WHAT a cute picture of Sophia, the baby white crowned mangabey monkey, on the front of the Press (April 26).
However, it is so sad to know she will spend her life in captivity in the zoo, and especially sad since mangabeys are so rare in the wild.
Life for zoo animals is full of boredom and frustration, and it is perhaps the stress of this which led her mother to reject her in the first place.
I cannot believe this is a common trait of primate species and suspect it happens rarely, if ever, in the wild.
Many zoos talk about conservation of endangered species, yet virtually never introduce those animals back into the wild. So it seems pointless to encourage them to breed, just to spend their lives in an unnatural zoo enclosure for our entertainment.
Many people, including myself, would like to see Flamingoland close its zoo and expand its theme park instead.
The website www.captiveanimals.org gives more information on zoos and animal welfare.
Sarah Bramley,
Gordon Street,
York.
Updated: 10:13 Monday, May 02, 2005
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