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Nikki-vdp β Stellar Marks
#adult #bird #birdofprey #black #closeup #eagle #head #portrait #prey #raptor #sea #seaeagle #stellers #stellersseaeagle #yellow #accipitridae #praguezoo #haliaeetuspelagicus
Published: 2015-01-28 12:34:25 +0000 UTC; Views: 771; Favourites: 42; Downloads: 0
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Description
Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) at Prague zoo.Related content
Comments: 18
I'd love to put this in my list of possible photos to draw...
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As long as you refer to the photo in the comments when you upload the result somewhere, that's no problem at all 
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I haven't done an animal drawing or painting in quite some time.
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Too bad 
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It's ok! I'm used to it lol.
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How do you feel about zoos (aside from captive breeding programs for endangered species)?
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I could probably write an entire essay about that topic, but I'll try to summarize it. I personally feel they're developing from something where the bad (FAR) outweighed the good, to something where the good is starting to outweigh the bad. (as long as we're talking about proper zoos, I'm totally against 100% commercial enterprises with no regard for animal welfare and 200% regard for income). I think they're useful for educating children and adults alike and raising awareness (I think it's easier to raise money for e.g. tiger preservation, if people have been able to see its magnificence for real), for scientific purposes in that animal behaviour, communication etc. can be studied more easily which in turn provides vital information needed for teams that try to protect these species in the wild, and like you already pointed out for having a safety population at hand in case a species is endangered in the wild so there is at least a chance to try and save them (with safeguarding against inbreeding). And, in all honesty, I really would miss the opportunity to see all these animals for real and be able to photograph them if there were no zoos, although I'm perfectly aware that's very selfish of me.
I am aware living conditions at a zoo can never truly replace what it would be like for the animals to live in the wild, but I've been seeing vast improvements around here over the last ten years e.g. where they keep multiple species together when possible, in very large enclosures that mimic the animals' natural living conditions and where they enrich the environment by having animals (semi) hunt and search for their food. Also, a lot of zoos (like the one here in OsnabrΓΌck, which I visited yesterday) are also breeding for rerelease in the wild, which is very valuable in my opinion. In OsnabrΓΌck, for example, they're focusing on getting lynxes back out there in a nearby nature reserve, by allowing them to slowly readapt to 'wild' living conditions and recently the first wild-born cub of a captive-bred mother lynx has been signaled. I think ideally zoos will develop into a sort of small nature parks, rather than traditional zoos, where they each perhaps have fewer species (or a lot more space), but in larger, better and more natural enclosures, so that there is a good balance between animal welfare on the one hand, and all the benefits of traditional zoos on the other.
(and now please don't shoot me, cause I know this is a very 'dangerous' topic, also, sorry for my poorly built sentences, it's rather late and I'm very very tired)
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Thank you! Β This one is listed as one of the stars of the zoo
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