“Q: why are you pro-cap?”
I support giving captive animals the best possible care in necessary captivity. I obviously do not support facilities that don’t care for the animals beyond money-making value, and who perpetrate animal cruelty. Obviously, because nobody in their right mind supports that. So, from this point on, I assume we are talking about good facilities.
[If you aren’t sure where to look into the policies of a facility - check the Association of Zoos and Aquariums website! Facilities that are a part of their umbrella must meet strict standards of care, so it’s a great place to start to learn more.]
So what do I mean when I say “necessary?” Well, I’m not only referring to “unreleasable” animals (i.e. permanently injured or captive bred) because it is entirely too complex a situation for that. So, three major points I also mean when I say “necessary”:
Conservation - with the numbers of nearly every species in the world decreasing drastically, captive breeding populations and programs are absolutely on this list. There are success stories everywhere you look about how captive populations saved species on the brink of extinction (and don’t get it twisted -
Education - 99% of people would not know of, or care about, 99% of the species they do now if not for zoos and aquaria they’ve visited over the course of their lives. The only reason conservation programs have interest and funds to do what they do is because hundreds of people stood within ten feet of some exotic creature and fell in love with it.
Research - Captive populations allow for study of species that cannot be easily observed in the wild, and the results of these studies are beneficial to both captive and wild populations alike.
Frankly, it all boils down to the first one, for me. All other points would become moot very quickly if not for that one fact - that over 85% of species in the world are suffering from habitat loss directly because of humans. “The wild” is no longer pristine, is no longer untouched anywhere, and is no longer home for many species. Unless and until there are habitats for these species to return to, I am firmly in the pro-captivity camp.