Yes, agree here with so many comments. I would add though, that many animals in captivity have allowed the general population to further the protections of these animals in a world picture. Talk about irony. I don't think such animals have the ability to return to the wild but I don't know much on this topic.
this is a very good point cube...indeed, being able to see these animals up close has engendered a deep respect for these animals...which is now, all the morer eason they should be let out...they have served their purpose...we knew very little about Dolphins and Whales in 1965-1970...the whole first generation of captive orcas and dolphins served their purpose...people feel a genuine love for them...now, they that love must be shown in allowing them basic freedom...they can still be visited, in a natural environment, which is much more rewarding.
when i was little, growing up in New York City, i used to go to the Central Park Zoo, every day, to see Tina and Julia, the zoo's two Asian Elephants...i loved them more then anything...back then, you could feed them through the cage, because there was only about 10 feet distance between the viewing wall, and the bars of the enclosure...so you could buy peanuts, and hold your hand out and they would extend their trunks and take the peanuts right from your hand...it was magical...i used to remember the excitement, and the love for those elephants i had...little did i know, how barren their lives probably were, living in the middle of a half acre concrete space in the middle of Central Park. I used to get to see them almost every other day and i remember their trunks touching my little hand, and how delicately these behemoths took the peanuts from me.
(one of them eventually went crazy and killed her new trainer, after her old trainer died who she loved)
when i went to the Ringling Brothers circus back in 1978 or so, at age 7, all of the elephants were doing tricks and running around, little did i know that then and now, they were beaten with bullhooks, and treated horribly, and spent most of their lives chained up in a barn when not on tour, and chained up on a train when they were, or chained up in an arena, waiting to perform...
yet this is still happening...we no longer need them as ambassadors in "our world"...we need them to be happy in theirs...which we are slowly destroying too.
(on the topic of elephants, this is a wonderful place, called the Elephant Sanctuary, where i am also a member/donor to...they give a decent, caring, loving life to retired circus and zoo elephants and ones rescued from inhuman conditions...they have many elephants, who live happily in acres and acres of free natural space, with mudholes and lakes for playing...and there is a very substantial education program, where doctors and behavioral studies get to come and visit to study them at a respectful distance etc....the elephants have 2700 acres of free space to roam and play in, and warm barns to sleep in at night)
it is one of my favorite sites...you can learn about each elephant, some even paint and the paintings are sold for charity and donations
you may have also seen this report on CBS, about how a stray dog was found in one of the properties they bought for the sanctuary...the stray dogs name is Bella...her best friend, naturally, is an elephant...they are inseparable
YouTube - Bella and Tarra
The Elephant Sanctuary featured on animal planet a while back...they even have a webcam, and detailed biographies of all the elephants, what their favorite foods, who they are best friends with, which other elephants they hango out with most are etc.
The Elephant Sanctuary : Hohenwald Tennessee
(a vid)
http://events.streamlogics.com/elephants/Mar24-06/index.asp
i am glad to see this being done more and more as there are sanctuaries like this for chimps now as well,
(check out this awesome place i belong to as well)
Chimp Haven
and of course i belong to this one as well...which is fantastic...it is know as a "City for Chimps" and houses over 300 chimps rescued from labs and other unfair circumstances :smile:
http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/wp-content/uploads/aerial.JPG
Save The Chimps - Chimpanzee Sanctuary
and hopefully this will continue to allow former animals used in zoos, circuses, research etc. to allow them to live out their lives while still in human captivity since a wild return is impossible, but live it on *their* terms, with freedom, autonomy, without being forced to do tricks to live, and with their dignity.
i use the elephant sanctuary as an example, because that could be done with the orcas and dolphins as well.
i encourage you all to visit these sites, read some of the articles, watch some of the videos of how happy these animals are now, and see some of the wonderful work these places do...especially touching, are the many videos that show an elephant or a chimp, how has never know the feeling of grass under their feet, being transported from their prisons, and then arriving, frightened, tentative, and shyly, in uncertainty, leaving the travel vehicle...stepping out in to freedom...gradually meeting others of its kind, and within days are roaming around with dignity and happiness,
look at the nervousness, of being introduced, to kindness and a new life of freedom after probably so much suffering...
YouTube - Dulary's Arrival
especially heartwarming, are watching two elephants Misty and Delhi, that were with each other in the circus 20 years ago, who were reunited, at the elephants sanctuary, trumpeting and so happy to find each other once again...it is true...an elephant never forgets...and neither do orcas and chimps... (or the lion who remembered the person who rescued him and brought him to the sanctuary he now lives at in the famous video...)
these attempts to make the animals' lives better by taking them out of captive situations can be done...all it takes are enough voices.
