Safari world?

[Guest guest]

I've been to Safari West, and it's an incredible place. It's located

on a giant tract of land, the size of a huge farm or a small town.

Different animals live near each other in open range rather than cages

or enclosure, with enough territory that it's essentially no different

than being in their natural habitat.

 

There was one species at Safari West that had been hunted to

extinction in its home country (I think Georgia or Turkey?), but was

brought to Safari West where they thrive. I can't remember if they

were intending to reintroduce the species now that the local laws had

changed to ban hunting them, but I seem to recall a happy ending to

the story.

 

I've been to some excellent zoos in Australia (which are NOTHING like

zoos in the US), and Safari West is the closest I've seen to animals

living in a natural setting with humans as caretakers. I highly

recommend going up for a visit.

 

On Aug 28, 2008, at 1:44 PM, Joelle Katcher wrote:

 

>

> The webpage makes it sound like a positive thing but i was wondering

> if anyone knew more about this organization? Where the animals come

> from?

> And whether they are being rehabilitated or exploited?

> http://www.safariwest.com/learn/

> thanks.

[Guest guest]

To be fair, while Safari West provides excellent care for their animals and they are promoting a noble goal of conservation- they still breed animals. They are still a for-profit entity (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'll admit). Since they are unable to keep all offspring on their land, it's fair to ask where those babies go? Some may remain at the park...others may be sold/given to zoos (I can only assume Safari West has a more stringent criteria for which zoos accepts their animals).

 

Just something to consider.

--------------Marji BeachEducation CoordinatorAnimal Place3448 Laguna Creek TrailVacaville, CA 95688707-449-4814www.animalplace.orgwww.animalplacesanctuary.blogspot.comwww.myspace.com/animalplace

[Guest guest]

Hello Joelle!

 

Thank you for bringing these important questions up to the email list.

At a simple level, this organization is using the animals under its

care to make money (see the various " Safari Adventures " ), so, yes, it

is exploiting the animals.

 

Their premise is that " we must teach our children to live in a world

that values all living creatures, great and small. " Do we need to

exploit the animals to value them? Do we need to show them off to

people, thereby victimizing them again (first, by removing them from

their homes; second by showing them off to people).

 

But consider an analogous example of an orphanage. Imagine an

orphanage that charges families to come in to visit the exotic babies

within under the premise that we must teach our children to live in a

world that values infants. Would this be exploitation? Does this

benefit the infants under the care of the orphanage? From this

example, you may find it's clear that the mere fact that the animals

are being showed off is problematic, not just the fact that they are

making money from the exhibit. I think it's even more clear from the

fact that the animals are being marketed as 'exotic' -- see the

experiences, for example, of people of color in this country.

 

Exploitation can occur even if those being exploited are treated well

and even if the exploiters are well-meaning (as in the patriarchal

notion that we're exploiting them, but it's not really exploitation

because we're doing it FOR them -- did they agree to be exploited or

did we decide it was okay for them?). One might say that the animals

benefit from being in Safari West, to which I'd say, do the animals

get to say for themselves that they are benefiting or is it the humans

who are saying that WE THINK the animals are benefiting by OUR

standards? Whenever somebody in a position of privileged power (in

this case, Safari West) gets to make decisions for somebody without

power (the animals), that is a situation ripe for abuse.

 

Victor

 

, " Joelle Katcher " <joellesk wrote:

>

> The webpage makes it sound like a positive thing but i was wondering if

> anyone knew more about this organization? Where the animals come from?

> And whether they are being rehabilitated or exploited?

> http://www.safariwest.com/learn/

> thanks.

> -Joelle

>

[Guest guest]

I agree with Victor and Marji. I believe there is a big distinction between a place that exists in order to make money off of animals and a place (such as a true sanctuary) which exists for the purpose of helping animals. When the pupose is to make money from the animals, it usually results in conditions, or actions that hurt or harm animals. Safaris and zoos may vary in how good or bad the conditons are, but when you look into their practices, there usually are unsavory actions such as selling surplus animals to canned hunts, etc.

 

Nettie

 

 

On Sat, Aug 30, 2008 at 10:52 AM, Marji <marji wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be fair, while Safari West provides excellent care for their animals and they are promoting a noble goal of conservation- they still breed animals. They are still a for-profit entity (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'll admit). Since they are unable to keep all offspring on their land, it's fair to ask where those babies go? Some may remain at the park...others may be sold/given to zoos (I can only assume Safari West has a more stringent criteria for which zoos accepts their animals).

 

Just something to consider.

--------------Marji BeachEducation CoordinatorAnimal Place3448 Laguna Creek TrailVacaville, CA 95688707-449-4814www.animalplace.org

www.animalplacesanctuary.blogspot.comwww.myspace.com/animalplace

-- " The thinking (person) must oppose all cruel customs, no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another. "

Albert Schweitzer