Here kitty kitty kitty... ^_^

You can't tell from the pic, but she's lapping at a giant chunk of beef or pork or something. It was kind of scary being this close, to be honest... lions have incredibly piercing eyes.

That's the look of opressed, inprisoned innocent soul that just trieds to live on without even a hope of freedom, retaliate and you're put down as mad animal, frown and you're put down as passivated mentally challenged animal, act antisocial and you're sent all over the wrld until you're put down in some russian withering zoo without proper budget to support animals.

And we think guantanamo prisoners get it hard.
Zoos should be denied with laws, and species preservation should be done in some more tolerable way, like hunting poachers with the help of private armies and "biosphere bubbles" that close in large areas of evinroment without human presence.

But besides that point, good picture. ^^

If you're like me, you may find as you get older that the issues we care about in life aren't often painted in black and white, but rather in shades of gray.

Take zoos, for instance... while it's perfectly true that some are poorly run facilities that exploit their animal charges, there are others that strive to keep their animals as healthy and happy as possible. Some work to educate the public about animals and help people to understand their importance. Still others provide invaluable research and breeding programs for endangered species. Some zoos exist primarily as shelters for injured animals that could not survive in the wild... are they to be equated with the most shoddily run roadside circuses simply because they also keep animals?

Take this picture as another example. What might seem to be an image of a lion crammed into a cage surrounded by metal bars is in reality an image of a lion that spends most of its time in an outdoor habitat... the bars enclose a 'feeding area' designed to let people get a close look while the lions eat.

So, is that right or wrong? I can't really tell you. There are too many unanswerable questions. How do the lions truly feel about their situation? Do they mind their captivity? Do they instinctively yearn for some far-off savannah that none of them have ever seen, or are they complacent in the only environment they've ever known? I have no answers... I can only speculate, and speculation is by definition uncertain. It's a shade of gray.

If you were born to a closed room of 40 squaremetres, and windows metres up fro you, with view to a sky that spreads way beyond then, a single window to some another indoor view that shows a hallway filled of some creatures that come to throw food for you few times a day. Wouldn't you want to go see what else is under that sky? Wouldn't you want to know where that hallway leads? Animals are curious too, animals do ponder these things, but all they get is those bars, and walls.

It is humans fault to begin with that zoos are "necessary".

And I have learned to love and respect animals perfectly well without visiting a zoo even once in my life. If it takes a zoo, then lock up those mentally challenged kids that fail to understand that there are other creatures on this planet unless they see them locked up in cages.

And don't speak of age, I am 23 now, I think that's fairly old enough to see all the angles and shades of gray and Form an opinion of my own.

This lion here is not endangered species, maybe heading to there but from that you can blame the poachers, and do you really think that captive lions bred in cages, born in cages, raised in cages ever will be able to return to the nature once poachers are done killing all the wild specimen?

HA! Those animals are just humans toys in those cages.
We try to keep our prisoners even as happy as we can, does it work? Who wants to go in the brick? You volunteer? :P

I quote you: "So, is that right or wrong?"

If you fail to see the wrong already in the need of zoo, a concentration camp for animals we wanted away from the way of our own expanding cancerlike culture, Whole list of species, kept alive in the brink of extinction with the help of some inbred specimens just because some farmer wanted bigger fields and some middle class ass wanted to appear more higher class and bough some rare wood bookshelf because her/his neighbor got one too.

Vets are good, veterinary stations with the purpose to heal and nurture animals, then release them back to wild, those are good, but don't give me a shit about necessity of other types of "zoos" with the sole purpose to have animals to show them off and get money from it.
Sure Zoo's aren't any giant corporations and usually the staff is animal loving and such, but american natives forced in reservates even had more freedom. And I know you can't make a fortune with a zoo, but it's a living, and that usually in this world is enough reason to oppress and even murder.

But I didn't intented to argue, just saying I do not approve zoos. Because it is me who I see behind those bars everytime I see animal there.

No harm done. I wasn't attempting to malign your opinion, I was merely putting a few thoughts onto the table that I wasn't sure you'd considered. Since it's clear that you aren't interested in discussion, I will consider the subject closed.

WEll, when there's nothing to be gained from discussion, it is not necessary to go trough anyway :)

But I like most of your photography, the squirrelshots are the best ;)
And as much of antipathy I may feel for the zoos and the concept, it won't change the fact that they exist, so you win by default there. :P