I CANNOT believe that Mrs Pat Simpson (Letters, September 27) has the nerve to talk about her "principles" and animal welfare in the same breath.

Mrs Simpson was forced to resign her position as a Trustee of Care for the Wild International after it was exposed in the press that by holding this position she was supporting the purchase and use of electric hot shots on baby elephants in Kenya.

However, several weeks before this exposure Mrs Simpson's boss and co-director of CAPS Dianne Westwood, was overheard telling a reporter that she had known about the Kenyan situation for "some time". Presumably, so had Mrs Simpson yet she only took evasive action when she was embarrassed by the very public exposure.

CAPS also demands the closure of all zoos, yet on CAPS web site it clearly and openly supports and promotes a primate centre where the animals "enjoy human contact". This primate centre is also a registered zoo and operates with a zoo licence.

Just another typical example of CAPS and Mrs Simpson's continued hypocrisy and their obvious personal vendetta against Blackpool Zoo.

One of your readers also claims that CAPS produces several educational materials -- well where are they? They are certainly not in any of our local schools.

I presume they are referring to the disgraceful and misleading leaflets regarding Blackpool Zoo that are occasionally shoved through local letter boxes. I am sure that full colour leaflets are not cheap to produce so who is actually paying for these so-called educational leaflets?

In regard to Mrs Simpson's comments relating to animal parks being the only place to see wild animals -- any of the thousands of school children who visit zoos each year could tell her that this is unfortunately already happening.

Over 60 species of mammals and birds have become extinct in certain areas of the wild since the turn of the century. Some can only be found in zoos.

In many situations species like the Californian Condor and the European Bison have been saved and re-established through captive breeding programmes.

Captive breeding is not intended to establish "museum" populations of animals, but to provide an effective temporary "lifeboat".

The theory of rescuing some extremely endangered species is not new and it has been deliberated many times by some very eminent environmentalists.

So, Mrs Simpson, the real answer to the question, do animals belong in captivity or in the wild?, is BOTH.

Mrs Simpson should leave the care and welfare of animals to the people who have dedicated their lives to doing so. This includes years of training, study, hard work and specific academic qualifications

D Moorby,

River Road,

Thornton Cleveleys.