PET+BLOGSPOT FEEDBACK FROM READERS ON ZOO POLL RECENTLY:THE SEXY CELEBRITY in the picture had no qualms about taking it all off to prove a point recently.
His message: Zoos are bad. And we should stay away from them.
Quite a shocking and striking message, I'm sure for Malaysians, at least.
The guy I'm referring to, by the way, is 32-year old Diether Ocampo - one of the hottest actors and male models in the Philippines.
He was more than willing to drop his clothes for stripes (see picture) in one of PETA's latest publicity campaign aimed at getting zoos to shut down permanently so that all animals can be free.
PETA is of course that very popular (and controversial to governments) group for animal rights. They are both famous and "infamous" for the extremes they are willing to go to just to defend animals. They promote vegetarianism for instance, as one of their missions to create a better world for animals.
I personally have no quarrel with the NGO. I don't also share all of their convictions - yet.
However, that doesn't stop me from acknowledging the good job that they do in their undying dedication for animals.
Many of their projects and activities often even put other animal groups to shame.
Recently, PETPOSITIVE decided to run one of PETA's campaign on our Weblog. We held an opinion poll to gauge what our readers thought and felt about zoos.
Out of the almost three dozen votes we received only four respondents thought that zoological parks should be closed down.
Although there were a larger percentage of readers who felt that it was definitely not good to keep any animals under any sort of confinement, they appeared to remain non committal about the idea of shutting down zoos altogether.
Whilst the overwhelming majority of voters felt that the real problem with zoos today is really one of poor management; it was interesting to note that only a few voters felt that zoos play an educational role in society.
Was this just an oversight in the poll exercise? Or do visitors to zoos feel that they really learn nothing from their trips there?
I was also surprised to note that not many bloggers thought that zoos particularly kept animals safe from predators and healthy - compared to their natural jungle setting.
Here are some of my personal thoughts on the subject: (Not PETPOSITIVE's official point of view, but plain ol' me talking here.)
I think that zoos are important because of the irreplaceable role they play in bringing wild animals closer into our lives. This is probably one of the most effective ways to raise awareness about such creature but also to raise our appreciation about them.
Most people are not lucky or rich enough to be able to take an airplane out to the nearest jungle continent. So a zoo within a city is very convenient.
Zoos are for most people the only way in which we human beings can come close to animals, interact and learn about them. In fact, some of our animal-assisted therapy sessions in PETPOSITIVE for the disabled and elderly are based on regular visits to our local zoos.
In Zoo Negara (ZN) in Kuala Lumpur for instance, the disabled do not have to pay for tickets. Their carers need only to pay half the rate if they are coming with a disabled visitor. At least, this was how it was a couple of years or so ago when I last visited ZN.
There was also a disabled toilet near the ape section. Most, if not all of where the caged animals were located were accessible by wheelchair.
Not many people realise this but zoos have actually over the years unlocked many previously hidden information about wildlife that we knew little about.
Rather than a roving camera on a jeep in rough terrain - as we see on TV, it is zoological parks that teaches us important information and facts about wildlife.
The books that we read and the information we amass through the Internet search engines often come from scientists who have been studying animals in zoos situations rather than in the wild jungles where the truth is, it is hard to access the creatures.
I seriously wonder how many animals were actually flushed out from their original surroundings just for a photo shoot by the so-called high octane animal adventures in the wild with their cameras and flashlights.
Zoos also have played - and still very much do - critical roles in helping to to save animals from extinction. One perfect example is the San Diego Zoo in the US and the Californian Condors.
The San Diego Zoo which I had the privilege to visit quite a few years ago was at that time recognised as one of the best zoological parks in the world.
What was special about the zoo is that they tried to make each enclosure as close to the wild animals' natural habitat as possible.
By the way, the place was so big that visitors often have to take a bus to get from one section to another!
I guess the argument for and against zoological parks will continue to rage over the years to come. Animal sanctuaries may be a better alternative. But then again, the issue over there will surely also be about proper management of the area as well.
Thank you all for taking part in our poll. Thank you also for reading this Weblog.
Please feel free to share with us YOUR PERSPECTIVES by adding your views in the comments section at the end of this piece.
Contrary views are most welcome.
aNt
PET+BLOGSPOT
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