Why We Should Ban Zoos

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

They claim to protect and preserve endangered wildlife breeding or conduct research on animals to expand on knowledge about wildlife, but in reality, they just lock animals in small cages for thousands or millions of people to gaze upon the animals, which leave them annoyed, disturbed, or even depressed. The Grandview Aquarium is a zoo located inside of a shopping mall that serves as a selfie booth where people come to take selfies with a polar bear named, Pizza. The aquarium is home to “a polar bear, five walrus calves, six young beluga whales, and two Arctic foxes.” (Sims, Alexandria) Pizza the polar bear becomes depressed as people constantly bang on the polar bear’s enclosure to get his attention for a selfie every day. As each day passes by, he becomes disturbed as he’s trapped in a small enclosure with no peace. Other animals at the zoo also show signs of stereotypic behavior, Arctic foxes pace back and forth and scratch at the walls aggressively as if they are trying to attack something or someone. The staff members and the owner of the zoo does not care for the well-being of the animals at the zoo instead all they care about is making profit. In Argentina, a zoo called the Mendoza Zoo, is home to the “world’s saddest polar bear”- Arturo the polar bear suffers from depression and stress as he lives in captivity. When the temperature is too hot for Arturo to live comfortably in his enclosure, staff members simply throw blocks of ice into the water to keep it cool and nothing else. (Revesz, Rachael) Zoos are known as a place that preserves wildlife, but the lie is way far away from the