this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2023
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The sadder part of this is that many "pet" parrots live much shorter than their natural life in the wild because their owners don't know how to care for them. They're also extremely intelligent, some researchers argue that macaws can be considered sapient for example.
Even more widespread problem with koi and goldfish. They can live well into their 80s and can grow up to many pounds over that time, yet most people have their goldfish die after two weeks and just assume that's their natural lifespan because they're irresponsible owners. Hint: that glass bowl is not cutting it, there isn't a single species of fish that can be healthy in a tank without an active circulation pump and filter. Also fun fact: the Western misconception that goldfish can be kept in bowls comes from the fact that in China and Japan where they originate, owners would sometimes put them in clay bowls to show them off (which were about a meter in diameter BTW, not the soccer ball sized bowls you see nowadays), they were kept in those bowls very rarely, they were traditionally raised in large ponds.
Do you mean goldfishes are like koi? I cannot fathom that, like.. is it really?
Goldfish are very closely related to koi.
But.. but they are soo small and fragile-looking!
So are all baby animals. Which is the only life stage of their species you've probably ever seen because most pet ones never live even close to their maximum lifespan.
Also, jellyfish are even more fragile looking yet some can theoretically live forever. Looking fragile to humans does not mean they aren't well adapted to survive for a long time in their natural habitat.
I.. I just cannot accept this reality. How did I, how do people, how.. how could this misfortune happen???
Because of the industrialized pet industry, the likes of PetSmart. They've convinced people that small pets like fish are products that can be thrown away instead of living individuals. They'd rather your small pet die in two weeks because that just means you'll be back to buy another one, so they've launched a propaganda campaign against any sentiment of responsibly caring for them and fooled the majority of people into thinking that it's just their normal lifespan and they need way less care, equipment and commitment than they actually do.
They are related but not that closely. They share the same taxonomic family, but not the same genus. It's like saying a fallow deer and a moose are very closely related. Or a panda and a grizzly.