A recent message sent to Care 2 supporters who sent a petition to the head of the BBC to ‘stop using our licence fees to fund animal exploitation!’
Chester Zoo insisted when the BBC filmed ‘Our Zoo’ that a vet was on set at all times, even if it was just the finches being filmed. The animals looked really well cared for and unfortunately today many of them WOULDN’T be happier in their own natural habitat.
I feel sad that so many people signed the petition and possibly put a stop to a series that raised awareness of Chester Zoo, its inspirational history and the role it plays today in conservation. I really feel the animals didn't suffer and in the UK many animals kept as pets in unsuitable homes suffer more.
I do care for the welfare of animals a great deal. However, I feel that the drama series 'Our Zoo' was an important story to tell and couldn’t be told without animals. The series has opened the debate about Zoos as well raised awareness of the vital role that some zoos DO today play in conservation and education. There are many zoos I would never visit and do think should be closed but I would visit Chester. It plays a vital role along with some other zoos in providing a refuge, raising awareness of animals threatened in the wild and helping in conservation projects.
I do feel, if you care about animals, that the welfare and plight of animals losing their habitats across the globe and whose populations are declining rapidly should be your main concern. What can be done about this?
In 1930. when Chester Zoo first opened. the orang-utan population both in Borneo and Sumatra, was estimated at 315000. A decade ago it was just 60,000 and shockingly today it is just 40,000. It is estimated that if nothing is done in just 25 years this species will be extinct.
This link made me cry:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature...yed-endangered
A growing human population and increasing consumerism, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia where there is a booming young middle class, has been the main factor in the orang-utans decline. The global demand for palm oil, which is found in so many food and cosmetics sold in supermarkets, has increased and led to rainforest being burnt and being replaced by palm oil plantations. In Sumatra you can drive for a day through palm oil plantations which used to be rainforest and the home of orang-utans as well as rhinos, tigers, elephants and many other creatures as well as a vast variety of plants. Sadly all have been replaced by one single plant the palm oil palm. Palm oil has and is making some companies and people incredibly wealthy. The remaining rainforest homes of the orang-utans is mainly on the sides of mountains and even this is under threat. Orang-utans which wander onto palm oil plantations are sometimes shot. Palm oil workers often are uneducated and come from cities like Jakarta are scared of these creatures. I read of one orang-utan recently being found suffering with 40 pellets in its body, sadly it died.
In 1930 there was no TV, very few people could afford to travel and Zoo were places to visit to see exotic creatures, which people knew little about. The animal populations in the wild were much healthier than now. Unfortunately the animals weren’t often housed in great conditions often chained and behind bars. George Mottershead’s dream was to try to change this and create better conditions for these animals by building ‘a zoo without bars’ after he saw a chained elephant at Belle Vue Zoo. He also wanted a place where people could learn about these amazing creatures.
Today you could argue there is not a need for zoos as we have great wildlife programmes on TV and it is easier to travel. However, sadly I do feel there is a real need for zoos like Chester. which has been a charity since 1934, and has always had ‘at the heart of everything it does the welfare and protection of wildlife’. There is a need because the biodiversity of this planet today is under serious threat due to habitat loss and many species face extinction. Chester Zoo has evolved with the times and today its vision is for a diverse, thriving and sustainable natural world and its mission is to be a major force in conserving biodiversity worldwide.
I feel sad that there isn’t going to be a second series of Our Zoo. I feel it raised awareness of these issues due to the role Chester Zoo and its charity ‘Act for Wildlife’ now play and as more people visited Chester Zoo and wanted to get involved in their conservation schemes:
http://www.actforwildlife.org.uk/
I think it told the story of a man and his family’s struggle to improve the conditions of animals. It was inspiring to know that George Mottershead had the courage to show that animals didn’t need to be kept behind bars, that elephants didn’t need to be chained. It was the first zoo to separate chimps from the public by just a moat filled with water.
As a result of the series and due to the animals which appeared in it. More people have taken an interest in and care about the plight of the Bactrian camel, Humboldt penguins and Himalayan Bears in the wild.
So sad no more BBC drama OurZoo I'll miss Mojo the penguin, Sydney the camel & Mortimer the monkey. 
I am 'Our Zoo', a wonderful family drama telling an important and inspiring story has been discontinued. 
