Rexano If Animal Rights Activists truly Care about Wildlife, why are they sentencing them to Extinction Exotic Animal conservation

If Animal Rights Activists truly Care about Wildlife, why are they sentencing them to Extinction?

By Kat Parks

April 24, 2007

I have seen it mentioned by many animal rights (AR) groups including API, PeTA and HSUS that "Wild animals can attack, they can spread disease and the average citizen cannot meet their needs in captivity. They belong in the wild .." I don't know where these people live, but it's not anywhere near "the wild". There is no more WILD for these animals to BELONG!

For most of the exotic animals being captive bred and privately owned, the loss of their habitat in the wild is the very reason that Private RESPONSIBLE Exotic Animal Owners should be allowed to continue. It is not that difficult to see the habitat loss, look at the millions of acres of old growth rainforest that now is swiftly-eroding farmland. Look at the wild wolves in Alaska that are being murdered. " Over 96 wolves have been gunned down so far and Alaskan officials plan to supposedly escalate the killing over the next three weeks!"

The states that have re-introduced wild wolves are having trouble keeping these protected animals from being shot on site by neighboring ranchers. It's happening in Montana, Idaho and in Arizona. The wolves being reintroduced are thriving until they get in the crosshairs of a nearby rancher, then are killed. Killed even if they show no signs of interest in the livestock. They are only guilty of being a wolf.

And with the global human population increasing and wild habitat shrinking, the human/animal territorial conflict will not go away .

If private exotic animal owners are not allowed to continue breeding the animals that are dangerously close to being threatened or endangered, and the remaining animals in the wild keep loosing habitat to survive, then the species will be lost. It's not a remote possibility but an almost a certain fact that we will loose many species to extinction without the direct intervention of private owners and breeders.

Unfortunately, this is not only true for the Grey Wolf, but for all the larger predators across the globe, as well as a lot of other animals. It takes a lot of time, money and love to raise an exotic animal, but there are well-educated people out there that do their best to not only protect their neighbors from their animals, but to also protect their animals from being harmed, stolen or killed by self-righteous zealots that use fear to push for laws through that will do nothing more than steadily increase the lists of threatened, endangered and extinct animal species.

There are no "wild" spaces left for these animals to survive. If wolves can't run free in the last great wilderness of Alaska, then where? If Mountain Lions can no longer live in the Sierra Nevadas in peace, then where? If Black bears and Grizzlies can't live peacefully in the Rocky Mountains (their last refuge) then where? If Siberian tigers can't live in Russia and China (There are only about 400 left in the wild, their historical habitat all but reduced to a postage stamp size area of land, approximately 1/25th their former range) then where can they have a chance to live? The answer is in controlled environments, with private owners that care about making sure that the species does survive, not for the next photo op as a cub, but as the potential hope for the future of all their kind as an adult available to be selectively bred to continue the species into the next century.

All of these animals need a large range to survive in the wild, not small tracts of land that won't have enough prey to survive and remain healthy. Exotic animal owners eliminate the need for these animals to search large areas of land for their next meal by supplying it for their animals consistently, as well as supplying quality vet care so the animals can remain healthy. Outlaw exotic animal ownership and some owners will choose to "go underground" with their animals, which would deny them the ability to receive quality vet care. It will also force animals that are currently considered threatened onto the endangered species list, or worse yet, on to the long list of animals already extinct by man's direct action. Threatened and endangered animals have proven before that they can make a comeback and thrive, the American Bison, American Alligator and California Condor are but some that have successfully increased their numbers. Conversely, extinct is forever.

Kat Parks currently Volunteers as the Education Coordinator for a Herpetological Association and owns several reptiles and amphibians. She can be reached at katsnake@gmail.com