Blackpool Zoo!

Re: Blackpool Zoo!

Diane Westwood — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:29:54 GMT

See if you can get a copy of Sad Eyes and Empty Lives the dvd.

When I worked for CAPS, Blackpool council admitted that electric shock devices had been used on the elephants. CAPS have a letter stating this.

Chester Zoo supplied bison to an exotic meat farm and when I asked why I was told it was to 'maintain genetic diversity' - They forgot to tell the paying public that this went on. This was featured in a TV programme and I rang Chester Zoo up to query it.

I was a keeper and could tell you some real horror stories about what goes in in zoos. I was responsible for the film Sad Eyes and it is still one of my proudest achievements.

Re: Blackpool Zoo!

Sal the 1st — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:11:02 GMT

I understand that - but at least they should have been honest about this instead going in the local press and saying x was going to and y was going to...

at least something survived - the wallabies that 'escaped' have been living and breeding along the coast anywhere from Horshoe point down to Donna Nook. (apparently these were genuine escapees - but it does make you wonder)

I can remember taking a phone call from a friend some years back saying that they had hit a small kangaroo. I told them to call the vet but she couldnt get hers to believe her! Luckily I knew her vet quite well and rang him myself and the wallaby got seen. Wasnt badly injured, just a few scrapes.

Re: Blackpool Zoo!

Louise B — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:54:20 GMT

[quote user="sal the 1st"]

we used to have a zoo near me at Cleethorpes. Lots of big cats, hercules the hippo, very sad looking Indian elephant a couple of bears, gazelles etc. It was closed many years which had to be good for the animals? it wasnt a nice place .It is now the site of a theme park (pleasure island).

There were a lot of problems rehoming animals when this zoo closed and most of them were supposed to have been sent to safari parks etc - except when they were digging footings on the land that used to be the zoo - well the remains of some of the inmates put in an appearance

[/quote]

The difficulty with rehoming animals from dire zoos is that the animals are quite often behaviourally deranged and show severe problems with stereotypies. As the stated purpose of zoos is conservation and the ideal is to one day release zoo animals (or their offspring) into the wild the last thing that you want to do is breed from a load of dysfunction animals and, if you cannot breed from them, then are taking up valuable space that could be used by a 'less dysfunctional' specimen.

Re: Blackpool Zoo!

Claire Cameron — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:58:54 GMT

I have been to South Lakes Safari when I was younger and I was impressed by that, large big cat enclosures, huge if i remember correctly, the cats were fed different ways every day including up large "poles" so they had to work and find their food

Re: Blackpool Zoo!

Katy — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:18:11 GMT

If you want to go to an amazing zoo, you need to go to Chester Zoo!

I used to work there as a teenager, and it has improved even more since then. My friend who honestly hates zoos, said she was majorly impressed with Chester.

It's been voted Zoo of the year for several years in a row!

It's not that cheap to visit, but they put your money to good use!

Re: Blackpool Zoo!

Sal the 1st — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:11:58 GMT

Re: Blackpool Zoo!

Vicky RVN — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:37:13 GMT

I'm not a fan of zoos either, i like wildlife parks, they are much better for space. Went to London Zoo with college and was disappointed with the way a lot of the animals were kept. Last Jan i went to visit my friend who was living in Germany and we went to Berlin Zoo...i wanted to cry when i saw the polar bears, one was stepping backwards and forwards the whole time looking so distressed. It looked nothing like the polar bears you see on tv...it was in an awful condition, skinny and horrible...just remembering it brings tears to my eyes