Quote:
Originally Posted by andy97
Agreed. Sad places.
The Born Free foundation is based there too. And re-homes big cats that have had to be removed from zoos or from a life as exotic pets or from circuses. Sadly they usually have to be kept in a separate large area of the park to be looked after as they cannot usually look after themselves after the life they have been treated to.
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Andy, do you know if the Foundation compares life spans between the always wild animals and the freed-from-zoos arrivals?
I read that the typical life of a wild male lion is about 13yrs.
The allegedly timid one recently shot dead at the wildlife centre in the USA was, reportedly, 14 years old. A comparable period of life.
If the animals in a protected environment generally live longer (and presumably healthier) lives it presents some sort of moral dilemma about whether they should be cared for or should be left to fight things out with their peers and other animals in a wild environment.
Obviously it is just a human dilemma since the other animals are unlikely to care much one way or the other - except for competitive males of the same species who no doubt care greatly about the presence of a potentially competing male.