(CN - HKG) Zoos educate cities' youth: expert

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

Thursday, September 25, 2003

http://hongkong.scmp.com/hknews/ZZZH9QGMWKD.html

by HANNAH LEE

 

A leading American conservationist yesterday defended the use of

zoos and aquariums in cities as necessary to educate and interest people in

animal welfare.

 

Speaking at a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondence Club on " Why zoos

and aquariums are important in the city " , Sydney Butler said that these

facilities played a bigger role in conservation than most people gave them

credit for.

 

Mr Butler is president of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association,

which sets welfare and hygiene standards which members have to satisfy.

 

Mr Butler is in Hong Kong for a week at the invitation of Ocean Park,

which last year became the first Asian animal facility to become a member of

the association.

 

To become an accredited member, zoos and aquariums have to meet

standards on animal care, safety equipment, finance and governance. The

sizes of the cages and tanks in which the animals are kept are also

considered.

 

Mr Butler said zoos and aquariums prompted visitors, especially

children, to care about what they saw. He also warned against turning

children into " eco-phobics " .

 

" You can't tell a 10-year-old, `You must save the ocean, you must save

the coral reefs' . . . this doesn't work, " he said. " We want to teach them

to love the planet before asking them to preserve it. "

 

Animal rights groups disagree. Annie Mather, of Animals Asia

Foundation, argues that the educational role played by zoos and aquariums

has been supplanted by nature-oriented television channels, books and

magazines.

 

" Wild animals belong in the wild, not in tanks and cages, " she said.

 

Asian Animal Protection Network spokesman John Wedderburn said few

zoos and aquariums played a part in conservation, with most simply conveying

the message that it is acceptable to lock up wild animals for amusement.

 

Animals were also living beings and should be respected like human

beings, he said.

 

In his speech, Mr Butler also said funding for public zoos was a

problem worldwide and that the conditions of zoos and aquariums were a

reflection of society, he said.

 

He will visit the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens in

Central tomorrow, though only to have a look.

 

" I am not here to accredit the Hong Kong Zoo, " he said.