Tuesday, 23 August 2011

Why Zoos often hand rear babies...

Today, as ever, I was doing a bit of research, digging up interesting news and events from around the globe when I came across this article about hand rearing animals in zoos. I for one am impartial to how an animal is raised, as long as it is in as natural an environment as possible, retains it's health and 'wild' instincts, and is not rejected by it's own kind. 


There is constant debate as to how, when and why intervention is required in Zoos around the world, especially in the case of breeding programs for rare and endangered species, where each survival is a step closer to the main goal of raising the species population through re-introduction. Some people say that there should never be intervention, and that the natural course of events should be left to unfold, though in many circumstances this will lead to the loss of life on the part of the newly born, due to mothering skills, or lack of nutrients from the parent animals.

All in all, the write up from the Smithsonian Zoogoer really enlightens you in to the causes, effects, procedures and reasons for intervention in the raising of newly born animals in a zoological environment. Find out more about the Smithsonian Zoo, and their staff from their website.

No comments:

Post a Comment