CFACT student leaders at the University of Louisiana recently toured the Zoo of Acadiana in Lafayette to bring awareness to the benefits zoos have in preserving our species. University of Louisiana CFACT President Adam Cannon said that in todays campus culture zoos are usually talked down upon for owning wild animals, however what people seem to leave out is that many of these animals were either rescued or born into captivity and would not survive in the wild. The Zoo of Acadiana is one of many zoos that strives to foster species growth while also educating the public on a variety of fauna found through out the world.
American Alligator takes in the warm Louisiana weather.
Information at the American Alligator Exhibit
Another issue that was highlighted on this trip was the use of the free market to help preserve species like the American Alligator. The zoo featured an extensive exhibit of the American Alligator, an animal that was once an endangered species. By marketing an alligator hide market and campaigns such as alligator taste like chicken the alligator has become a commodity and therefore is farmed and protected as property. This ensures that alligator numbers will always remain high and will never once reach the level of endangered species again.
Trips like these are part of CFACT’s Save Our Species Campaign, which aims to show students the benefits of species sustainability through private means. This message combats the radical green narrative that nature left alone is the best way to preserve species, an idea which has failed time and time again.
CFACT Student Joe pets a baby goat or “kid” in the petting zoo.
