I just read an article that made me mad about the polar bear born in captivity?

It is technically bad to interfere with a wild animal when OUT IN THE WILD (think heart-breaking documentaries), but in a zoo setting, these animals are already being interferred with and they might as well use the cub to promote the zoo, which in turn promotes everything the zoo works for.

While most zoos can't ever offer an equivalent to life in the wild, they help in 4 main ways. Research in zoos helps demonstrate wild animal behavior in a safer setting and research designed to help captive animals spills over to benefit wild animals. Zoos also offer the public two important things together-education about habitat loss, species loss, species in general, etc in the form of entertainment. "Look at that cute bear. The sign says that it is losing habitat because of irresponsible land use. How sad. Daddy, what can we do?" The what-can-we-do part also ties into another important role zoos play-conservation. Whether reminding the public that there are still endangered species needing to be saved or cooperating in a Species Survival Plan to breed animals in a controlled setting to a)keep them genetically diverse, and/or b) to release healthy offspring into the wild to repopulate wild populations, the zoo is promoting conservation. So while the animal rights activists get upset about the zoos, they are really being counterproductive to many of their own goals. Caring for the bear helps the zoo, which helps animals everywhere.

from the zoo point of view you have to remember its about money that animal is worth alot more to that zoo alive than one day in the news dead. im glad they saved it i dont get to the polar area that much and i love to see them at the zoo.

on the other issue i wouldnt put much weight on the animal activists weather its ALF or PETA there always complaining about bad or mal treatment of animals, well in thoery the zoo did save the bear not kill it, but you can never make them happy, think about it this way if it was the other way around and they let the bear die they would still complain that everything wasnt done for that animal. its a catch 22 but im glad that they picked the right answer

Well, the animal was born in capitivity. In such the bear will spend its life in captivity. On the plus side researchers may be able to learn more about the species since they can observe the animal daily. Activists can go a bit overboard at times. By being able to study the bear the reasearchers may find something that will be of benefit to the wild bears, thus ensuring longevity to the species

Animal rights activists for the most part are not rational people. The head of PETA wants to be BBQ'd after she dies and let people eat her to show how barbaric it is to eat animals. Now how's that for looney?

Anyway, the fact is, they aren't going to be happy until all the animals are out running free and we're skipping along with them wearing itchy burlap bag clothing and eating wheat grass or some craziness.

Zoos are not like animal shelters, they don't just put animals down. Zoos are about conservation and education. Aparently this fact has been lost on these activists.

That makes no sense. The more captive bred polar bears the better, it means that people can still see them in captivity without putting a strain on the wild populations. And I'm sorry, but a wild animal is a wild animal. Raising one that is used to human contact does NOT make them cuddly and domesticated. What, do they only want zoo animals to be dangerous to their keepers? I'm an animal lover, and am dedicating my life to them, but I'm sorry... Animal rights people as a whole are absolute whackjobs... Gives us sane people a bad name.

I mean knowing the fact that global warming is killing off the polar bear and even if we can stop global warming the bear will still go extinct from the loss of land so why would they want to kill it for anything they should try to save it the population is needing it that and it has been awhile they are going to create someting and then kill it that is wrong

Euthanized?!

Knut (the bear's name) is bringing in thousands of dollars and future millions with songs and movies coming out.

Do you really think the Berlin Zoo can afford to do that?

What child would want to go to the zoo that killed Knut?

It won't be done.

To me it sounds like they are going against everything they try to protest by wanting the bear killed!for people who fight for the rights of animals they have some explaining to do regarding this matter.

Just goes to show you how ridiculous some animal activist can be.

We should not kill what we are trying to save. It is illogical.