Ecospheres? (from another thread)

[SeatClutcher]

P.S.

I'm sorry if I'm seeming bitchy in this thread. Nothing is personal or aimed directly at anyone - I just tend to get touchy about the animal issue.

[Chi829]

K- I totally see some of your points about the zoo, but lets face it, not ALL zoos are as nice as Seaworld or Lincoln Park and some of the animals in some zoos that I have seen have a horrible living environment. Its sad and sickening to see.

[roz]

Originally Posted by Kristie

I'm a big proponent of the zoo... not that i give them money or anything (yet) but if we didn't have zoo's, there would be a lot of extinct species in today's age because of some of the tribal hunting that still goes on, human abuse and just straight out endangerment. that along with the need to have children understand the animals, how big they are, how fierce they can be... you just can't get that same type of element from watching a PBS wild show or national geographic.. to see them in person can make the biggest difference to a child's perception.

I agree. I've always been a member (since living here) of America's first zoo. The reason is that certain species are on the road to exitinction and, without the zoos, they would be gone. Tigers are one example.

[UKcats06]

Originally Posted by roz

I agree. I've always been a member (since living here) of America's first zoo. The reason is that certain species are on the road to exitinction and, without the zoos, they would be gone. Tigers are one example.

I love the big cats those are my favorite things to visit in the zoo. I've watched the growing up shows on Animal Planet and they said once tigers have been born in captivity they can't ever be let out in the wild, though. That is kind of sad, but they seem to be happy, as much as I can tell anyway. I would LOVE to work in a zoo with those kind of animals but 1. I dislike some creepy animals (like snakes) and 2. I think I would get too attatched and then when something would happen to them, I would be really, really sad.

I would like to volenteer at a humane society but I would want to take all of the animals home and I would be VERY sad when they would have to put them to sleep because there are too many to adopt. For the same reason, I wouldn't want to volenteer at a nursing home. Not because they are put to sleep, but because they just pass away.

[ccbegay]

Originally Posted by Chi829

K- I totally see some of your points about the zoo, but lets face it, not ALL zoos are as nice as Seaworld or Lincoln Park and some of the animals in some zoos that I have seen have a horrible living environment. Its sad and sickening to see.

Oh I agree...animals are meant to be free and such...I don't understand sticking a zoo in the middle of a large city...there are issues of temperature, pollution, and such, that I have a huge heart for them...I do understand the purpose of containing endangered animals, but I think we just need to have some changes...I don't even want to talk about circuses and such...

[skibum515]

someone mentioned hermit crabs...please please please do some research on them before you get them! John and I got a couple a few years ago on a whim from the mall and when we started doing research we realized that they were horribly abused and it took us a while to get it down on how to take care of them.

They breathe through modified gills - they breathe the humidity in the air, so they need like 80% humidity plus, they're natural diggers so they need like 6" of sand (if not more) to dig and tunnel in. Because of the high humidity the tank gets moldy pretty quickly so it needs to be changed like once a week etc etc

they are NOT easy creatures to take care of properly!