On Day One of our vacation yesterday, J and I visited the St. Louis zoo. It’s a local attraction we always enjoy, and it’s free. Great day for it! Got to see the new baby elephants, the new sea lion exhibit, the bird house (my fav), and much more. And as always, took some great pics too! Enjoy!!
The Lone Writer: Shannon Yarbrough 
Shannon Lee Yarbrough, you do an excellent job taking pictures whether it’s of puppies, animals & you are a talented photographer. I have 2 topics I hope you can comment on related to animals. The first 1 is zoos as it’s about zoo animals. Though I’ve been to St. Louis, I have not been to the St. Louis Zoo. I have been to many zoos. Hope you can give your opinion on this 1 & it’s about how we can better train zoos. You are intelligent and hope you can share your thoughts.
I would rather see animals in the wild than in zoos, truth is that so much of the wild is gone that we have no choice but to put them in zoos and aquariums to keep them from going extinct. With whales and dolphines dolphins, if they can safely release the dolphins, whales back into the wild oceans and seans, and if the dolphins can survive in wild oceans, then release them. I’ve been to the Marineland Zoo Aquarium in Niagara Falls and I believe Marineland takes good care of the beluga whales, orcas and dolphins there though there has been controversy in news. It is better to see animals in wild, but when so much of habitat is gone as has happened with tigers and lions, we need zoos and wildlife preserves to keep them from going extinct. We also need experts in lions, tigers, marine mammals working in zoos and aquariums.
I’d rather see a lion, tiger or wolf in the wild as opposed to a zoo but with wild cats such as tigers & lions, so much of their habitat is gone with farming in Africa that there isn’t much habitat left to save. There are as known, more tigers in captivity than in wild & the only way we can prevent their extinction are zoos-wildlife preserves are the best choice. If we can train lions, tigers who are in zoos to live in what’s left of their wildlife habitat as what happened with Christian the Lion (raised in London) & they can survive there, then good.
But it’s complicated to try to train a tiger, lion or other animal which has lived it’s life in zoo to live in wild and there are few zoologists who are specialists as the late George Adamson (Born Free) who can do this. So many risks in training these lions and tigers to live in wild such as hunting & killing prey, avoiding getting killed by rivals, hyenas and so on. As known, no 2 cats are the same & each has their own personality and intelligence.
Zoos and aquariums must hire more experts, such as having people with George Adamson qualifications working with big cats. Toronto Zoo is the best zoo that I have been to & they had breeded polar bear cubs @ that zoo. They also have pandas.
I liked seeing the white lions, pandas and polar bears when I visited the Toronto Zoo, but if these animals can be trained to live in what is left of the wild, then release them, as I have their photos. Zoos and aquariums are educational but they must be more than that in that they must also be about working with conservationists in helping put animals back into wild. Seaworld must also work to release orcas into wild oceans. Zoos and aquariums must be about education, protecting endangered species and working with conservationists in returning animals into wild-they must not be about money and profts.
Shannon Lee Yarbrough, my 2nd animal topic deals with hunting and I hope that you can give your opinion on this 1. I support animal welfare. I support laws against dog fighting and I believe in harshly punishing those who abuse their pets. I am against poaching. But most of world eats meat and I do not pass judgment on them. If it’s hunting for food and the animal is quickly killed, then I have no problem.
If people want to hunt deer, pheasant, ducks or rabbits for food, then as long as they are swiftly killed, then I have no problem. While I’m a vegetarian, I have no problem with hunting for food as long as the animal is quickly killed and I support requiring marksmanship for hunters. I know hunters who agree with me and they oppose poaching & believe in the idea of eating their kills. Nature as known can be cruel. Though PETA would differ, I would rather see a hunter quickly shoot and kill a quail, duck, deer or rabbit and eat their kill vs. a python killing a rabbit. Yes, the python is doing what is nature, but nature can be cruel.
Though I do not listen to country music, singer Miranda Leigh Lambert in addition to the good work she does to protect dogs with Pedigree dog food also hunts & fishes for food. Miranda Leigh Lambert proves that it is consistent to support animal welfare & @ the same time have no problem with food hunting as long as the animal is humanely and swiftly killed.
I have a friend who has hunted deer, ducks & muskrat and she told me that she did this for food. She has same views as country singer Miranda Leigh Lambert has on dogs and she has done humane work with dogs. Another eg. would be radio host Rush Limbaugh (Rush Hudson Limbaugh) who did announcements for U.S. Humane Society in 2009. Though I don’t know if Rush hunts, he supports people’s right to hunt for food. Rush in 2009 did announcements for U.S. Humane Society where he speaks against dog fighting, animal abuse & he talked of his cat & how he loved his cat and so on. Should Pedigree Dog Food & U.S. Humane Society take announcements from people on animal topics like country singer Miranda (Miranda Leigh Lambert) and Rush because 1 has hunted?