My comments on the above:
As the head of the European endangered species program for giraffes stated in press,
Marius was not from a rare sub-species.
Given that zoos claim that animals are kept in order to support the conservation of threatened species, it is therefore unclear why any member of Marius' subspecies should be held captive at all.
All large wild animals are potentially threatened, and of course preservation is not the
only mission of ZOOs.
It was further confirmed that a contraceptive for giraffes has been developed in the last few years which
allows females to be safely injected at a distance thus suggesting that Marius' birth was not inevitable.
Nobody said so. However,
some girafees need to be born, since ZOO populations are meant to be self-sustaining. Obviously, it cannot always be predicted
which individual animal may become redundant. Accidents, diseases happen; ZOOs need to be sure there is a reasonable stock to pick from.
The director of EAZA supported the stance that Marius had to die and encouraged people to consider the
"bigger picture." But EAZA itself is less than consistent in its approach to inbreeding and, indeed, in its concern for the ultimate fate of animals in its member zoos.
Obviously irrelevant. Copenhagen ZOO
was consistent.
EAZA and similar zoo bodies discourage member zoos from deliberately breeding white lions; a practice which is recognized as involving inbreeding in order to
perpetuate the unusual white coloring of the animals involved.
Due to the serious welfare implications and the lack of conservation value of inbred animals, breeding of white lions is theoretically not allowed in EAZA zoos. In practice, both
West Midland Safari Park and
Paradise Wildlife Park in the UK breed white lions.
Irrelevant. When breeding very rare species, obviously some inbreeding must be accepted, since there is simply not enough stock to take from. It may be discussed if such breeding should take place, but this is obviously irrelevant for the case at hand.
Both are EAZA members and yet, despite vociferously supporting the killing of Marius to prevent the same problem, a blind eye has been turned by EAZA to the persistent inbreeding of other species in its zoos. White lions are, perhaps tellingly, a great crowd pleaser.
Well, I have news for this author: ZOOs are not free to run. In fact they are quite expensive. Like it or not, there has to be some consideration for the box office, too.
In 2012 West Midland Safari Park were revealed to have sent four white lions to a circus trainer, who sent them on to a
Japanese circus. That the safari park remains an EAZA member means that the rules on sending animals to non-EAZA collections are not consistently applied.
Irrelevant.
Despite this, no exception was made for Marius.
Because two wrongs don't make a right.
t has long been recognised that conservation success is achieved not in city centre zoos or safari parks, but in natural habitats. We would urge anyone with a passion for conservation to support effective in situ efforts which are truly making a positive impact on species conservation.
OK, what is
your contribution? Wildlife conservation is EXPENSIVE. This means that we need to have contributions from the public, possibly as state grants, but guess where the money comes from, ultimately.
How are you really going to make people and coming generations interested in wildlife conservation, if they can't go somewhere and see a real animal?
Hans
on all of their belongings as was the case after the infamous Muhammad Cartoon Controversy ....
