PETA Maleisië wil geen dierentuinen en roept op tot een boycot - Model Amber Chia in speciale PETA-campagne

Amber does the Tiger, again! "The Born Free

Should Stay Free!" she roars

11-02-2010 Filed in Blog by yangching, Klue, Malaysia


Just last year, Amber Chia stripped down and had her body painted to look like a tiger. She posed in a makeshift jungle with fern and broken branches, clutching a card that said "Keep Wild Animals Free. Boycott Zoos." This was in effort to attract attention to their causes and initiate debates and discussion about the problems faced by the endangered animals.

Five months later, Amber dons the 'tiger-paint suit' again, but she's no longer in her 'natural habitat'. Instead, she is photographed in a cage (she did, too, previously). This is in lieu with the celebration and welcoming of the Year of the Tiger, in an advertisement by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), where PETA and Amber urge the public to treat tigers with respect. In furthering their advocacy to keep wild animals free, they argue animals in captivity face stress and psychological function, as according to a study done by Oxford University.

A recommendation by the prestigious academic institution was to rethink how to better care for naturally wide-ranging carnivores or phase out zoos. PETA believes that "zoos present a distorted view of wildlife" and that "tigers and other animals in zoos are sentenced to a life of boredom."

Well, it is true, in a way. Nobody ever said it was right to keep wild animals in captivity. However, if you don't have zoos, how else would you educate children about wildlife? Without the zoos, they would never have the chance to see a real tiger, unless they were to visit a safari, but not everyone can afford that. Surely it would be quite dangerous to bring a young child to Taman Negara.

Perhaps it would be wiser to fight for better treatment of animals in zoos. The National Zoo in Malaysia is in a dismal state because of the lack of funds. In my humble opinion, we should help the zoos (which in turn helps the animals) instead of fight them.

Well, what do you think? Ban zoos or keep them?

(Bron: http://klue.com.my/)
(Bron foto: Klue)