WHAT on earth are the Born Free Foundation doing by working with Grant Leisure and Blackpool Zoo? Aren't they meant to campaign for the abolition of zoos?

Why are they helping to keep wild animals in captivity? Does the name Born Free now mean something else altogether?

In m y opinion zoos are animal prisons. They put the needs of profit and people first and the zoo industry is built on abuse and exploitation.

It frustrates and saddens me that people see animals as entertainment tools.

Animals have a right to live as nature intended, not 'on show' in Blackpool of all places, to titillate and amuse ignorant people. If only we could see an end to this 'entertainment' industry.

Zoos have nothing to do with education -- look at any wildlife programme and see animals living in their natural habitat, and then compare the behaviour and lifestyle of that same species of animal in a zoo -- in fact there is no comparison.

So let's stop kidding ourselves about why animals live in zoos -- entertainment and profit are the real reasons. Born Free Foundation should think about changing their name -- their involvement in the zoo industry and the comments made by their spokesman in your article are an utter disgrace.

Emma Bailey, St Leonards Road, Blackpool