Comment by cultofmetatron
19 days ago
zoos and aquariums serve a very vital purpose. most people only care about these animals because they can go SEE them alive. documentaries help but nothing beats getting a captive people into a room to see a wild animal and then bamboozling them with propaganda about how important it is to preserve these animals. Its the reason we have funding to keep these creatures alive in the wild at all.
if all zoos and aquariums were shut down, public concern about the environment would slowly drift to nothing within 2 generations.
At the same time, I think it's risky to lean too hard on the idea that captivity is the only way to sustain concern
It isn't, but its often been the only reason that a species didn't go extinct.
Pandas being one of those species. I feel as if pandas would go extinct if zoos weren't there.
technically panda's cuteness is the reason why it hasn't really gotten extinct. Dogs/Cats have also mastered the cuteness stat. I wonder if for animals, evolution might now lean towards cuteness.
I am also thinking what counts as cute in the first place? Is there any scientific consensus around cuteness that animals can develop?