Originally Posted by Tom Lusk
Zoo animals are not viewed as wildlife as they normally have come to rely on humans for their safety/food and so are considered captive/domesticated.
There may be some creatures that continue to hunt or forage for themselves in captivity, but I can't think of any offhand.
I agree that wildlife has the connotation of being "wild" as in not captive. That makes sense to me. BUT you shoulda been at the zoo with me today. I nabbed a couple good shots of "visitor" birds. The San Diego Zoo has a few exhibits that the local Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Herons think is a resort. Not to mention many other birds native to the area like to hang around there. Today there were over a dozen egrets ON TOP of the Sea Eagle, Harpy Eagle and California Condor's enclosures. I even saw an egret FISHING inside one of the partial inside/outside aquariums. I couldn't believe the bird got in. I bet the zookeepers just love that!
