Are Zoos Captive?

As the animal rights movement has developed and grown substantially in recent years, there has been an increased focused on the welfare of captive animals. A popular institution that has received much attention for keeping animals captive is the zoo. Because of this focus, zoos have responded by publicizing their positive benefits for existence in order to justify keeping these animals on display. Since the term “zoo” can have a wide variety of meaning and characteristics, it is important to define what constitutes a zoo in this essay. Zoos are defined as a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and

In the article “Zoos Are Cruel and Unnecessary,” Earth Times posed a question, “With the internet, as well as DVDs, 3D TV, etc., are zoos really necessary to teach people about animals in the 21st century?” In the response given by Liz Tyson, director of the Captive Animals’ Protection Society, she argues an animal and its environment in a zoo is “out of context” and there is no substitution for an animal’s natural habitat. Therefore, viewing animals in such environments distorts the message that a zoo’s primary purpose is to conserve these habitats in the wild. By focusing solely on the artificial habitats, Tyson fails to mention the educational opportunities that zoos and zoological parks can provide, such as interactive visitor programs, breeding and rehabilitation programs, and up-close animal encounters.

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.

Zoos have become a very visited place over a person’s lifetime, whether it be for an educational school field trip or for a day of fun. It’s a wonderful experience to be able to see animals up close in a controlled environment, keeping visitors safe from these animals, however do visitors think of what the animals are going through? Zoos are not providing enough space for captivated animals to live causing numerous problems not only involving the animals, but some visitors as well. Zoos should not be allowed to hold animals in captivity unless they significantly increase the size of each cage (change cage into something else).

Zoos, SeaWorld, and circuses are places for families to enjoy entertainment. However, most people do not realize how the animals in each of these establishments are handled. Yes, they all bring in revenue and present the tricks these animals can do, yet these places preform detrimental acts to the animals. For example, the killer whales at SeaWorld are sometimes starved if they do not perform the way the trainer wants them to. In comparison, circuses torture lions and tigers until they are submissive to how the show-people want them to act. Zoos do not necessarily torture their animals, but it is proven the animals live much shorter lives in captivity. “Lives of animals in the wild versus captivity are literally worlds apart, and even the best captive facilities can’t recreate the conditions of the wild — not exactly. Most don’t even try, leaving animals in tiny enclosures with no socialization, enrichment or joy. Captivity is unnatural and unhealthy” (Sentenac). People are starting to recognize the danger of continuing these practices, but there’s a long way to go.Furthermore, animals in all of these places have suffered many traumatizing and even deadly events. There was a recent report that two circus lions, whom had severe head injuries, were killed by poachers who snuck into the sanctuary. “Last year poachers bypassed an advanced security system at a lodge near the town of Tzaneen in the Limpopo province, killing two lions by feeding them poisoned meat” (Graham).

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.

But a study performed by the University of Arizona, found that 86 percent of the visitors went to the zoo for “social or recreational purposes,” and only six percent went to a zoo in order to learn more about animals. One can learn much better about a bear’s life through a documentary than having that same bear in a concrete prison. Many people liken zoos to a paradise for animals - a blissful place where animals are not compelled to struggle for food or run away from predators. If that were the case, given the chance, animals wouldn’t have escaped from their captivity in numerous instances. Every aspect of their lives is manipulated and controlled, from what they can eat, to when they can sleep. The convention of equating zoos with theme parks has maintained the status quo of these cruel

The zoo is packed with children, running everywhere. They laugh and smile as they watch the animals at the zoo sleep. What these children do not realize is that these animals are dying on the inside. Animals that live at the zoo are extremely depressed. These animals can suffer severe psychological disorders from being out of their natural environment. But others argue that keeping these animals in captivity will help keep endangered species alive. However, the disadvantages of keeping animals in captivity are becoming more and more serious, and more people are beginning to believe that animals should not be held captive. Animals should not be kept in captivity because of the negative impact it can have

One reason why zoos are not good for animals is because they confine animals to tiny spaces. “The treatment of animals held in captivity has changed over history, as the understanding and views of their well-being has increased” (Goodman, 2016). Zoos might have been a good idea in the beginning, but they are not suitable for animals today. “118 animal deaths occurred at AZA-accredited locations, with 10 happening due to human error, including the gorilla Harambe's death at the Cincinnati Zoo” (Thoet, 2017). Zoos are seen as a fun environment, but people do not know what goes on.

Zoos are the underrated American pastime. They’re not attended as much as baseball or football games yet almost everyone has been to one within their lifetimes, whether it be through a class trip or a family get together, zoos have always been there for our entertainment and learning needs. They’ve become major centers of learning and conservation and the zoos we have today transform the minds of the young children that attend as well as aid in the preservation of as many possible species that they can. Yet, zoos have not always been this way. Up until the 1930’s, zoos have been fairly cruel, inhumane places that have focused solely on profit rather than the wellbeing of the animals they house making many zoos places that animals go to die

Zoos are a dynamic educational source that enhances our community. Zoos raise awareness about jeopardized species and the significance of preservation. Zoos may help us to comprehend animals. They offer a good tool for our societies by lodging and dealing with creatures that may have been in peril at one point in their life. “100,000 kids come to London Zoo every year to learn about creatures.”[3] Usually when people come to zoos and they are taught about the conservation of some of the endangered species, a lot of these people get motivated and inspired to do something about it either by donating money or volunteering to help and so on.

The Doctor Chris Parsons, former Director of the Society for Conservation Biology, explains animal welfare groups accept the use of animals for some human interests like clothing, food, recreational need, or scientific experiments, as long as the animal is free of stress and pain . The influential groups, the Humane Society and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, recognize on their website some zoos are beneficial to animals supporting conservation programs, participating in the preservation and restoration of endangered species, and promoting education about the importance of wildlife. However, this statement holds under certain conditions. First, the Humane Society recommends zoos to be organized around “a core mission that educates the public about the needs of the animals and the threats they face”. Also, zoos should provide animals with humane care and adapted to their physical, social and psychological needs. Finally, ASPCA indicates, zoos should “participate in tightly controlled breeding programs” and their display “should stress the themes of endangered species, wild habitat destruction and reduced biodiversity”. Unfortunately, many zoos are not falling under this description, but they can act on several factors in the intent to work towards the animal welfare activists’ demands.

Some people agree that animals should be kept in the zoo. They said it would be safer for the animals and they won’t be extinct. The amount of possibilities of them dying, shot by hunters or any other reason, still higher than the chances of their survival. Food and shelter are provided, medicine, and their breeding is being controlled. And many of the wild animals in zoos are ones that are on the endangered list as their amounts are rapidly diminishing. Letting them loose and returning them to the wild is not necessarily a safe option. (Mylot, 2007) In fact, zoo can be one of the educational studies for children and people who are interested with animals. Zoo is the only place that we can have an opportunity to see animal’s life really close and sometimes we can touch them. Zoos also provide lots of information about certain animals, children can have chance to get out of the classroom and learn so they can see natural beauty from different species of animals. Even children can see them from discovery channel but that’s really different if you see animal in real world, for an example, if you see crocodile, snake or shark in the movie, maybe you won’t afraid than you see the real one. According to Tudge, (1992, p.56) Zoos are the place where people can study animals and their habitat, even scientist don’t need to go

There are many different types of zoos, ranging from small, half-abandoned collections of animals to huge, seemingly extravagant homes for these wonderful creatures. Most can agree that small, for-profit zoos aren’t okay. But what about the big, ‘non-profit’ zoos? The ones that are supposedly only meant to help endangered animals? In reality, more than half of zoo animals are not endangered at all, but instead captive to draw crowds (One Green Planet 2015). As for the animals that are endangered, zoos tend to only house the popular species, including animals such as tigers and elephants. Most endangered species are not chosen by zoos because they are not as popular, so they won’t attract as many visitors (One Green Planet 2015).