African American Zoos

Zoos across the world claim to be safe, suitable homes that replicate habitats of animals that are usually found in the wild. However, there is no possible way for wild habitats to be replicated well enough for animals in captivity to thrive, animals are often separated and withheld from living as they would in the wild. Despite their argument of being educational for visitors, the only thing they are teaching the public is that it is ok to take animals out of the wild and lock them up for their own enjoyment. Regardless of these claims, zoos are inhumane.

There have been many discussions about the welfare of animals since the first zoos were created. Some people agree that animals should be kept in zoo’s, they argue that it benefits the animals because their every need is catered to. However, in some zoo’s they are treated the exact opposite of being catered to. Sometimes the animals are also deprived of a natural environment that the zoo’s fail to recreate. However, zoo’s can be helpful educationally to kids. It gives them a close up on the beauty of the animals, but it comes at the animals expense.

Many zoos around the world have captive breeding programs in which they take animals from the wild and breed them in captivity and the offspring of these species become the entertainment of the public. Seeing the new panda bear cub exhibit can bring major business to the zoos, but when the new set of cubs arrive what is to be done with the old cubs? When there is no profitable use or need for an animal in the zoo it is considered a surplus. Surplus animals, if they’re lucky, will be transferred to another program that need more of that particular species. Most of the time, however, the zoo will cull the extra animals. Also, when a zoo feels as though the social structure of an animal family is crumbling, many zoos will cull any extra babies or euthanize the troublemakers. It is considered Zoothansia. According to One Green Planet, “U.S. zoos favor the use of contraception to limit the number of unwanted pregnancies amongst animals, however in Europe, killing surplus animals is standard practice”. Recently, there was a very public culling of a giraffe names Marius in the Copenhagen Zoo. The zoo has determined that Marius’s traits were too common in the breeding pool he was in so he was considered useless. Marius, the 18 – month old giraffe, was culled in front of a group of students visiting the enclosure. This sent an uproar through the animal rights movements as well as the general public simply because the giraffe could have been transferred to another zoo rather than

Keeping animals in zoos is a long-discussed ethical issue. Some people argue that keeping wild animals in zoos is reasonable, however its intolerable. The animals might be treated poorly. They are taken out of their natural habitat, put into a completely different environment and confront species of animals which they never encountered when they were free. The zookeepers don’t know how to take proper care of the animals. Keeping animals in zoos is unethical because, they can die of stress from seeing humans, they’re endangering species, and the keepers aren’t capable of taking care of them.

Zoos may seem fun to visit and exciting to see the animals; but what you don’t see is the suffering and depression that lies in these helpless creatures. There are many arguments whether or not zoos are good or bad, and if they should be removed or kept. Several think that zoos should be abolished or at least very much improved, due to animal cruelty. While, others want zoos to stay because it is beneficial for the animals and people. I strongly believe that zoos aren’t good for both the public and animals for numerous reasons.

There have been a lot of problems with animals in zoos. It has gotten to the point where zoos are hated and looked upon as a places of animal torture. Are zoos really that bad? Turns out, they are. They do not have enough space, they do not allow the animals to communicate with each other, and they sell the animals to cruel circuses.

“Before the early twentieth century, zoos would separate humans from the animals by using a series of moats. In the early 1900s, however, zoos “began displaying animals in realistic exhibits that mimicked actual habitats” (Gioielli, 2016, p. 1). Coupled with the more natural habitat is advancing care for the animals in captivity. More hospitals are being built for animals and better medicine is being created constantly. As a result of healthier and happier animals in increased popularity of animals in captivity. According to Carey (2016), “More than 10,000 zoos are now in operation worldwide . . . the central missions of zoos [are] not only to serve as attractions for recreation and amusement, but also to educate people and promote conservation . . .” (p. 2). Most people do not go to see animals in captivity for the sole purpose of entertainment, they also go to learn about the animals themselves. Both children and adults can learn about how to help protect endangered animals and their habitats. As a result, zoos and aquariums are continually gaining popularity. According to Gazert (2017), “Zoos and aquariums draw 181 million visitors per year in the United States--that’s over half the country’s population, and more visitors than the annual attendance of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB games combined” (p. 2). Unfortunately, some zoos and aquariums have been known to abuse their animals. While this is not true of all zoos, but the reports of abuse have increased leading to more controversy. Because of this the idea of keeping animals in captive is harder to accept. Still, the sad truth is that animals may have to be in captivity in order to save their species. “A recent report from the World Wildlife Fund warned that without swift and substantial human intervention, over two-thirds of the world’s wildlife could be gone by the end of the decade” (Ganzert, 2017, p. 1). Predictions

Every year almost 175 million people visit a zoo, yet the mistreatment of animals in zoos goes almost completely unnoticed. This mistreatment is constantly swept under the rug by issues that society deems more relevant or impact us more. For example, issues like climate change receive more attention. However, this mistreatment is relevant and is constantly impacting society. These animals that are left malnourished, fatigued, and constantly fighting bacterial infections, are important. Every time an animal is pulled from the wild and put into captivity it impacts the mental health of the animal and endangers everyone and everything around it. Zoos are to blame for this endangerment, yet so is the public for overlooking mistreatment such as enclosures that are too small, surplus animals, and mental illness in animals.

Instead of only showing the progress of America, the fair also displayed “barbaric” and “uncivilized” regions. There was a human zoo which took Native Americans and dehumanized them to a make them look primitive and barbaric. The human zoo over exaggerated cultures to make America seem more civilized and technologically advanced. America was very fastidious to try and make the people they put on display justify their own colonial power. In some cases this meant creating savages. In other cases, they tried to use these displays of human beings to illustrate how the colonial presence was making other people more

Many animals live miserable lives in zoos that do not take care of them properly. Most animals lie in barren cages until the day they die for public amusement. The pain that these animals go through is inhumane and just not right. ”In article , “Zoos:Myth and Reality” by Rob Laidlaw and “Zoos Connect us to Our Natural World”by Mike Hutchins both authors present their view on the state of zoos in the United States and Canada. Although some zoos are accredited vast numbers of zoo animals continue to endure lives of misery and deprivation which means zoos do not have animal's best interest in mind.

Zoos and aquariums neglect proper care and treatment for animals. In the article, Mauling, Escapes and Abuse: six small zoos, 80 sick or dead animals, Over the past decade, more than 80 animals have died, been injured or become ill because of neglect at the zoos, and more than 200 others were kept in inhumane conditions, according to hundreds of pages of federal inspection reports, interviews with keepers and court documents (Jouvenal 1). This clarifies that because six small zoos neglect proper care and treatment for animals, there are now dozens dead, injured, or kept in inhuman conditions.. The article also states, “ That keepers with no experience or little experience were asked to care for sick animals and even manage birth,”(Jovenal 2).

While many people think that animals are safe at zoos and privately owned farms it's far from the truth. In 2011, nearly 50 animals died when their owner left open their cages before he shot himself. Eighteen tigers, seventeen African lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears, two wolves, and a baboon were killed by police officers who deemed the animals to be a danger to the community (Wild at Home). Instances like these show that private owners don’t put their animals’ well-being first. Exotic animals like chimpanzees and tigers shouldn’t be kept as pets because many of them suffer due to the substandard care that is given to them by private owners, many of them pose a threat not only to their owners but to their community, and many of them carry multiple diseases that are transmittable to humans.

The topic of zoos and whether or not they’re humane have quickly become one of the biggest controversial topics in the past twenty years. There is not much of a ‘middle’ perspective in this debate, rather people tend to lie on two completely opposite ends of the spectrum when displaying their beliefs pertaining to the zoo debate. I chose to research this topic because though I have strong beliefs, I think that, on this matter specifically, people often jump to a certain side without any prior research or actual education on the subject. I think that it’s important to understand both sides of the argument of zoos before sustaining a side. Another reason why I chose this topic was to moreso educate myself and to make sure that the knowledge I

Many people think that all the animals in the zoo are happy and healthy animals. Many may think getting a glimpse of rare creatures may be exciting and the breeding program is great ideas to save animal species, but not all owners are kind to there animals. There are thousands- maybe even millions- of stories of abuse, death, and beatings that happens after closing hours at the zoo. Because of these stories, they have inspired many people to ban zoos, but many of these actions still go on. In 2010, a zoo located in China had Siberian tigers, which is one of the world's most endangered species. In the zoo they starved the tigers to death because the food was too expensive, leaving 11 Siberian tigers to starve to death. The Tigers were cramped

A handful of animals are born and live healthy lives, and that is enough for zoos. Even though a few of the infants do live, a great deal of them does not. An example of an animal that has died prematurely multiple times is the African elephants. The African elephant that is captive in zoos is three times more likely to perish than ones that live in the wild. Not only are the African elephants affected, the Asian elephants are also. The Asian elephants in zoos die faster than elephants that work in timber camps from birth (“10 Facts about Zoos.” par. 7). The article 10 Facts about Zoos states, “...40% of lion cubs die [in zoos] before one month of age. In the wild, only 30% of cubs are thought to die before they are six months old and at least a third of those deaths are due to factors which are absent in zoos, like predation (“10 Facts about Zoos.” par. 8). By stating this, the article is meaning that ten percent more of lion cubs die in zoos before they turn one month old than they so in the wild. There are numerous factors that could go into the infants dying due to the zoos. Animals have gone unfed, without water, trapped in filthy cages, and have had untreated injuries and illnesses (Jouvenal par. 15). If an animal does not try to escape and lives past infancy, then they also could be killed for being a “surplus”