Two new huge marine parks are set open, big enough to protect and preserve the Australian oceans that surround the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Christmas Island. These islands are said to have life living there that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

In fact, these parks located in the Indian Ocean, will protect more than 287,000 square-miles of incredible ocean life, which is approximately 744,000 square-kilometers. The area is said to be bigger than the size of Texas, and twice as big as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

According to the Australian Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley, she calls this a “globally significant contribution to marine conservation and a further demonstration of Australia’s leadership in ocean protection.”

“The region, which is often described as Australia’s Galapagos Islands, supports unique underwater reefs and rare aquatic species which act as a natural laboratory, helping us to understand more about the evolution of the oceans,” she adds.

There are 60 Commonwealth marine parks located all around Australia, which now protect 45 percent of the country’s territorial waters. At the same time, officials want to make sure that the island fishermen will still be able to sustain their local food source, as well as their way of life.

Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories, Nola Marino, shared in a statement on the Australian Government website, “The offshore parts of these parks will be placed under the highest level of protection, while the inshore areas important to island communities will continue to enable sustainable fishing to occur.”

Meanwhile, the Australian government has allocated a whopping $5.4 million to manage the marine parks, which is 99% offshore with the other one percent inshore, in order to support the local fisheries.

See more on Australia’s dazzling local wildlife in the following video below.

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Authorities suspect the number of cases of Coronavirus globally is not the actual scenario due to the shortage of testing kits. Experts all over the world are trying to produce more testing kits so that there will be enough for all those infected by the pandemic. But a new project is proposed which hopes that medical detection dogs will be able to sniff out the virus, and assist in helping control its spread. If successful, the dogs could smell out around 750 people an hour, bringing a huge relief to testing efforts.

Medical detection dogs are trained to detect the smell of some diseases in humans, particularly cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Covid-19 is the current life-threatening virus that has gripped the world in its suffocating clutches. This project is a collaboration between the Medical Detection Dogs charity, Durham University, and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Experts are hoping to train the dogs to be able to sniff out Coronavirus just like cancer, malaria, and Parkinson’s disease. Six dogs are ready to be trained in London.

Professor James Logan, Head of the Department of Disease Control at the LSHTM said, “It’s exciting because the project could move at speed as there are six dogs ready to be trained.”

The dogs will focus on smelling fabrics worn by coronavirus patients, such as face masks, to find out if COVID-19 has a unique odor that the dogs’ enhanced sense of smell can detect. If all is successful, the dog will be able to detect if a person has contracted the virus in about half a second.

“There have already been so many fantastic achievements in the dogs’ work to detect human disease, and I believe they can be trained to sniff out COVID-19,” said Dr. Claire Guest, CEO and founder of the Medical Detection Dogs charity.

It may take several weeks of experimentation to determine if the dogs are able to identify the coronavirus. Professor Logan explained, “The first thing we need to do is to establish whether there is a distinct odor from COVID-19 and if dogs can detect it. We need samples to do that.” He cautions, “ We have to follow protocols with the samples, as they are highly infectious and we need to ensure they’re safe. We know that other respiratory diseases change our body odor, and if there is a distinct odor, we are confident the dogs will detect it.” This new diagnostic tool will revolutionize the response to COVID-19.

Claire Guest continues to say, “When resources and testing kits are low, hundreds of people can’t be tested in one go. But the dogs can screen up to 750 people really quickly. By identifying those who need to be tested and self-isolate, they can stop the spread.” Professor Logan agrees that probably within 8 weeks, this dog-friendly method may eventually replace current COVID-19 tests. He explained the similarity of drug detection dogs walking up and down a line of people to the medical detection dog’s duty. This would be helpful in places with a large number of workers and students.

For many years, dogs have been helping keep us humans safe. You have dogs that sniff out explosive devices, narcotics, natural disasters, cancer, and hopefully they can help us with the coronavirus. Once again our furry companions come to our rescue, hopefully they will be able to sniff out the virus, and help snuff it out once and for all.

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The Coronavirus pandemic has made nations of the world react in unprecedented ways. A global lockdown of many affected areas around the globe has been enforced, and more are expected to follow. But the panic caused by the virus, and the lockdown rules set in most countries does not affect humans only.  While it has had some positive effects on the environment and wildlife, some animals are actually suffering as well. Creatures such as deer in Japan, for example, and monkeys in Thailand, have seen sources of food diminish in the wake of the lockdown. Their reliance on tourists feeding them has made them vulnerable to starving. Same with ducks, pigeons, and other birds in parks where people would feed them with scraps of bread. But, some authorities have decided to make sure that some of these animals are not neglected during the lockdown.

In Turkey, officials are doing whatever they can to ensure that stray animals don’t starve during the strict lockdown in cities. The Turkish Interior Ministry issued a bulletin to assist homeless and neglected animals impacted by the social distancing and stay-at-home rules by the majority of the population. Specifically, to be able to provide regular food and water supplies to animal shelters and areas with strays. “Food and water will be left at the living environments of street animals such as parks and gardens and particularly animal shelters,” the bulletin said.

A Turkish newspaper said that taking care of needy and helpless creatures are part of Turkish culture, and neighborhoods work together with authorities to feed, vaccinate, and care for strays and shelter animals. The government declared this despite the effects of the pandemic and disruption of normalcy. Take the municipality of the Maramara district of Darica, where volunteers helped distribute food, water, and medicines (disinfectants) to shelters and homeless dogs and cats. Officials said, “Even if everyone stays at home, we are not going to forget our furry friends. We will leave water and food at three feeding points at various intervals.”

Definitely, the move was praised by social media users, who praised Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for the initiative. Many pictures of the strays were taken and circulated on the internet. Even Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul tweeted a photo of himself petting a dog and saying, “we should not abandon our animal friends during these tough days.” But, Gul also opened up a barrage of criticisms about the treatment of prisoners and how they are not protected from the Coronavirus pandemic.

Currently, Turkey is not listed as a hotspot, but more than 65,000 cases have been recorded, with over 1,400 deaths. But Turkey is considered to be one of the countries with fast-rising confirmed cases. Many restrictions have been imposed, like border crossings, inter-city travel, international flights, public gatherings, and non-essential businesses. Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdoğan banned the sale of face masks, to prevent over-pricing, and promised to deliver free masks to homes and hospitals. 

Other places are doing what they can to help out during this time of need. Not just people, but our furry friends as well. Hopefully, things will return to normal sooner than later. But let us not forget that caring for animals need not only be done during a crisis.

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Wildfires damaging thousands of kilometres of land are happening all over the world right now. About 21,000 square miles of Siberia’s forests have gone up in flames earlier this month, which brings the worst wildfires in Russia on record. These blazes have shrouded major cities in the country with smoke, including Novosibirsk, and has even crossed the Pacific Ocean sending billowing clouds of smoke to the United States.

2019 temperatures were ripe for fires with July being the hottest July on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The average global temperature in July was 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th century average recorded.

Paris recorded its highest temperature ever, with Poland, Spain and the Czech Republic also experienced extremely high temperatures.

In August 19, various forest fires also broke out in the Canary Islands namely Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife, forcing over 8,000 to flee from their homes. New fires also broke out in Alaska over the weekend, which extended the state’s fire season even longer than usual.

Greenland needed Denmark’s help last week when the wildfires were already approaching inhibited areas, worsening the massive ice melt the country has been experiencing all throughout the year.

More than 74,000 fires have been recorded by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) for this year alone, which is an 84% increase in 2018 and the highest recorded number in 2013. Last year, California suffered a destructive wildfire season, and although this year has been much calmer, potential wildfire still remains to be seen.

Apart from the natural wildfires breaking out in different parts of the planet, the most alarming are the wildfires that are currently happening in the Amazon Rainforest, which is the largest tropical forest in the world. An area where torrential rain happens throughout the year, it is a forest that barely burns on its own, yet blazes that are so intense have been burning the area for more than two weeks with smoke reaching all the way to Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo.

The Amazonas state which is almost covered entirely by the rainforest has already declared an emergency. Whereas many of these wildfires around the world occur from warmth and dryness in their climates, the fires in the Amazon forest is the cause of how humans are radically putting the state of the planet in their own hands. Bad idea.

Usually, wildfires happen naturally as a way to clear out decaying bush, help new plants germinate and restores nutrients back to the soil. Although during the past few years, human activity plays an integral part in making the wildfires worse. Urbanization is being expanded closer to areas that naturally ignite, and so they suppress these natural fires which leads to dry vegetation.

The case in the Amazon Rainforest is entirely different. Because this part of the planet has water for most of the year, wildfires do not set ablaze here naturally. Instead, cattle farmers could possibly be using the slash-and-burn tactic to clear out land and convert it to farming and pasture, even if this is illegal in the country due to fire risk. Mining, drilling and farming exacerbates the situation. In this year alone, the Amazon has already experienced 72,843 reported fires, which makes than an 84% increase as compared to the same season last June.

Although the cause has not yet been proven, Brazil’s government doesn’t seem to be doing anything to find out why. Ricardo Galvão, INPE director was also conveniently ousted from his position after his office reported the 88% increase in the deforestation rate last June as compared to the year before.

Alberto Setzer, fellow researcher in INPE told Reuters that:

“There is nothing abnormal about the climate this year or the rainfall in the Amazon region, which is just a little below average. The dry season creates the favorable conditions for the use and spread of fire, but starting a fire is the work of humans, either deliberately or by accident.”

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who entered office on January 1, implemented various laws that would supposedly benefit the country’s pro-development “rural caucus.” Before being elected, he also made promises to restore the country’s economy by finding other uses of the forest, without any seen improvement. He also mentioned that his government is doing measures needed to control the fires, but it is not clear as to what the ‘measures’ are. He commented that INPE’s deforestation data were all “lies” – but did not provide proof of this, while accusing the non-governmental organizations for starting the fires when the government took back these groups’ funding. Environmentalists are putting blame on the government, saying the new policies in place are further threatening the forest.

“I am waiting for the next set of numbers, that will not be made up numbers,” he said. “If they are alarming, I will take notice of them in front of you,” said President Bolsonaro.

Carlos Rittl from the Climate Observatory told CNN that: “Over the past six months, Bolsonaro and his environment minister have been devoting themselves to the dismantling of the Brazilian environment governance and neutralizing regulatory bodies.” This comment was regarding the farmers being emboldened by Bolsonaro’s pro-business leadership to continuously expand their farming and ranching land ‘illegally.’

This extreme deforestation will have major consequences to the country without trees to evaporate water for the rainforest to generate its own rainfall. At present, 15% of the rainforest has already been deforested. The World Wildlife Fund has estimated that if this speed of deforestation continues, then more than 25% of the Amazon will not have trees by 2030. This fear is continuously growing under the government of Bolsonaro, who is concentrating more on developing farming and mining whilst ignoring international concern of deforestation and climate change.

Because this forest produces an enormous amount of the planet’s oxygen, this will be a given consequence to the rest of the world, and not only to Brazil. The Amazon acts as the “lungs of the earth” with more than 20% of the world’s oxygen being produced there and due to its ability to absorb massive amounts of carbon, this rainforest plays a great importance in the fight against global warming. With 60% or 670 million hectares of forest, Brazil is home to the most species than anywhere else in the world.

Because of this shocking deforestation rate, other countries and environmentalists have begun to take notice. Norway and Germany have pulled out funding for projects in Brazil and Greenpeace made a statement calling the president and his government a “threat to the climate equilibrium.”

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This paralyzed dog was left tied  up outside a shop in Argentina, simply because her owners didn’t want to take care of her anymore. Sadly, a lot of dogs with disabilities do not get adopted from shelters for obvious reasons – many people simply want to adopt healthy dogs as they are cuter and easier to care of.

Lunita was a dog that thought she had been adopted by the right family… until the day came when she needed them most.  Getting paralyzed in the lower part of her body made her a problem this family did not want, and so they abandoned her leaving a broken wheelchair and a box of diapers as their idea of mercy for their once cared for pet. It was somebody else’s problem now.

No animal deserves to be cruelly treated and this was definitely cruel for Lunita. A passerby took pity on her and brought her to a local veterinarian who was able to make her a new wheelchair. With this help, Lunita had a new breath of life. Her rescuers wanted to find her a new family who would love and care for her, especially after her horrifying ordeal. A family was interested to adopt Lunita, but were forced to return her to the shelter. When the shelter went online with the story, there was a tremendous response.

Everyone wanted the best for Lunita, they could feel her pain and longing to be loved. They wished a good family would care for her as she so deserved.

Well the wish soon came true. Lunita is now living in the USA with her new caring family. Her pictures of joy capture her living the life she so much deserved. She was even give a brand new wheelchair by the people of Eddie’s Wheels…making it easier for her to move around with her family.

Sadly, shortly after her 11th birthday, she fell gravely ill, and eventually passed away. Lunita’s mother posted on Facebook how much love was shared between them, and how their lives have been changed by Lunita. She will not be forgotten.

Please watch the video to appreciate her story more…

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By: Rachel Blevins / The Free Thought Project   Disturbing statistics show that government agencies killed 2.3 million wild animals last year—and 1.3 million of which were native species.

Data released by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that more than 1.3 million native animals were killed by Wildlife Services in 2017—and despite the fact that the slaughter of wolves, cougars, and birds was funded by taxpayers to benefit the agriculture industry, it is receiving very little media attention.

The total number of animals killed by USDA in 2017 was 2.3 million, and many of the species were killed by the thousands as members of Wildlife Services responded to requests from agricultural corporations by turning to lethal measures to remove the animals by employing the use of poisons, gases, snares, and firearms.

According to the report from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the death toll in 2017 included 69,041 coyotes—15,631 were shot and killed by snipers on fixed-wing aircrafts, 14,062 were trapped with snares and 12,119 were killed by cyanide poison; 23,646 beavers—the majority were caught by traps and 2,375 were killed by firearms; and 15,933 prairie dogs—the overwhelming majority were targeted and killed by firearms.

The organization called “Wildlife Services” was also responsible for killing 624,845 red-winged blackbirds, 3,827 foxes, 1,001 bobcats, 675 river otters, 552 black bears, 427 badgers, 415 wolves, and 332 mountain lions. While the majority were killed “intentionally,” the report revealed that at least 3,000 animals were killed unintentionally, showcasing legitimate flaws in the organization’s methods.

While those numbers may seem outrageously high, a report from Mountain News in Lake Arrowhead, California, claimed that the figures “almost certainly underestimate the actual number of animals exterminated, as program insiders have revealed that Wildlife Services kills many more animals than it reports.”

Out of the 2.3 million animals killed by Wildlife Services last year, more than 1.3 million were native species. Unfortunately, 2017 was not an unusual year, as the USDA’s 2016 report showed that Wildlife Services killed 2.7 wild animals, and at least 1.6 million were native species. The slaughter was even worse in 2013 when Wildlife Services killed 4 million wild animals.

Collette Adkins, a biologist and attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), released a statement arguing that there is no evidence scientific evidence to show that the mass murder of wild animals helps anyone other than agricultural corporations.

“Despite mounting public outcry to reform these barbaric, outdated tactics, Wildlife Services continues its taxpayer-funded slaughter of America’s wildlife,” Adkins said. “There’s simply no scientific basis for continuing to shoot, poison and strangle millions of animals every year … Wolves, bears and other carnivores help keep the natural balance of their ecosystems. Our government kills off the predators, such as coyotes, and then kills off their prey—like prairie dogs—in an absurd, pointless cycle of violence.”

An investigation conducted by the Ecological Society of America found that “many of these methods are implemented without first considering experimental evidence of their effectiveness in mitigating predation‐related threats or avoiding ecological degradation.” 

In response, a report from The Dodo argued that by killing so many animals, including natural predators and their prey, Wildlife Services is actually “making the conflict between wild animals and farmers even worse,” and as research has shown, “killing predators to protect livestock can even backfire. For instance, for each wolf killed, the odds that other wolves will prey on nearby farm animals actually increase.”

The report from Mountain News claimed that while dozens of domestic animals and livestock were also killed by Wildlife Services, employees are “instructed not to report such incidental killings because that information would have an adverse effect on the agency’s ability to obtain funding.”

In addition to using taxpayer funding to slaughter millions of wild animals each year, the USDA was recently caught breeding and then incinerating hundreds of kittens in a horrific experiment. Rep. Mike Bishop exposed the “secretive and problematic” program, and he released a statement calling out the USDA:

“I’m shocked and disturbed that for decades the USDA—the very organization charged with enforcing animal welfare laws—has been unnecessarily killing hundreds of kittens in expensive and inefficient lab experiments. Any government research program like this one that’s been funded since the Nixon administration needs to be put under the microscope, especially when it involves using kittens as disposable test tubes in harmful tests that most taxpayers oppose.”

This article In 2017, US Gov’t Slaughtered 1.3 Million Wolves, Bears, & Others In The Name Of Big Agriculture by Rachel Blevins originally appeared on The Free Thought Project.

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By: Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams   “We need to work together around the country to stop factory farms and protect our communities, our air and water, and our climate.”

Farmers, environmental advocates, and community leaders came together in Des Moines, Iowa on Monday to launch a national campaign to outlaw factory farming, in conjunction with a new report that outlines the long list of negative consequences tied to housing hundreds or thousands of animals in crowded spaces.

Noting that the number of industrial farms across the United States has soared over the past two decades, the report (pdf) by Food & Water Watch details how “these operations produce enormous volumes of waste, pollute the air and water, exploit workers, harm animal welfare, fuel antibiotic resistance and climate change, and harm the rural communities they are purported to benefit.”

“This is a model that doesn’t work for the way we produce our food. It doesn’t work for the environment. It doesn’t work for public health. It doesn’t work for communities. It doesn’t work for family farmers… And it’s time to say, ‘no more.'”
—Patty Lovera, Food & Water Watch

Wenonah Hauter, the group’s executive director, compared the national campaign to halt all factory farming to grassroots efforts in 2011 to ban the natural gas extraction process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

“Like fracking, factory farming is too dangerous for our environment to simply regulate,” Hauter said. “We need to work together around the country to stop factory farms and protect our communities, our air and water, and our climate.”

#BREAKING: Today we are launching a campaign to #BanFactoryFarms.

Factory farms produce enormous waste, fuel climate change & harm rural communities.

Enough is enough. Check out the livestream of our launch here: https://t.co/0780I7MXii
Report: https://t.co/XHb4GGkffk pic.twitter.com/6vKXXxFfIN

— Food & Water Watch (@foodandwater) May 14, 2018

At the launch event in Iowa, local leaders explained the problems their communities have faced as a result of the growing popularity of factory farming, while a representative from Food & Water Watch discussed the report’s findings.

“Iowa’s surface waters are filthy…with bacteria, with soils, with chemicals, and a growing concern for us is blue-green algae and cyanotoxins,” Bill Stowe, CEO and general manager of the Des Moines Water Works, said Monday. “And there’s no question that land use upstream from us… land use predominated by industrial farming, by factory farms, is contributing to the deteriorating water quality in this state.”

“You’ve heard a lot about what’s happening to the water here in Des Moines, and the same things are happening around the country where this is the dominant model of agriculture,” said Food & Water Watch assistant director Patty Lovera. “And the list of impacts just goes on and on.”

The report, titled The Urgent Case for a Ban on Factory Farms, calls for a fundamental restructuring of the nation’s food system, and puts forth a list of policy proposals, which includes:

• enforcing antitrust laws to break up the agribusiness stranglehold on our food system;
• establishing supply management programs to ensure that grain producers can make a fair living without flooding the market with cheap grains that feed factory farms;
• creating policy incentives for encouraging diversified and regenerative farms;
• rebuilding the local and regional infrastructure needed for small and mid-sized livestock producers to get their animals to market;
• enacting aggressive policies to address climate change, including policies to limit the contribution of agriculture to climate change;
• not allowing new factory farm operations to be built or expanded;
• enforcing environmental laws on existing factory farms;
• supporting research and technical assistance needed to transition factory farm operations; and
• directing government spending to prioritize rebuilding the infrastructure needed for diversified, smaller-scale livestock production using regenerative practices to supply regional markets.

Outlining the negative consequences of industrial farming, Lovera concluded: “This is a model that doesn’t work for the way we produce our food. It doesn’t work for the environment. It doesn’t work for public health. It doesn’t work for communities. It doesn’t work for family farmers… And it’s time to say, ‘no more.'”

This article Calling for Overhaul Of Nation’s Food System, New Campaign Seeks Ban On Factory Farms by Jessica Corbett originally appeared on Commondreams.org

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China is considered to be one of the leading societies that continue to outperform other countries in terms of arts and sciences. The country with the largest population on earth, China has increased its global outreach and has recently crossed borders to strengthen political alliances.

But beneath all its fame and charm, China also has its own dark secrets. And when it comes to incredibly disturbing events, China has a lot to offer. Click “Keep Reading” to see the 20+ disturbing and incredible events in China:

1. Drinking polluted water

The boy drank water near a polluted stream.

This boy drank water near a polluted stream in Fuyuan country, Yunnan province. This photo was taken on March 20, 2009, just two days before the Water World Day that is observed on March 22. According to Project Partner, having 360 million people struggling with the poverty crisis, about 95 million people in rural China still lack access to clean water and about 2.5 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation. Because of this, over 6 million losses of lives are reported due to water-borne diseases and disasters. All of these happen due to political and socioeconomic challenges that the country and its people continue to deal with in the present.

The post 20+ Incredible And Disturbing China Images They Don’t Want The World To See appeared first on True Activist.

Spending some time with pets and even with wild animals at the zoo is fun, provided you keep a safe distance. But for some animal lovers – and others who simply don’t have any idea why they’re in the company of animals in the first place – things could take an unexpected turn when these animals unleash their ferocious instincts. It happens, especially if the animals, no matter how tamed, aren’t given the respect they deserve. Some people are either aware that such unexpected circumstances could occur, but simply chose to ignore the risks, or are simply overwhelmed by the excitement caused by seeing the animals (like that one time when a man in China jumped off a chairlift into a tiger enclosure).

You may find the some of the following images hilarious, but some are cringe-worthy. From a camel munching on a tourist’s face, an enormous whale landing on a small boat after breaching, to a dog letting it out on an unfortunate sunbather, True Activist reveals some of the most amazing photos of animals taken before the unexpected, and uncomfortable, turn of events took place.

1. Sleepy Um…

Crocodiles are cool and so if you see one you are probably going to want to get a selfie with it. Well, don’t do it! Johnny Bonde, a 27-year-old Danish backpacker exploring Australia’s wilderness, had to learn the hard way. This picture was taken right before the animal grabbed Bonde’s arm leaving him seriously injured. The man luckily broke free from the animal and explained in an interview with Perth Now “He got my arm and shook me … It was the result of me being stupid. If somebody slammed me at night, I would be angry, too”.

The post 40 Amazing Animal Photos Taken Seconds Before The Unexpected Turn Of Events appeared first on True Activist.

When you’re a child and visit the zoo, the experience can be magical — as well as a bit confusing. This is because, the beasts (from lions and hyenas to elephants and flamingos) tend to behave differently than they do on television shows, such as the Discovery Channel.

Many zoo animals exhibit signs of zoochosis. Symptoms include rocking back and forth, hitting themselves and showing outward signs of depression. Sometimes, the animals are so frustrated by life in captivity, they even lash out.

In the following video, you can witness the latter. A young girl, rightly infatuated with the “King of the Jungle,” presses her nose against the glass and gives the big cat a kiss. At first, the lion just stares at her. Perhaps this is because zoo visitors are his only form of stimulation.

After a while, the mild entertainment fades and his animalistic side kicks in. In the blink of an eye, he becomes irritated and stands up on his hind legs as he claws exasperatingly at the glass. As OneGreenPlanet points out, the recorded incident is very similar to one which was documented last year. In that instance, a Silverback gorilla charged at (and broke) the glass in a Nebraska zoo after a young girl banged on her chest.

Like humans, the animals don’t display their distress at all times. But that doesn’t mean life in captivity takes its toll. At the end of the day, we all need to ask ourselves this question: “No human wants to live life in a cage, so why do we inflict this punishment on other creatures?”

Watch the video below:

The conservation argument is an old one that is easily dispelled. To begin with, only a fraction of the animals kept in zoos (which exist primarily as human entertainment) are endangered and need to be protected. The others are “crowd pleasers,” such as lions, tigers, and bears. Additionally, true conservation demands that the animals are kept in habitats that mirror life in the wild. As any zoo-goer will attest to, this is rarely accomplished.

Last — but not least, we’ll let the profound wisdom of Guy Mountfort explain why zoos are a sham (at least, in terms of conservation). Over two decades ago, he said: “It has become customary, in recent years, for zoos and safari parks to respond to the growing public interest in conservation by claiming that by keeping endangered animals such as tiger in captivity they are ensuring the survival of the species…..such talk shows an astonishing ignorance of the freeborn tiger.”

He added, “Not having been taught from birth to maturity the skills of hunting, such tigers would either die of starvation, be killed by the first wild tiger they met, or be obliged to take very easy prey such as domestic animals and humans and would, therefore, be quickly shot. Moreover; although zoo-bred tigers are usually well cared for, they are deprived of everything they need and enjoy in the wild except plentiful food. They may be healthy and contented in captivity, but inbreeding and the lack of mental and physical stimulus result in progressive cerebral degeneration which would make it almost impossible for them to adapt to the hazards of life in the jungle.”

Read more: Leonardo DiCaprio Donates $1 Million To Conservation Efforts In Africa

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