Kaycee Conaway Week 4

1.She says that Noah had it all wrong, because Noah’s Ark only brought along 2 of each animal. According to recent scientific breakthroughs, it is necessary to have around 20 of the same species in order to have a potentially successful mating/pregnancy. They’ve also learned that with Cheetahs, for example, cannot even be around each other before they mate. Being separate up until the time for breeding is crucial, or else they’ll hurt one another. It is also expensive to breed them, and only 4 places in the entire country are usually successful. The birth rate per year is only half of what they need to keep a healthy balance of captive cheetahs. Some argue that they would not need to go through long processes to breed them if they were just in the wild. Some would prefer this funding for breeding just go right to habitat conservation efforts. 2.Some think that the funding for breeding should go into conservation efforts, and put more of the animals back in the habitats. 3.I think that zoo’s are important for education, but in most zoo’s are too focused on entertainment. They should provide ample amount of space for the animals, and people should have to approach the space differently. The space should be geared toward research on how to help the species in general. Breeding should not be as big of a priority, rather more of that funding should go into habitat conservation. 4.European zoos use euthanasia in order to cleanse the gene pool, whereas American zoos use birth control in their feed for the animals. They both mean well, but seem unhealthy and cruel for the animals. Spending large amounts of money on obscure breeding experiments seems less effective than just having enough room where they feel comfortable enough over all to do these things with minimal interference. Using unnatural substances to get a desired effect for breeding seems too unnatural and cannot be without side effects.