wildlife, really?!

I watched a documentary a few nights ago about the treatment of show business animals and the filming of wildlife. Two highlights, or should I say "low-lights" from the documentary were,

1. the chimps we see on TV or in the movies are orphans. They are separated at birth and kicked and beaten so they are afraid to misbehave. As soon as they are a few years older they become too big and strong for the trainer to handle so they are sent to research labs, where they are kept in isolation, concentration camps or roadside zoos where they are not typically cared for. The even sadder fact is that they live the life of an average human, so for the few years we enjoy them on the screen, they will suffer 40 - 60 years.


2. the so-called wildlife documentaries of animals which we see on TV are well scripted movies played by tamed animals. Remember the cool Animal Planet movies from Walt Disney? Apparently they were all scams! And not only that, they presented a lot of mis-information about the animals featured!
   This is the place where most of these animals are trained these days and it is also the place where much of the filming is done. Take a look at their list of contributions; there are names like the BBC and National Geographic in there. And they don't deny it. The explanation being that it is too difficult to film real wild animals! Is there anything you can believe in these days??