Inside the world of zoos what you see is not always the truth. Behind the cages and gates, wild animals suffer from harsh treatments from staff members and even madness from living in small, enclosed prison-like cages. At the Scarborough Sea Life Centre located in Scarborough, England, the Humboldt penguins are given antidepressants because they are not “adapted to the rainy British climate, which is drastically different from their natural environment on the coast of South America.” (PETA UK). While zoos are a great place to learn about wildlife, the best place to learn about wildlife is in the wild and in their natural habitats not behind confined cages. Laws should be passed to ban zoos from operating because they drive animals into insanity
Zoos educate the public about animals and the problems they face in the wild. "The fastest and most direct way for people to save and care about an endangered species is to connect with them," says Rob Vernon, the AZA's communications coordinator (Mendoza). Zoos are also convenient for people to see wild animals as not everyone has the opportunity to go to Africa and see them in person (Mendoza). Many believe that engaging with animals in person can be more inspiring and educational than a picture on a television screen. Only the smallest impact can make a huge impression. Although zoos seem to portray an educational factor they fail to teach people about the natural world. Over 2,800 children were surveyed from the London zoo and demonstrated a lack of learning outcome (Zoos Neither Educate nor Empower Children). Zoos claim they teach children about how to become conservationists, but children fail to believe they can actually make a difference. “It is hardly surprising to learn that most children visiting zoos are neither empowered nor educated by the experience of seeing captive wild animals so far removed from their natural habitat. Zoos present an entirely false view of both the animals themselves and of the real and very urgent issues facing many species in their natural homes,” says Liz Tyson director from Captive Animal’s Protection Society (Zoos Neither Educate nor Empower Children). Wild animals are called “wild” for a reason. How can we be educated about wild animals when we are not seeing them in their natural environment? Captivity lacks the ability to show animals true behaviors. A polar bear’s enclosure is one-millionth the size compared to its home in the wild (Derr). With nowhere to go the polar bear ends up spending 25% of its day pacing and walking around in tight circles (Derr). Whereas in the wild the polar bear can wander endlessly without walking into a glass wall. Dolphins naturally travel up to 100
The question of the necessity of zoos is extremely controversial nowadays. There are many people who advocate for replacing them with sanctuaries as they believe money spent on keeping wild animals captive might have been used for conserving them in wild. Others are concerned that zoos serve not only for people's pleasure but for preserving and keeping populations that otherwise would go extinct. There are sufficient arguments for both points of view, expressed in various articles that are dedicated to the significant topic. “Do elephants belong in zoos?” by Jeffrey P. Cohn and “Eight reasons why zoos are good for conservation” by James Borrell are the examples of such articles. The opinions expressed there are mostly similar for they state
Imagine living in the perfect home, the place you’ve always lived with friends, family and thousands of miles to roam around and explore. Only to wake up in a cage with the eyes of humans glaring and the flash of cameras reflecting off the glass wall. It looks like home, but the grass is fake, family and friends are gone, food only comes at certain times and the only roaming there is to do remains in the area of the closure. This is the life of an animal that goes from being wild and free to captive in zoos and aquariums. Zoos and aquariums are institutions that capture live animals and keep them in cages or large enclosures for public exhibition. To this day, zoos and aquariums are not banned, but that has not stopped people from fighting for the freedom and rights of animals. The debate between whether zoos and aquariums should banned or not has become an ongoing issue and still is today. Although zoos and aquariums do contribute to the economy, they should be banned because animals in captivity suffer from starvation and health issues, often die prematurely, and can easily cause harm to people due to be kept in confined areas.
Zoos save endangered species by bringing them into a safe environment, where they are protected from poachers, habitat loss, starvation, and predators. “The Arabian Oryx was hunted to extinction in the wild. However, from just a handful of animals in captivity the species was brought back from the brink thanks the conservation efforts of Phoenix Zoo and others. Through this incredible work, there are now over 1,000 of these magnificent animals back in the wild and thousands more looked after by zoos worldwide.”(CSA, page 1)
There should not be zoos. Thousand of animals every year struggle with the same problem, being locked up. Although this may seem like a questionable argument, this is a major problem in this world and it needs to be fixed now. In this essay there should not be zoos because they make animals unhealthy, they treat animals badly, and animals are better off in the wild.
The truth of the matter is that they are not all they claim to be. They claim to be shelters for endangered animals, educational facilities or places to fall in love with animals. They say that they are creating people who are passionate about the welfare of animals. Although these claims may be true in some cases, it is clear that many of the most popular zoos a certainly not accomplishing these goals. “If we have 700 million visitors a year going to zoos around the world and if zoos are creating people that are concerned and passionate about conservation. Where are all these conservations? Why don’t I see them?” -David Hancocks. This statement is absolutely eye opening. Why don’t we see any of these conservations? This just shows us that the goal of educating people so that they can be passionate about these issues isn’t happening. CEO of Zoos Victoria Jenny Gray said in a documentary called Zoo Revolution that “Too save rhinos is going to cost millions of dollars a year”. She is referring to the breeding programs that are set up in many institutions such as Zoos Victoria to conserve biodiversity on Earth. This would be the cost for her zoo to contribute to saving the rhinos. This cost coupled with the fact that there are many more breeding programs in place, the zoo will end up spending their money on other things. As you can see, in both of these examples zoos just aren’t accomplishing their purposes.
Zoos are bad for humans, most people do not believe it but zoos are not educating us, they are hurting us. Evidence for zoos are bad for humans is, in 2013, a zookeeper in Missouri was killed when he was knocked to the ground by an elephant, he died instantly.(Estrada). This reason this matters is because zoo animals are killing people, and that would not happen as often if they were left in the wild. Animals in films are not as nice as they are on camera. For example, the orca featured in the film “Blackfish,” is responsible for three human deaths. This proves wild animals, despite being wondrous and beautiful, can be dangerous in captivity. (Estrada). Lastly, the price it takes to
First, zoos are harmful to animals because zoos are not giving animals a healthy diet. In the article Zoos The Historical Debate it states, “Red Pandas died after ingesting rat poison.I can 't imagine how they found the rat poison. Also it states, , “Azavark have limited diet that zoos have a hard time fulfilling.” If they don 't have the right food don 't bring in these animals. And if that was not enough, the article continues to say
All over the planet, there are different types of animals, and half of the animal species are endangered. Not only that, but some species are almost extinct. But luckily there are some people that are ready to help these creatures. According to “The Stripes Will Survive” by Jacqueline Adams, “The Zoos Go Wild” from No More Dodos, by Nicholas Nirgiotis and Theodore Nirgiotis, and a video called “Behind the Scenes with the National Zoo's Lion Cubs” zoos are the ones that protect animals. All in all, the sources have different and similar ways in supporting that the zoo's role is to protect animals.
Zoos are highly unsafe for animals. Every day animals are being forced to entertain the public. 62 orcas have died at SeaWorld for the entertainment of selfish people (Krushel n.p). Colin Bairone one of Tilikum’s old trainers said, “I think everyone has a better understanding of the natural world and the intelligence and social infrastructure of these amazing animals and that concrete pools are not a place for them to be,” (Baker n.p). Not only do animals die for the entertainment of the people, they often become depressed. Frequently animals become mentally disturbed, frustrated,
Zoos may be very necessary for endangered species. But, there are different ways how to save and continue endangered species, and every zoo have had choice how they do it. Some zoos are breeding endangered species trying to continue the species, but that is not right, because it leads to very complicated health issues. For example white tiger who are very rare animal, breeding requirements are that all white tigers parents must be white tigers too, to get only white tiger, and so are zoos breeding white tigers fathers with their daughters and mothers with their sons. But some zoos again are preserving and studying endangered species in captivity to save endangered species in the wild. For example the San Diego Zoo researchers are working to preserve living cell samples from animals. Hoping that one day they will have the technology to turn cells into full animals, which could allow scientists to restore endangered species. So zoos have had the choice how to save endangered species, ones what are quicker or ones what are not possible to do right now.
This argument is split into three main viewpoints, the opinion that zoos harm animals, the opinion that zoos save endangered species, and a mix between the two. Viewpoint number three is more of a critique how zoos are good places where bad things happen and should be reformed. Each option has its own individual pros and cons but a reform of zoos and their standards would be the most economical for zoos and aquariums and this method would also be the least harmful and less stressful for the animals involved. The care and wellbeing of the animals involved should be the number one priority of all groups and by cutting back on over breeding, the phasing out of lager animals that naturally roam large distances, and creating environments that’s sole purpose is to educate people, zoos can become a better place for people and animals
All around the world, there are thousands of animals in the wild, they are enjoying their natural environment where animals do not need to be kept in a cage and let people interfere their habitat. According to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, there are over 10,000 zoos worldwide. Which millions of animals are stuck in the cage where they cannot run in the wild like all animals suppose to be. This is why I strongly oppose keeping animals in the zoo and make zoos illegal. In regards to this reason, I will be stating different conditions of different zoos, and how animals are treated in there, moreover, I will be discussing
A lot of people think that zoos are good because they help repopulate, but no one thought that the only reason why we need to repopulate some species, was because of poaching and hunting. If people never had poaching and hunting, most animals are capable out there in the wild. On the other hand, Zoos have research programs that help expand our knowledge about animals, especially the endangered species. The information gained by these programs can help protect and treat the species in the wild, as well as determine what effects if any climate change may have on the regions needed for the species to flourish. Many zoos also have breeding programs for all kinds of species, endangered or not, and learn even more about the species during the breeding, and rearing process. Zoos play a role in educating people about animals and play an important part in animal conservation. While much information on animals is available through printed materials and the Internet, it's way much better being near them seeing what they actually are. Many people lack the means to travel to the native habitats of most animals, however, zoos bring animals from many different climates and locations together in one place. For many people as well, the experience of being close to these animals has more impact than simply reading about them. This experience often gives them sympathy for animals that they may