#Dead Zoo

[ztremx]

Bunny Gang

[chronically-chaotic-cryptid]

So sad that the Dead Zoo is still closed I want to go draw taxidermies and play the age old game of pointing out an animal and saying 'that's you'

[beautyofscience]

The answer to last week's incredibly difficult mystery object. I don't think this challenge got anybody's seal of approval...

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

My favorite signage from the NEW Zoo in northern Wisconsin.

[rotten-biter]

YALL—

the leather jacket?? just a trench coat???

flash me. please.

[housefinches]

this summer let’s play outside with mama

[sendhimtotheshadowrealm]

lotte world aquarium

Hanoi, Vietnam

[ihazyourkitty]

Hogle Zoo is an AZA accredited facility, opening up a new area 3 acre area called "Wild Utah" to feature various native Utah species. 3 of those animals are going to be orphaned cougar cubs that were rescued and unable to survive in the wild on their own.

Note that 2 of these cubs have shortened ears and tails because of frostbite. They were rescued in Nebraska where the weather conditions were severe, and again, these cubs were unequipped to handle it on their own.

This would be a very positive story about giving orphaned cubs a second chance at a good place where they will receive all the care that they need... or so you would think.

Instead, multiple people on the comments were asserting that they were just going to prisons, one even going so far as to say that it would've been better to just let them die.

Wonderful. Nothing says "I love animals" than explicitly saying that they're better off dead than at an accredited zoo. Again, you will note that 2 of the 3 were suffering things like frostbite when they were rescued. There is nothing humane about letting animals that are within your power to help die like that.

I cannot, and will never, understand the "logic" behind this kind of mindset. Yes, baby orphaned animals die in nature all the time. No, we cannot save them all. But for those we can help... why not help them? And why is a life well cared for at an accredited zoo somehow worse for them than suffering a slow and painful death from starvation and exposure?

These animals do not have the same concepts of freedom vs. prison like we do. All they knew was that their mother is gone, and they were cold and starving.

Yes, bad or less than ideal zoos exist. Hogle Zoo is not one of them. Zoos and aquariums are not universally prisons, and if you think that, then let me just ask... what kind of prisons have you been to!? Seriously, all of the animals I've had the privilege to work with eat better than I do, and are treated vastly better than human prisoners are. How privileged must you be to think that all zoos and prisons are equivalent to one another!

Here's the reality: the zoological industry is a complex, nuanced thing that is ever improving and expanding. We're not stuck in the 1970s like you are. Stop judging animal welfare based on vibes, and stop drinking the PETA, HSUS et al. kool aid, because they're lying to you.

[s0d4st34l]

Holy shit I need him inside me. I do not care that this cunty fuck is a bird

(Would not do that to a bird irl. He’s anthro so it’s chill)

[whut-da-brunch]

WHEW..... I hope Sarah is prepared to have a new step-mom..... 🥵🥵🥵🥵

[ztremx]

Lobstery critters. 'Dead Zoo' Dublin

[ridethecyanide]

May 21, 2018 - On this day in RSL history, Robert wins an Obie Award for his performance in At Home at the Zoo

[beautyofscience]

Eyes on the prize - although the prize is mainly the kudos of working out what this eye belongs to. What do you think?

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

The Bronx Zoo has just released Flaco's necropsy results.

He was not thriving, as the people championing the ideal of "freedom" claimed.

He was poisoned.

He was sick.

He was suffering.

"Freedom" would have eventually killed him. A building just happened to do it first.

"Postmortem testing has been completed for Flaco, the Eurasian eagle owl that was found down in the courtyard of a Manhattan building a little over a year after his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo was vandalized on February 2, 2023. Onlookers reported that Flaco had flown into a building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on February 23, 2024, and acute trauma was found at necropsy. Bronx Zoo veterinary pathologists determined that in addition to the traumatic injuries, Flaco had two significant underlying conditions. He had a severe pigeon herpesvirus from eating feral pigeons that had become part of his diet, and exposure to four different anticoagulant rodenticides that are commonly used for rat control in New York City. These factors would have been debilitating and ultimately fatal, even without a traumatic injury, and may have predisposed him to flying into or falling from the building. The identified herpesvirus can be carried by healthy pigeons but may cause fatal disease in birds of prey including owls infected by eating pigeons. This virus has been previously found in New York City pigeons and owls. In Flaco’s case, the viral infection caused severe tissue damage and inflammation in many organs, including the spleen, liver, gastrointestinal tract, bone marrow, and brain.   No other contributing factors were identified through the extensive testing that was performed. Flaco’s severe illness and death are ultimately attributed to a combination of factors—infectious disease, toxin exposures, and traumatic injuries—that underscore the hazards faced by wild birds, especially in an urban setting."

The naturalistic fallacy kills animals in horrible ways. The romanticism of what humans want to think of as a "free, wild, pure life" cannot be allowed supplant the reality of injury, sickness, and death. Releasing captive animals (or keeping them from being recaptured) because it's "better" for them to suffer untethered than live a healthy, safe, captive life is inhumane and horrific.

Flaco's life didn't have to end in pain, sickness, and suffering.

Flaco's death didn't have to be tragic.

But once the idea of "freedom" entered the chat, Flaco's fate was unavoidable.

[mymanreedus]

I’ve become kind of numb to horror. What is interesting to me is the person behind the monster, the sickness, the time that is running out for this person or me, or you; that sort of cancer is what’s interesting to me. Rather than “Boo!” I think I kind of have a muted version of everything. Norman Reedus, Zoo Magazine

[lulublack90]

Prompt 6 - Trunk

@wolfstarmicrofic October 6, word count 317

“REMUS!!! REMUS, LOOK AT THIS!!!” Sirius yelled at his boyfriend as he scampered around the zoo. Remus sighed indulgently. He’d known Sirius would get over-excited if he took him to the zoo, but he’d promised after all. 

“Moony, Moony, come see, come see!” Harry babbled excitedly at him. He and Sirius had taken the small boy off James and Lily’s hands for the day. They’d accepted the offer immediately, kissed their son and bundled him and his change bag into his godfathers arms. 

Sirius and Harry were looking at an enormous fish, both with their faces pressed as close to the glass as they could get, pulling the same strange puffed cheek, slow opening mouth face, imitating the fish. Remus snapped a picture of the pair. Adorable imps that they were. 

The rest of the walk around the zoo was the same, Remus’s name being shouted excitedly while he trailed after the excitable pair. 

They got to the elephants and Sirius shouted again. 

“Remus!!! Remus, look at its trunk!!! Look, it’s picking up that entire log with its trunk!!!” Sirius bounced up and down with Harry in his arms as they both pointed at the Elephant. Sirius stuck his free arm out and waved it up and down, puffing his cheeks out again and blowing through closed lips to make a ridiculous imitation of the elephant. It had Harry peeling in laughter, his little face wide with joy at his silly Godfather. Remus raised his camera again and snapped another shot for his album. He watched them messing around and couldn’t think of any other way he’d want to spend his Saturday. 

“Hey, you guys hungry? Want to go get a burger?” He asked. Two wide-eyed faces turned to face him. 

“YES!!!” They squealed at him before rushing over, grabbing his hands and pulling him towards the exit. He started laughing uncontrollably. He loved them so much.