Since you reply anonymously, I have no way of knowing if you'll ever be back here or are interested in a discussion. But just in case, I'll share my thoughts.
Since I developed a serious interest in big cats, I've visited as many facilities that house them as I've been able to. I've seen a wide range of husbandry practices, budgets, and skill levels among the responsible people, and I've learned enough about reading big cats' behavior that I think that I understand them better than almost all the people I ever talk to when I visit facilities. So I have some delusions that I know what I'm talking about when I say this.
Valley of the Kings doesn't look very good. They don't have the land area to provide the big habitats I'd like to see or the budget to provide features like waterfalls. But I see fewer psychological problems in the animals there than I do in a lot of places. To put it in more touchy-feely terms, the animals there are well loved and happy. They are adequately fed and the caging is adequate to keep the public safe. In short, they're not the best, but I know what bad looks like and they're not it.
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nook
Date: 2008-09-04 04:28 am (UTC)Re: nook
Date: 2008-09-04 03:20 pm (UTC)Since I developed a serious interest in big cats, I've visited as many facilities that house them as I've been able to. I've seen a wide range of husbandry practices, budgets, and skill levels among the responsible people, and I've learned enough about reading big cats' behavior that I think that I understand them better than almost all the people I ever talk to when I visit facilities. So I have some delusions that I know what I'm talking about when I say this.
Valley of the Kings doesn't look very good. They don't have the land area to provide the big habitats I'd like to see or the budget to provide features like waterfalls. But I see fewer psychological problems in the animals there than I do in a lot of places. To put it in more touchy-feely terms, the animals there are well loved and happy. They are adequately fed and the caging is adequate to keep the public safe. In short, they're not the best, but I know what bad looks like and they're not it.