Questions 4 -sm

1. In “Date Night at the Zoo” she argues Noah got it wrong in reference to Noah’s ark bible story of choosing a male and a female of all species to be kept safe for conservation purposes. The idea in the story is that the animals could mate and then create the species in the wild – exactly what the zoo is trying to do but running into issues with the small amount of animals they have to work with. Genetics have to vary in order to create offspring that will be healthy and able to adapt. When there is only a small number of animals to breed, 2 in Noah’s ark and 281 in the case of cheetahs currently in American zoos – there are problems that occur with too small of gene pools. Cheetahs should have twice as many of their species in captivity in order to have a healthy gene pool for future generations. Zoos have devoted a lot of money to get species to breed in a way that is genetically healthy, although sometimes it is just the attraction and nature of the animals that determines if they would like to mate – just like humans. It is great that zoos care to but time and money into programs that will help animals to survive for generations, but it is also a very cold and scientific process that put conservation before animal well-being, IMO. It could be argued that the animals wouldn’t have an option of having a well-being if not for these decisions to be made for them in captivity.

2. The tension is that the animals that need to be protected from extinction are not always the animals that will bring the masses to the zoo. Where does the funding go? To the animals that need zoos help more than ever or to the animals that will provide funding for the zoo through sales profits? In a perfect world it would all go to the animals that are facing extinction, but zoos have to make hard choice in order to keep their audiences aesthetically happy when they visit. I feel if audiences knew that seeing their favorite zoo animal meant x number of species were going to become extinct because of lack of the zoos resources, the audience may be inclined to think differently about their visit and support the zoo in making decisions that are best for conservation. Some people think that applying so much money to conservation isn’t needed. The idea behind conservation is being able to produce an animal that can go back out into the wild – but if there is no safe wild land then what is the point.
3. I tend to agree with it, because without zoos the mass public would never be able to see the animals and I believe "seeing is believing" or at least it is for me. I do think most zoos or lets say the zoos that I have attended could spend more time and energy pressing conservation in front of the displays, tours, and in the gift shops because memories are made from hearing, viewing, and having mementos. In a perfect world it would be great for audiences to be able to visit the wild and see what goes on, but I think zoos are a great alternative to this when used effectively - implementing a more educational environment for their audience. 

4. American zoos use birth control in the feed of animals, while European zoos use euthanasia to regulate the population of their animals in order to keep the genetics of their breeding pools regular. I think both approaches are cringe worthy. The European way seems disgusting and irrational, while the American way concerns me for the same reasons it concerns me with humans using medical contraceptives. I don’t trust the side effects of them and as I can see with the article, the animals sometimes suffer in some very straining ways. Not only in ways that show physical effects, but probably in ways we cannot fully measure like mental effects they may feel. I remember reading studies that show that in females using birth control attract mates that are no longer attracted to them when they are no longer on birth control or become pregnant (I am really annoyed I can't figure out how to phrase this in a google search in order to source it for you guys), as well as a study that showed birth control interrupts the ability for humans to uses our sense of smell to attract a mate. Making an educated guess, I would say maybe if birth control was not used animals would mate or not mate with another based on their natural ability to become attracted to someone with favorable genes. No, I do not have a better solution for the zoos issues, but there has to be a better and more responsible way for dealing with such issues of over-population, breeding, and genetics.