Fund For LA Animals 

One balmy day this spring in Los Angeles, five zebras at the Los Angeles Zoo grazed on a tiny dirt field half the size of a football field.

 

There wasn’t much grass to feed on, and some leaned up against a hot brownstone wall, while others laid on the parched dirt. The zebras looked tired.

 

The zebras are thousands of miles from their natural habitat in the grasslands and wooded savannas in Sudan and Zimbabwe, where they have been listed as nearly extinct for decades.

Some humane associations argue zoos can provide better living spaces and living conditions for their wildlife.

 

Robin Ganzert, president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Humane Association, published an article on the website of Time magazine back in 2016 that argued it is better for animals to stay in zoos because they help to improve their lives.

 

According to Ganzert, zoos are a combination of human care and comfortable living spaces. The zoo animals will live longer and a better life because zookeepers take better care of them, provide suitable living spaces, cure their diseases and feed them a healthy stock of food. 

 

But in reality, lots of animals are living in poor conditions at the zoo. The lack of facilities and professional care leads to depression and other psychological problems. 

 

Since the Los Angeles Zoo was built almost a half-century ago, attention has been paid to conservation programs to reduce habitat destruction and stop over-hunting. Meanwhile, maintenance fees have increased annually to pay for some of these programs. The zoo does what it can to create new activities and programs to attract more tourists to cover its expenses.

 

However, these new programs are extremely unhealthy for the animals. Animals can't get enough rest time due to the heavy schedule. Visitors who feed giraffes or who pay for behind-the-scene encounters to pet a hippopotamus or exotic bird should receive half the time to play with these wild animals.

 

According to a 2003 article published in Science magazine by behavioral ecologist Marc Bekoff of the University of Colorado, Boulder, the zoo animals can’t live in their normal routine if they are too busy playing with parents and their kids. 

 

Tokyo-based Uniqlo, a multi-billion-dollar retail chain, has contacted the Los Angeles Zoo to see if there is something that it can do to help the zoo’s wildlife. The discussion has led to the formation of a new foundation with the zoo, called Fund for LA Animals. 

 

Uniqlo decided to make a new apparel line. All the proceeds will be used to improve the living conditions of wildlife at the Los Angeles Zoo. You can now support the foundation by purchasing the collaboration apparel line or making a donation on our website. 

 

The Fund for LA Animals project not only aims to change the living conditions of animals inside the Los Angeles Zoo, but also with a possible plan to expand in other parts of the United States.