Jane Goodall Shares Thoughts On Chimps In Zoos
Written by Vegetarian Star on February 21st, 2011 in Animal Issues.
Can zoos effectively keep animals healthy and thriving as if they were living in their natural habitats? Do the benefits of education outweigh the consequences of removing them from the wild?
Animal advocates and experts constantly debate this, and Jane Goodall recently shared her thoughts on chimpanzees living in confined conditions.
The wild is by far the most natural way of living for a chimp, but according to Goodall, it may not be the protected sanctuary activists are so willing to label it.
Chimps, like other animals, are hunted by man and their habitats are being destroyed for logging and other man-made actions. But Goodall does feel there are good zoos that can give these creatures a safe home.
It depends on the zoo. I’ve just been getting horror reports on some chimpanzees in third-world zoos which make me shiver. But there are still roadside zoos in the United States that make me shiver. Quite honestly when people ask me, I say to think about the various situations in which chimpanzees could live. It can be the best of all places in the wild that are protected, like Gombe. Then there’s lots of other wilderness areas, but unless the chimps are lucky and in a far away place their forests are going to be disturbed by people cutting them down for timber or to move in, they can be hunted as they are across large areas of Africa. So you might not want to be there. At the other end of the extreme you get 5-foot-by-5-foot cages in medical research labs in very sophisticated countries including the United States and you get very bad zoos and circuses. Then you get the really good zoos which have large enclosed areas, with enriched environments and a group of chimps together, keepers who love them and understand them, and an adoring public. Then I say suppose you were a chimp, and that’s what some of these animal rights people can’t get their minds around, it’s what they think is best for the chimp. I want people to think about what the chimp would prefer. So if you’re a chimp you’ll probably say I’ve got to be in a secure place in the wild, or a really good zoo. None of the other options are really of any use. This kind of idea that any kind of wild is always good is not right.
According to one source, there are approximately 500 chimpanzees living in zoos across the United States.
An interesting debate on this can be found at Opposing Views, where the famous zoologist Jack Hanna and a representative from the animal rights group PETA square off in what they feel is better for the animal.
Photo: PR Photos
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February 21st, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Is there a list of ‘very good’ zoos? This always comes up with me and my not so activist friends. I’ve heard for instance that the San Diego Zoo is really focused on replicating a realistic environment and puts money into conservation, but the L.A. Zoo is pretty pathetic and depressing.
February 23rd, 2011 at 4:12 am
dear Goodall, you have lost your marbles. You can make a cage as big as you like, and decorate it with “exciting” toys, it’s still a prison, an enclosure where chimps (or any animal) live a boring and controlled life 24-7, a freak show.
That’s why there are locks, No locks, chimps go AWOL. They don’t care about your reasoning, they care about their freedom.
January 19th, 2012 at 8:27 am
‘course in the wild… we can’t forget about the more prevalent chimp on chimp violence too. In most zoos they’re fed a vegetarian diet… in the wild… we’re seeing more and more cases of a heavier meat diet as well as cases of cannibalism… ‘course I’m sure some of you would be suggesting that’s cuz of man’s influence… although some scientists are suggesting it’s more related to global warming (i.e. resulting in greater aggression) in a number of species
But I suppose ‘natural’ extinction…selection is better than being tortured and enslaved in a chimp hotel for man’s sick and twisted entertainment.
not a suggestion to keep all of ’em in the zoo or conservation parks but most would have to admit there’s likely some middle ground to approach. I dunno, though, I am a bit biased and frankly, I kinda prefer chimps that can use a bit of sign language and have their own personal playground… though it would be nice if they had a bit more space than what most zoos offer… but going free willie on all of ’em isn’t doing anyone any favors. ‘especially when we get to the disabled… (either by human or beast) nature can be cruel…
and if we’re playing the game of nature having the right-of-way then the wrongs of humans to other species is really just playing by nature’s rules.
But eh… it’s a rather unpopular thought in these crowds, isn’t it?