Group Shows Cruelty of Zoos Has No Boarders: Protests at Manila Zoo

Good article for a couple of reasons. One, it shows the movement exposing zoos in crossing oceans and boarders. And two, it gives a few good insights as to why zoos are bad. Here’s a quick quote from the article below:

“Animals in the wild spend their entire lives with their close-knit families. But animals in zoos are separated from their families as babies and are sentenced to an eternity of boredom, crippling loneliness, and even abuse, leading to self-mutilation and other abnormal and self-destructive behaviors, called “zoochosis.”” Here is a definition of zoochosis - http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zoochosis.htm

Article:

Animal rights group bats for freedom of zoo creatures

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2006/06/
06/feat/animal.rights.
group.bats.for.freedom.of.zoo.creatures.html

WEARING prison suits and monkey masks and holding a banner and signs that read “Zoos: Cruel Animal Prisons,” members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia-Pacific will protest outside the Manila Zoo. The protest comes as Filipinos prepare to mark their 108th year of independence from Spanish colonizers on June 12, and Peta is urging the first democracy in Asia to again lead the way by becoming the first zoo-free country in the region:

Why is Peta in an uproar? Animals in the wild spend their entire lives with their close-knit families. But animals in zoos are separated from their families as babies and are sentenced to an eternity of boredom, crippling loneliness, and even abuse, leading to self-mutilation and other abnormal and self-destructive behaviors, called “zoochosis.”

“Zoos claim to educate people and preserve species, but they fall short on both counts,” says Peta Asia-Pacific Campaigns Manager Rochelle Regodon. “Zoos present us with a distorted view of wildlife. Even the biggest zoo is nothing compared to the vastness of the wild. Visitors don’t see normal animal behavior because their natural needs—space, exercise, privacy, and mental stimulation —aren’t met. We’re better off watching nature documentaries, reading about animals in books or on Web sites, or traveling to their natural habitats.”

The Manila Zoo has an elephant isolated in a concrete enclosure with little grass. Elephants can walk up to 48 kilometers every day in the wild—but the entire zoo measures 5.5 hectares, or 0.055 square kilometers.

“Animals in zoos are serving a lifetime sentence with no parole,” says Regodon. “Let’s just leave them in the wild and use zoos as sanctuaries for animals rescued from circuses, marine parks, and other exploitative forms of entertainment.”

Peta Asia-Pacific is an affiliate of Peta, the world’s largest animal rights organization, with more than 1 million members and supporters worldwide.