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Simple_Opossum OP t1_j4vr7ff wrote

So sad that there are so few left and the population is still in decline.

It breaks my heart to see what people have done to the planet, the environment, the creatures that live there—especially cetaceans, which are widely known to be some of the most intelligent animals on earth.

If only politicians could govern in good faith.

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Budget_Pop9600 t1_j4w1qzq wrote

That doesnt fill their pockets though

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techleopard t1_j51ujaa wrote

Sadly... this is one of the reasons I actually do support well-funded zoos. People can hem and haw about "abuse" all they like, but putting a financial incentive on saving animals is how they get saved from extinction.

For example, for certain types of endangered exotic antelope, there are more individuals on ranches in Texas than there are in the wilds of Africa. People want to shoot these animals so badly that it's become ludicrously profitable to not only save them from extinction, but manage their genetics to prevent them from bottlenecking.

If the cheetah wasn't so hard to breed in captivity, the pet market would have completely reversed their current endangered status because they're probably the "safest" of the big cats and most trainable for hunting, racing, and sport.

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HandoTrius t1_j4yyfl4 wrote

It hurts my heart so much, we could do so much better

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