Glenn Perrett, Metroland North, March 10, 2009

Important book for Teachers, Parents, Wild Animals in Captivity

Many teachers take their students on field trips to zoos. Many parents also frequent zoos with their children. The adults like the children in their care to see interesting animals close up. Not only are the children entertained, but their zoo experience is educational too. Correct? The answer is yes, but not in the way you might think. Since animals held captive in many zoos are poorly treated, the lesson learned, for those who look closely at the sad, bored animals, is how our species cruelly treats the other animals with whom we share the planet.

Students need to learn what really occurs in many zoos and then decide if they really want to visit and support these places. Rob Laidlaw in his book Wild Animals In Captivity provides the reader with what occurs at many zoos and why these places don't provide a positive experience for those who visit them. Relying on his experience of protecting wild animals in captivity for the past 25 years, Laidlaw provides the reader with a glimpse of what occurs in many zoos around the world.

In Wild Animals In Captivity Laidlaw provides information about some of his zoo visits including his first which was to the Riverdale Zoo in Toronto. In making his compelling case about the many negative aspects of zoos, Laidlaw looks at how zoos fail the animals they imprison and what these animals' lives would be like in the wild. Some of the animals looked at include polar bears, elephants and great apes. Laidlaw compares the lives of these species both in the wild and in zoos.

The types of zoos covered in this informative book include public zoos, wild animal parks, aquariums and marine parks, safari park zoos and roadside zoos. Animals in roadside zoos exist in horrible conditions as described by Laidlaw. "Animals in roadside zoos live in horrible conditions: small, dilapidated cages and enclosures; pens with no shelter from the weather; floors filthy with droppings; nocturnal animals kept in bright light; social animals living alone; inadequate food and water."

Laidlaw's description of the plight of a particular animal at a roadside zoo in rural Ontario is a tragic example of what our species does to other animals. "Near the back of the property was a lopsided shed with a screen door hanging loose. Inside was a Hamadryas baboon. She was huddled at the back of a wire cage barely larger than a closet. The baboon was holding a dirty piece of apple, and when I spoke to her, she dropped it and shuffled towards me. She reached her hand through the wire and grasped my fingers. I looked at her closely and realized she was blind.

"I reported the baboon's terrible living conditions to the humane society. When I returned to the zoo, she was gone, and I never found out what happened to her."

While there are lots of examples in the book of captive animals suffering horrible "lives," there are also some positive examples of animals whose lives have been greatly improved including Keiko, the famous orca who was captured and imprisoned for close to two decades before being set free. There is also the story of Wanda and Winka, two Asian elephants, whose lives were made better when they were moved to a wildlife sanctuary in California.

Sections on "Checking Up on Zoos" and "10 Ways to Help Wild Animals in Captivity" provide the reader with ways to improve the lives of wild animals kept in captivity.

Whether you are a teacher considering a field trip to a zoo or a parent thinking about entertaining your children by visiting a zoo, you should read Wild Animals In Captivity first.

Wild Animals In Captivity provides a side of the story to those interesting animals held captive in zoos that children often don't see - and aren't told about. This book is an important resource for teachers, parents and other educators who teach children about animals and the environment.

If you want to learn more about helping wild animals in captivity you can visit Zoocheck Canada at www.zoocheck.com