This page is still under construction, but here are some of the issues exercising the mind here at Globalzoo :-)
In the UK there has recently been the scandal of police dogs being kicked to death by their police trainers, and a circus owner has been convicted of cruelty to animals. The former has shaken my confidence in police dog handlers in this country forever. I'll always have a doubt when I see police dog handlers now. Regarding circuses, well it's pretty obvious that most people think circuses with animals are an evil, and it's about time they were banned outright. Even in countries that until recently were quite cold blooded about their attitudes there is a big change now. In a nearby European country I came across a particularly nasty circus but knowing that country fairly well, expected people would still support it. They did not. The bar owners and people in the cafes said they did not want them in town because of the cruelty - they were bad for business.Around the globe there is the issue of AIDS research and chimpanzees. It seems poor science to me when they already have loads of chimps deliberately exposed to the AIDS virus in captivity to survey and interfere with more of them in the wild. Knowing how many wild chimps have the virus in them will tell them nothing as far as I can see about how it is that they are resistant to the virus. There is clear evidence that chimps are sentient thinking alive "persons" in much the same way as us, and it now seems that the AIDS virus might have come about because of people killing and eating chimps. AIDS is a terrible, horrible thing, not to be wished on anyone, but this scientific finding shows that sometimes nature bites back and that exploitation does not always come without a price.
Also very much in my mind is the plight of perhaps Earth's most beautiful animal, the Tiger. As we approach the Millennium I can't help feeling desperately sad that this crowning glory of evolutionary fearsome beauty is on the verge of disappearing forever. It is a little known fact that the Lord Buddha sacrificed himself to a tigress so she could feed her cub.
So many creatures and the plants that we all need to live are vanishing, and as the earth faces ever deepening environmental and biodiversity crises, so do we. Biologically, aesthetically, morally and spiritually, we are in trouble. To compound the problems we now tamper with genetics. I'm not against science, but I am against bad science, that is poor science based on unclear thinking, and science applied by commerce with little knowledge of the possible consequences or poor regard for the consequences that are foreseeable. I think genetic tinkering as it's being done now could be the biggest disaster to face mankind.
There are also issues of the persecution of zoos in many countries. We are a community that is subject to discriminatory, ridiculous and unfair laws and bigotry. I have particular admiration for Lord Bahumat in his struggle for legal freedoms in Canada. His moving and informative tale on his website is linked in Ian's Zoo Links to be found on our resources page.
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