SilverArrow
Certified Ride Geek
Seaworld's whales have bred naturally. The first successful killer whale birth was in 1985 and it wasn't until 2001 that an AI calf was born. Only 5 of of all the whales were born by AI for sure as usually lots of natural mating occurs as well during the conception period. AI however can be particularly useful in doing long distance gene transfers as it saves animals having to be moved on breeding loans.
The issue with animal charities is that a lot of them, particularly large ones like WWF siphon a LOT of money off to other parts of their business so most of the money is being lost before it gets to help any actual animals. Most animal professionals are very wary of who they donate to and who they work with because they are aware of how corrupt it is. Unfortunately the public just want to help and often don't have the time of knowledge to look deeply into where their money is going so the cycle continues.
I have a friend who wants to go out to Africa to work on anti-poaching efforts but they're finding it so hard to find good places to go as so many private reserves and centres are just breeding animals to feed trophy hunting. People go to these places for gap years and bottle feed lion cubs, being told that they're helping a breeding program only for them to be the target for some trophy hunter a few years down the line. You would have thought we'd made some progess on those things by now but alas no!
The white tiger issue is another hot topic amongst zoo keepers at the moment but positive things are in the pipeline. BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) is working on new legislation in this area to stop breeding of white tigers and I think in time this will cross over to the AZA (American Zoo Association) as well. It must be remembered that it's the breeding that is an issue, not the keeping of the animals necessarily. The rest of the animals will need to live out their lives somewhere. They serve as a good education point though.
The issue with animal charities is that a lot of them, particularly large ones like WWF siphon a LOT of money off to other parts of their business so most of the money is being lost before it gets to help any actual animals. Most animal professionals are very wary of who they donate to and who they work with because they are aware of how corrupt it is. Unfortunately the public just want to help and often don't have the time of knowledge to look deeply into where their money is going so the cycle continues.
I have a friend who wants to go out to Africa to work on anti-poaching efforts but they're finding it so hard to find good places to go as so many private reserves and centres are just breeding animals to feed trophy hunting. People go to these places for gap years and bottle feed lion cubs, being told that they're helping a breeding program only for them to be the target for some trophy hunter a few years down the line. You would have thought we'd made some progess on those things by now but alas no!
The white tiger issue is another hot topic amongst zoo keepers at the moment but positive things are in the pipeline. BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) is working on new legislation in this area to stop breeding of white tigers and I think in time this will cross over to the AZA (American Zoo Association) as well. It must be remembered that it's the breeding that is an issue, not the keeping of the animals necessarily. The rest of the animals will need to live out their lives somewhere. They serve as a good education point though.
