Donovan Glynn quote: Even if the facilities are fine for the animals, we must be aware of whether the public perception is that they are fine.
Note the cage sizes 20X20 which were deemed too small and not adequate for the leopards. Do you know how big a cage/beastwagon is for a tiger or lion, quadruple the size of a leopard? About half of that 20X20. Young Thomas Bohnner mentioned he thought the cages were too small at Atwerp for the cats. Were the cages in Antwerp bigger or smaller then a beast wagon, Thomas? 
Pitou and Sirius the leopards(let's imagine that is Siam and Bombay, the elephants) have come ‘home’ to Africa thanks to Prince Albert II of Monaco. For several years the brother and sister lived at Monaco Zoo but the Prince has given the pair to Born Free to enjoy a new life in their ancestral homeland. Originating from a French travelling circus, the leopards have been resident at the Monaco Zoo for nine years.
For ten years their home has been a 20ft cage set into the cliffs of Monte Carlo. But last week - for the first time in their lives - leopards Sirius and Pitou ran free across the plains of Africa. They tasted their new freedom in a game reserve after being rescued from Monaco zoo.
The leopards had been incarcerated at Monaco's Jardin Animalier after they were given to the late Prince Rainier by a French circus owner."The lack of space makes it difficult to sustain. My father was aware of that but he loved the animals and wanted them close to him.
"Now I think we have to think in different terms. The zoo's animals need space and a sense of freedom. Most of them have been born in captivity.
"The leopards are quite old now but if they can have a nice last few years, then hopefully they will appreciate that we can do that for them.
"It's time to rethink the mission of zoos, particularly when we can now see the wonder of animal life in documentaries."
The campaign to free the animals began with an article in The Mail on Sunday that detailed the lives of Pitou and Sirius, Nina, a rare white tiger.Virginia, star of the celebrated 1966 film Born Free, said: "It's a major move forward. I'm over the moon. Once you see a zoo it never leaves you.
What if the President of the United States, donated all the Panda Bears from the national zoo for return to China, as they didn't belong in a zoo, or the Prime Minister of England took all the elephants from Whipsnade, and helped load them on planes back to India, as they deserved to be in their ancestral home, and with the wonderful BBC we can see them in wildlife movies. Imagine mentioning that a couple were confiscated from a circus while you are doing press conference's. Can anybody tell me what impact that would have with captive animals in zoos and circus's in your country? What would you zoo folks think if your Prime Minister did that, and then sponcered a circus each year, where it was apparently all right to have them in captivity. Would Zoo's object?
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I appreciate I am missing the point a bit here of the debate, but I can't help find amusement in the way wildlife documentaries are seen as the alternative to captive animals. Around 50% of our work over the years has been training animals for Natural History programmes and Natural History dramas. The BBC natural history department are old friends of ours. In fact, on my mother's side there is a history of the Chipperfield family's involvement with filming natural history documentaries with Disney.
I have a picture of dad posing with David Attenborough holding one of our armadillos back here too.
Jamie,
That is exactly the point. The perception that is given to the public may not be true. The "joke" about the zoo animals, gave the impression that like humans, they have rights, and some would agree with that giving the wrong impression. Walt Disney really gave folks the wrong impression of animals with the famous animal movies, that folks still believe today, not wanting to accept that it is not fact, but was instead staged to follow a script, with a "human like" story line.
What did Prince Albert say to the world about animals in zoo's and circus with his self serving donation of the confiscated circus leopards, and the statements that they don't belong in small cages, but instead deserve to be free in their homeland. How can we be a part of spreading "myths" about animals, and then bitch when Peta, the Greenies, and a multitude of other uninformed groups want to shut it down. We taught them what they think, showed them what the wanted to see, and told them what they wanted to hear. Let's be like the Great British Circus, and tout our elephants as being handled with nothing save for the voice, then picture the trainer with a whip in his hand, or watch the wrath come down on a legitimate elephant trainer with a large number of animals who uses a hook or a whip out of necessity and skill.
Wade
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