Captive Wild Animals-Yes or No?

For some animals captivity does not provide adequate stimulation or social structure. But for others, the picture is not so clear and choices should be made case by case.

The concept of wildlife living in their natural environment is often painted in idyllic terms. It is easy to forget about disease, starvation, parasites, predators and all the other problems wild animals face every day. Despite the struggle for some animals it is still the best option.

The release of the young hoolock gibbon in India was exciting. I had seen her in care at WTI’s Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation some time ago, alone and bored. When I heard that a release was in the works I cheered.

With a tight family structure and the need for physical and mental stimulation that gibbons have, creating an appropriate captive environment would have been difficult under the circumstances. And this animal had not habituated to people.

But I have worked with other animals where I was not sure release was the right choice. One young sea lion continued to return to human company despite our efforts to ‘rewild’ him. Had there been a good facility available to take him I would have pushed for that instead.

In the best of all possible worlds such decisions would not have to be made by us. On a restricted island off of Mexico, I watched the local fishermen’s dogs playing in the surf with wild northern elephant seals. The elephant seals initiated the game, swimming close to shore. As the dogs ran into the water, the seals moved just out of reach, coming back in when the dogs were about to give up.

We can’t have this type of ‘best of both worlds’ situation very often but perhaps we need to be more aware of the individuality of animals when deciding their fate and not just assume that being in the wild is always better.