Lynx Loose In Atlanta Captured; Neighbors Unhappy

Marina wrote:

...all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise...

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

Well, I'm glad you posted that, it was very interesting reading. And it's
heartening to know that so many zoos are involved in breeding species that
are endangered in the wild - in the hope that someday, people will get
their priorities straight and there will be livable habitats for their
descendants to go back to.

Thanks,
Joyce

Marina wrote:

...all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise...

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

Well, I'm glad you posted that, it was very interesting reading. And it's
heartening to know that so many zoos are involved in breeding species that
are endangered in the wild - in the hope that someday, people will get
their priorities straight and there will be livable habitats for their
descendants to go back to.

Thanks,
Joyce

Marina wrote:

...all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise...

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

Well, I'm glad you posted that, it was very interesting reading. And it's
heartening to know that so many zoos are involved in breeding species that
are endangered in the wild - in the hope that someday, people will get
their priorities straight and there will be livable habitats for their
descendants to go back to.

Thanks,
Joyce

wrote in message
...
Marina wrote:

...all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise...

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

Well, I'm glad you posted that, it was very interesting reading. And it's
heartening to know that so many zoos are involved in breeding species that
are endangered in the wild - in the hope that someday, people will get
their priorities straight and there will be livable habitats for their
descendants to go back to.

Thanks,
Joyce

Our local zoo, Burnet Park Zoo, in Syracuse, New York, US, has a captive
breeding program for endangered species. They just announced in the paper
that they have a new set of Lion Tamarin twins, and they have had a
successful elephant breeding program for years. One of the male elephants
born here was sent to England to participate in the breeding program set up
there! I echo Joyce's sentiment about there being a place for them to go
back to, though the way things are going, it may be a long time before
anyone sees it!

Patti

wrote in message
...
Marina wrote:

...all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise...

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

Well, I'm glad you posted that, it was very interesting reading. And it's
heartening to know that so many zoos are involved in breeding species that
are endangered in the wild - in the hope that someday, people will get
their priorities straight and there will be livable habitats for their
descendants to go back to.

Thanks,
Joyce

Our local zoo, Burnet Park Zoo, in Syracuse, New York, US, has a captive
breeding program for endangered species. They just announced in the paper
that they have a new set of Lion Tamarin twins, and they have had a
successful elephant breeding program for years. One of the male elephants
born here was sent to England to participate in the breeding program set up
there! I echo Joyce's sentiment about there being a place for them to go
back to, though the way things are going, it may be a long time before
anyone sees it!

Patti

wrote in message
...
Marina wrote:

...all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise...

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

Well, I'm glad you posted that, it was very interesting reading. And it's
heartening to know that so many zoos are involved in breeding species that
are endangered in the wild - in the hope that someday, people will get
their priorities straight and there will be livable habitats for their
descendants to go back to.

Thanks,
Joyce

Our local zoo, Burnet Park Zoo, in Syracuse, New York, US, has a captive
breeding program for endangered species. They just announced in the paper
that they have a new set of Lion Tamarin twins, and they have had a
successful elephant breeding program for years. One of the male elephants
born here was sent to England to participate in the breeding program set up
there! I echo Joyce's sentiment about there being a place for them to go
back to, though the way things are going, it may be a long time before
anyone sees it!

Patti

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 08:05:16 +0300, "Marina"
wrote:

This may be true for some private zoos, which IMO should be made illegal
everywhere. However, all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise. There are
programmes and contracts that cover zoos all over the world, in which many
endangered species are bred, and their gene pool is maintained so that it is
varied enough (i.e. no inbreeding, this is why zoos exchange animals
systematically). All this is very expensive, of course, so getting a lot of
visitors is certainly one goal. Of the animals in one of these reputable
zoos, some 90-95% were born in captivity, and would hardly be able to make
it in the wild. The 5-10% that were not are animals that have been found in
the wild, hurt or injured in some way that they cannot make it in the wild
any longer.

As an example, I could mention the sea eagle that was found near our summer
island one autumn. Some idiot had shot its wing full of buckshot. Sea eagles
are a protected species here. The eagle was taken to the Helsinki City Zoo
(where my sister works) and nursed back to health, but it will never fly
again, because the wing was too badly damaged. However, this female eagle
has had a number of eaglets, who have been planted back out in the wild to
improve the population of sea eagles. This species was near to extinction in
the 60s-70s, but is well on its way to recovery by now. I don't have the
exact figures, but they are really doing well. Of course, it's not just
thanks to this one eagle and her mate, it has taken a lot of other things,
like feeding the eagles in winter and guarding their nests against
intruders, but zoos can do very valuable work, too. It's not necessarily
just a money-maker.

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

A sad but true fact is that many more species would be extinct had it
not been for zoos. I went to school in San Diego, California, until
the fourth grade, and at the time we made annual field trips to the
San Diego zoo. Great learning experience for anyone, but invaluable
for exposing kids to both the animals and conservation efforts. For a
while my childhood dream was to become a zoo vet.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

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Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
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On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 08:05:16 +0300, "Marina"
wrote:

This may be true for some private zoos, which IMO should be made illegal
everywhere. However, all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise. There are
programmes and contracts that cover zoos all over the world, in which many
endangered species are bred, and their gene pool is maintained so that it is
varied enough (i.e. no inbreeding, this is why zoos exchange animals
systematically). All this is very expensive, of course, so getting a lot of
visitors is certainly one goal. Of the animals in one of these reputable
zoos, some 90-95% were born in captivity, and would hardly be able to make
it in the wild. The 5-10% that were not are animals that have been found in
the wild, hurt or injured in some way that they cannot make it in the wild
any longer.

As an example, I could mention the sea eagle that was found near our summer
island one autumn. Some idiot had shot its wing full of buckshot. Sea eagles
are a protected species here. The eagle was taken to the Helsinki City Zoo
(where my sister works) and nursed back to health, but it will never fly
again, because the wing was too badly damaged. However, this female eagle
has had a number of eaglets, who have been planted back out in the wild to
improve the population of sea eagles. This species was near to extinction in
the 60s-70s, but is well on its way to recovery by now. I don't have the
exact figures, but they are really doing well. Of course, it's not just
thanks to this one eagle and her mate, it has taken a lot of other things,
like feeding the eagles in winter and guarding their nests against
intruders, but zoos can do very valuable work, too. It's not necessarily
just a money-maker.

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

A sad but true fact is that many more species would be extinct had it
not been for zoos. I went to school in San Diego, California, until
the fourth grade, and at the time we made annual field trips to the
San Diego zoo. Great learning experience for anyone, but invaluable
for exposing kids to both the animals and conservation efforts. For a
while my childhood dream was to become a zoo vet.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 08:05:16 +0300, "Marina"
wrote:

This may be true for some private zoos, which IMO should be made illegal
everywhere. However, all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise. There are
programmes and contracts that cover zoos all over the world, in which many
endangered species are bred, and their gene pool is maintained so that it is
varied enough (i.e. no inbreeding, this is why zoos exchange animals
systematically). All this is very expensive, of course, so getting a lot of
visitors is certainly one goal. Of the animals in one of these reputable
zoos, some 90-95% were born in captivity, and would hardly be able to make
it in the wild. The 5-10% that were not are animals that have been found in
the wild, hurt or injured in some way that they cannot make it in the wild
any longer.

As an example, I could mention the sea eagle that was found near our summer
island one autumn. Some idiot had shot its wing full of buckshot. Sea eagles
are a protected species here. The eagle was taken to the Helsinki City Zoo
(where my sister works) and nursed back to health, but it will never fly
again, because the wing was too badly damaged. However, this female eagle
has had a number of eaglets, who have been planted back out in the wild to
improve the population of sea eagles. This species was near to extinction in
the 60s-70s, but is well on its way to recovery by now. I don't have the
exact figures, but they are really doing well. Of course, it's not just
thanks to this one eagle and her mate, it has taken a lot of other things,
like feeding the eagles in winter and guarding their nests against
intruders, but zoos can do very valuable work, too. It's not necessarily
just a money-maker.

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

A sad but true fact is that many more species would be extinct had it
not been for zoos. I went to school in San Diego, California, until
the fourth grade, and at the time we made annual field trips to the
San Diego zoo. Great learning experience for anyone, but invaluable
for exposing kids to both the animals and conservation efforts. For a
while my childhood dream was to become a zoo vet.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

"Marina" wrote in message ...
"Crdamz" wrote in
I really have mixed feelings about zoos, too. The fact is, zoos use
baby
animals to draw in the public and increase proceeds---but when those
animals
grow up and they don't draw the crowds in anymore, they are likely to be
sold
to other, less scrupulous venues where they won't be well cared for and
become
targets for abuse.

This may be true for some private zoos, which IMO should be made illegal
everywhere. However, all respectable zoos carry out very valuable work in
promoting species that would be facing extinction otherwise. There are
programmes and contracts that cover zoos all over the world, in which many
endangered species are bred, and their gene pool is maintained so that it is
varied enough (i.e. no inbreeding, this is why zoos exchange animals
systematically). All this is very expensive, of course, so getting a lot of
visitors is certainly one goal. Of the animals in one of these reputable
zoos, some 90-95% were born in captivity, and would hardly be able to make
it in the wild. The 5-10% that were not are animals that have been found in
the wild, hurt or injured in some way that they cannot make it in the wild
any longer.

As an example, I could mention the sea eagle that was found near our summer
island one autumn. Some idiot had shot its wing full of buckshot. Sea eagles
are a protected species here. The eagle was taken to the Helsinki City Zoo
(where my sister works) and nursed back to health, but it will never fly
again, because the wing was too badly damaged. However, this female eagle
has had a number of eaglets, who have been planted back out in the wild to
improve the population of sea eagles. This species was near to extinction in
the 60s-70s, but is well on its way to recovery by now. I don't have the
exact figures, but they are really doing well. Of course, it's not just
thanks to this one eagle and her mate, it has taken a lot of other things,
like feeding the eagles in winter and guarding their nests against
intruders, but zoos can do very valuable work, too. It's not necessarily
just a money-maker.

Wow, better get off the soapbox now.

I agree with you that many zoos are now performing a role in
preserving endangered species and that's a good thing, although one
wishes it wasn't necessary. I do seem to recall hearing of some
private (in the sense of not being funded by a government) zoos that
engage in this effort, although that's just a vague recolllection on
my part.

Looking on the web, I found
(http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/6187722.htm)that the
Candadian Lynx is listed as a "threatened species" by the US Interior
Department, which is one step under an "endangered" speciees. There
were about 800 of them in the continental US a few years ago when
efforts were made to reintroduce more of them into the wild in the
Rocky Mountains. This effort has had some success. The main problem
for the Canandian lynx has been enroachment of its native habitat by
civilization (no big surprise).

Obviously, the guy involved here is just engaged in a business,
although it might some unintended positive side benefit in terms of
preserving the species if he avoids inbreeding.

I felt sorry for the one that got loose when I read that he was
apparently hanging around homes because he was looking to be fed.
He's probably incapable of fending for himself in the wild at this
point in his life but being a wild animal he can't really be a
someone's pet.