scheme of things.
Note: this only applies to accredited zoos and aquariums. There are non-research/rehabilitation facilities run strictly for profit, though they're becoming rarer as more governments around the world pass laws against them.