Wild Animals Are Not Pets

I don't want to sound harsh, but wild animals are not pets. I love animals of all kinds, and have a very healthy respect for those animals that might injure or kill me just by doing what comes naturally for them.

An article in today's Los Angeles Times talks about a recent incident at San Diego's Sea World -- and the fact that this kind of thing will happen again. [The article includes a clip of the actual attack.]

Earlier this week, a zoo employee was attacked and killed, as explained in this article.

I think it is wrong to "train" elephants to "perform," to "train" bears to ride on balls, to have people sticking their heads in the mouths of captive alligators. I even go so far as to think it is wrong to have most animals in a zoo.

While it is true zoos perform a very important function when it comes to helping endangered animals, there is really no reason to have most animals in captivity. I totally understand that captive animals help humans understand them, their needs, the damage being done to their environment, etc. But it is wrong to cage wild animals.