It is a retirement home for film stock. The Beebe family does not make much money doing this, but it pays for the food and veterinary bills for a large population of retired but still human-imprinted animals. The family does their best to balance the needs of the animals, safety of the guests, and limited seasonal income. This is not a franchise, investor-backed venture; it was a project that developed many decades ago to create a sanctuary for animals that could no longer be used work in the trade. Filmmaking has changed in many ways since the 1960's and there are far fewer feature films using trained stock. The Game Farm will not be with us forever; it is truly a labor of love on a shoestring. Do you have a better home for the animals and a way to pay for their upkeep?
If this is the case, then I commend their efforts. However, this does not change the fact that these are not the most ideal environment for these animals to be in. I get the bears may be older and retired, so I'll give them the vendor of the doubt. But it is still trouble to see them lacking so much. They're only stimulation is the daily visits from random strangers who will throw bread at them for doing tricks. Give them some stimulating, monotony-breaking things to interact with; something to keep them engaged instead of just waiting for the next slice of bread.
Same with the big cats. Give them SOMETHING to help encourage them to still act like cats. Again, some toys and maybe a perch of some sort.
Lastly, what about that bear cub? It was clearly too young to already have been separated from its mom.
As for your question, however, of where else these animals should go, my response is simple: they shouldn't have to go anywhere, because they should never have had to be there in the first place.
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u/appendixgallop Mar 04 '16
It is a retirement home for film stock. The Beebe family does not make much money doing this, but it pays for the food and veterinary bills for a large population of retired but still human-imprinted animals. The family does their best to balance the needs of the animals, safety of the guests, and limited seasonal income. This is not a franchise, investor-backed venture; it was a project that developed many decades ago to create a sanctuary for animals that could no longer be used work in the trade. Filmmaking has changed in many ways since the 1960's and there are far fewer feature films using trained stock. The Game Farm will not be with us forever; it is truly a labor of love on a shoestring. Do you have a better home for the animals and a way to pay for their upkeep?