Argumentative Essay About Zoos

Some of my favorite field trips when I was younger were the ones where we went to the Metropark Zoo. Though, a lot of the time the animals wouldn’t move; they would just lay there or pace back and forth. As a kid, I didn’t notice this as a sign of mental illness or a symptom of ensnared animals. But now I know of abnormal repetitive behavior, also known as ARB, the scientific term for repetitive behaviors demonstrated by confined animals. Animals show symptoms of this in a long list of strange behaviors: head bobbing, pacing, rocking, biting themselves, sitting motionless and more. Zoos have lifted the concern of many people, and raise the question, should we get rid of them? On one side, they say no. Think about the educational value behind

These animal prisons employ almost 200,000 people nationwide. Jobs are a hot topic in our politics, and there’s no doubt that losing 200,000 of them would raise a few eyebrows…. Plus, there are of course plenty of zoos that treat their animals great and actually do more good than bad. Many zoos provide a sanctuary for endangered animals or protect them from the hostile environments of their natural habitats. Take tigers for example; they’re an endangered species due to their vulnerability to illegal poaching and habitat loss from extensive logging, but zoos have provided a safe enclosure for them to live. Leave it to humans to ruin an animal 's habitat, shove them in a zoo and claim they’re helping. Another go to defense of zoos are their educational value. If I had a penny for all the things I learned at the zoo I’d say I’d be approximately 3 cents richer. Even if zoos were as educational as they say, why couldn’t you just watch documentaries. There’s an entire channel on tv dedicated to giving educational information about animals. But - of course- you can’t forget the wholesome family fun spent at zoos! Watching these animals suffer is a great way to bring families closer and creates monumental memories to last a lifetime. And only at the expense of a few hundred thousand animals! (751,931 to be