Panda breeding

Although Chris West, the chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, admits that money is part of Edinburgh Zoo’s motivation for trying to breed the pandas, he mustn’t be allowed to try to justify the archaic practice of incarcerating intelligent and sensitive animals for public amusement while pretending he’s doing something entirely different (Friends of The Scotsman, 25 April).

What’s the point of breeding more pandas if they have no real home to go to? If Edinburgh Zoo genuinely cared about this species, its funds would go to habitat conservation rather than perpetuating the cruel cycle of captive breeding and shuffling pandas between institutions.

Ben Williamson

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

London