I'm reminded of a chris rock quote regarding the tiger incident with the magicians...."the tiger didn't go crazy....the tiger went tiger."
Animals in captivity is an issue I directly deal with in my line of work...one of the organizations I work for has a hard line against it. The other sees it as a "gray area."
From an emotional standpoint, we all hate the idea of animals in captivity. Seeing large animals in even the best of enclosures makes me sad. That said, marine parks and zoos play a key role in the protection of many of the animals they house. Sometimes directly (like taking in a wounded animal, rehabilitating it, releasing it back into the wild, breeding programs, conservation focused research), but also indirectly, in the exposure they give people to these creatures.
How many marine biologists or zoologists or vets were born from that first visit to the zoo? A TV program isn't going to create that same sense of wonder and joy in a child that a face to face encounter will, and face to face encounters in the wild are an option for precious few. I'm not saying it is the ONLY thing that will make a child want to grow up and do these things, but it is most definitely a HUGE player in that game.
My emotions are fully against keeping large animals in captivity. My brain sees where they serve a necessary role in creating the next generation of people who would eventually dedicate their lives to a vocation associated with biology.
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