rah

It seems your view is that if it's possible to achieve some amount of your goal without causing harm, you should do that, even if causing a small amount of harm would enable you much greater success in whatever it is you're after.

It seems to me that we have different goals.

manageable harm

Obdurate.

Once they get into power keep applying the pressure.

Yeah good luck with that.

The only other option is armed revolution

That's not the only other option.

there's a chance of them listening to us once in power

Hi Tina

hammering a deal-breaker for you will cause me to change my mind

I don't understand this part of your sentence.

they can be mitigated

But not eliminated.

with minimal downsides

To me your view seems woefully ignorant, possibly even delusional:

https://northeastwildlife.org/why-do-zoo-animals-pace-back-and-forth/

So you acknowledge that zoos are not necessary for conservation?

Frakes' hair, wow :-)

I'm not talking about tourists viewing exotic animals from far off places, I'm talking about people going into the countryside that's near to them and seeing the wildlife there.