Zoo animals and hybrids – thought response – 200 words | BIO280 Conservation Biology | University of Phoenix

 Reply to two prompts in 100 words each. No sites needed, these are just thoughts on the prompts.    

(Original prompt for you consideration,

• Are animals in zoos or aquariums better off than their counterparts in the wild? Why or why not? Choose an animal species and discuss relative levels of competition, parasites, disease loads, predation threats, animal psychology, and social relations in the wild versus in a zoo or aquarium. How would you relate this example to concepts of biotic integrity, biodiversity, and sustainability?
• What are some consequences to the genetic structure of a population and the ecosystem in which the population is found if that population hybridizes with domestic or released organisms? What can be done to limit the potential for hybridization?)

Prompt 1:

 An animals everyday schedules in a zoo or lives in nature. Typically, I acknowledge animals are fortunate to be in the wild since it is only significant for their drive. Sorting out some way to get through is a piece of their disposition from birth, so when that is taken out and they’re restricted from doing what their minds are encouraging them to do, they become gloomy. Regardless of the way that, animals who experience youth in a zoo and are best case scenario staying in the zoo since they couldn’t encourage their customary perseverance motivation. For example, these animals gain a few harder experiences finding food and pass on quicker than their accomplices who have been in the wild since birth. Whether or not they don’t persevere, that is just a piece of how life works and ought to occur in nature. There are two or three benefits for those animals living in captivity. For example, contamination and sickness doesn’t consistently occur inside a zoon than it would in nature. Disposal is less disposed to occur as people is more controlled. I went to Sea World when I was more young and I can say all that I communicated above is substantial for Orcas (or any animal living there). Orcas are very well disposed creatures, that are in reached with their opinions and who love to have immense regions to meander, but it is no doubt noticeable that being housed in a little office makes these animals especially deterred. 

Prompt 2:

  Animals in zoos or aquariums are arguably safer than those in the wild, but I do not believe they are better off. I feel that anything that is caged or walled in will not be as happy as an animal in the wild in normal conditions. For example, the Indri Lemur does not survive in captivity. None have survived for more than a year, and they refuse to reproduce. “Research suggests that the diet of the indri is nuanced (they eat certain foods at certain times of day) and cannot be replicated in captivity. Also, when taken from the wild, these lemurs, for reasons which remain unclear, do not reproduce” (McCaffery, 2022). I believe that many animals, like humans, are empathetic and become stressed very easily. If you were taken from your home, put in an unknown building with someone of the opposite sex, and all your needs were met, would you want to reproduce?

  The Indri Lemur is critically endangered, caused by fragmented habitats in Madagascar by swidden agriculture, also known as slash-and-burn, and illegal sapphire mining. “When indri habitats are fragmented, groups become isolated. This limits who can mate with whom, eventually creating genetic bottlenecks. When gene flow slows or halts altogether, it can quickly affect the viability of their offspring. Within a few generations, a lack of genetic diversity can increase vulnerability to diseases and parasites and even breed debilitating deformities. As generations become less viable, fewer individuals survive long enough to pass on their genes. If fragmentation of their habitat is not remedied, indri populations will likely die out in their isolation and the entire species could pass into extinction” (Lussier, 2022). So unfortunately, although this lemur is endangered, the efforts to stop habitat fragmentation are little to none, and they do not survive long enough in captivity to be studied further or bred.