IT is not every day that one is presented with an opportunity to respond to a letter of such banality as that from Vivian Banks (Citizen, Sept 6).

Not only is she ill-informed about the aims of the Captive Animals Protection Society, she also has little knowledge of conservation and the total lack of impact that the zoo industry has on it.

Conservation is not about pickled onions (zoo animals) -- it is about shallots (animals that have somewhere to live and thrive). Zoo animals are PRESERVED not CONSERVED. Think about it.

Their ability to survive if returned to the wild is almost nil (see Miller et al 199 amongst others) and the risk to wild populations is too frightening to contemplate (see, for example, IAAWS Guidelines -- 1992).

When will people like Vivian Banks realise that real conservation is not a zoo issue. It is a political issue! (And jobs for the boys).

As for gorilla conservation, what have zoos achieved? Absolutely nothing. As with all of the species that they claim to be protecting, they are simply holding them as living trophies and objects of entertainment. Most of their claimed successes are actually short-term failures -- the Arabian Oryx, for example

But, since it is so obvious to anyone who wants to think about it that zoos are a waste of animal life, let's move on to some other of Vivian Banks' other points.

1. I resigned from Care for the Wild when I found out that someone whom we were supporting was doing something with which I did not agree. I have no problem with acting in line with my principles.

3. An award from UFAW? This is a pro-zoo organisation -- which has just joined the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Committee -- which regulates animal experiments (not stops them, I hasten to add). An award from your supporters isn't really anything to shout about. It is in-house back-slapping in an attempt to fool the public.

4. So Blackpool Zoo has 250 annual ticket holders and Friends of the Zoo. I thought from all the publicity that it gets that most of the (120,000) residents of Blackpool spend all of their spare time there! Obviously not.

5. Unlike Vivian Banks I do not rely on "spin" presented to me by others. I do my own research and draw my own conclusions from it.

6. She talks of "Those who work in the care of animals". Well Vivian, to care is to respect. To respect is to give freedom of choice. To incarcerate is to take away freedom of choice. Logical isn't it?

7. CAPS offers the best form of "protection" that there is -- the aim of stopping suffering, not prolonging it. Suffering is suffering -- trying to improve a bad lot by altering a cage simply makes the person doing it feel better.

8. So I am a fool am I? Well, I certainly would be if I were to accept that the only animals alive in a few decades time would be in zoos. It is the height of foolishness -- and shows a total lack of willingness to do anything meaningful. It is no good lighting candles in the darkness. We need to bring in electricity!

9. "Aggressive campaigning"? (Guilty). Sometimes people need to make a stand for what they believe in.

Patricia Simpson,

Cherry Tree Road,

Blackpool.