Dr Draper said zoos caused animals huge mental trauma. You can see stress behaviour in captive gorillas and abnormal social behaviour and even repetitive behaviour.
JANE DALTON: ‘Animal-welfare experts have condemned an entertainment park for teaching a gorilla to do handstands. Video of Bolingo copying his keeper as she stands on her hands at a US attraction has been shared hundreds of times on social media. The 12-year-old animal, kept behind glass, experiments and learns to put his feet to the spot where her feet are up. But claims the footage showed the animal was being provided with “mental stimulation” were disputed.
Chris Draper, head of animal welfare and captivity at the Born Free Foundation in Britain, said the video highlighted the shortcomings of keeping wild animals behind bars. “It says something about the life of animals in zoos when something like this is deemed useful to keep animals occupied,” he said…
Dr Draper said zoos caused animals huge mental trauma. “It’s well known that primates and gorillas in particular are sensitive to large numbers of people crowding around their enclosures. Gorillas interpret people staring at them as a threat. You can see stress behaviour in captive gorillas and abnormal social behaviour and even repetitive behaviour such as regurgitation and reingestion as a result of stress”.’ SOURCE…
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