i am not a fan of animals being treated cruely or held in captive forpeople to gawk at. and yes, i think the pool for the Shamu's is too small also, however, without these animals maybe the next generation of conservationists and even vets gets smaller. not everyone is able to tour the world to see these animals up close and personal. watchnig it on TV is not the same as seeing them in person for the beautiful creatures they are. All animals in captivity should be well cared for and allowed room to roam in their enclosures. Animals born in captivity cant be tossed into the ocean or the jungle, they dont know how to fend for themselves or hunt. you may as well throw your poodle out and tell it to fend for itself. it is our fault for raising animals that are uneducated in their natural world. but i do believe that up close access to the animals, great and small, wet or dry is important to their conservation. they have t o be well cared for and treated humanely but without that personal experience a lot is lost. conservation may be lost on countless numbers of humans that might have actually done some small thing or played some small part in its efforts. what if Jane Goodall had never seen a chimp ? who would carry the torch for them ? if the next generation cannot be exposed to what's out there, how will they ever know why animals should be protected or treated humanely ? zoo's are a necessary evil, so are stables that lock horse's in 12*12 boxes, so are people that crate their dogs so they dont eat the furniture and people that keep cats indoors rather then risk injury or death roaming the streets. we cant turn them all loose. we shouldn't be dragging wild animals out of their habitats, there are plenty of good breeding programs so more animals are being born in captivity. but a computer screen or a tv screen does very little to inspire the way seeing any wild animal in person can.

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