Charles Paddock Zoo: Should Zoos More Good Or Good?

One of the most fun, visually amazing functions to visit are zoo's. Growing up as a kid going to the zoo was so much fun and basically guaranteed a great day out. People have been complaining and questioning the role of zoo's for a long time now. Some claim that it actually kills the animals off faster. Others claim that zoo's actually help protect and preserve the lives of these animals. Only one can make a reasonable argument by studying sources, and finding out statistics. Based off of the articles, "The Stripes Will Survive", "The Zoos Go Wild", and "Our Beautiful Macaws and Why They Need Enrichment", we can truly get in-depth analysis about the role zoo's play.

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.

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 present a certain blend of nature and culture. They have always provided a way to bring natural wildlife and urban Americans together as a means of entertainment. Yet, throughout the years the role of zoos have changed. Though once used for amusement, zoos are now being used for education on preservation and the welfare of endangered species. One may wonder where and how the idea of zoos started and just how they, and the environment around them, have changed throughout history.

People think that animals want to be in zoos, but they really do not. In some zoos the owners or zookeepers see how the environment is making the animals feel bad or good and they try to change it by giving the animals a similar habitat to where they came from. All three stories “The Stripes Will Survive”, “The Zoos Go Wild”, and “Our Beautiful Macaws and Why They Need Enrichment” deal with protecting animals but they all do so in different ways.

Another stress-causing factor is taking zoo animals from their families and moving them to different enclosures of even different zoos altogether. Similar to circuses, zoos are home to many potentially dangerous animals that could cause a lot of harm if they escaped or fly off the handle. At the San Francisco Zoo, one tigress is responsible for the death of a 17-year-old boy and seriously injuring two brothers after escaping from her enclosure (“Man Killed by Tiger”). Zoos are home to about 6,126 different species and all 6,126 species belong in the wild where they thrive and life a life of freedom

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.

Imprisoned animals are unable to have control over their natural environment because they are estranged from their natural dwellings for a long time. The book titled Animal Madness: Inside their Minds by Laurel Braitman (2015) exposes the tragic destiny of the wild animals in zoological gardens who suffer psychologically by developing abnormal behaviours such as pacing, circling, bar biting, self-mutilation and neck twisting. These abnormal behaviours are interpreted as ‘zoochosis’, and the caged animals have an immense tendency to form this abnormality due to their boredom, frustration and lack of

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.

Now there are modern zoos in almost every city in the world that boasts different arrays of animals. With all these different zoos around the world, we see different approaches on how these animals are treated and what they are subjected to.

Zoochosis is the psychological problem associated with animals that are kept in confined places. Animals that are kept in zoos show signs of extreme depression and never get the chance to live their way of life. For many people around the world, zoos represent an opportunity to experience animals that most have never seen before, but sadly the experience for animals is terrible because they suffer physically and emotionally which takes away their chance at a fair life.

S.M.P. Benbow worked in the Department Environment and Geography at the University of Manitoba, and is now the Associate Dean at the Clayton H. Riddell Faculty of Environment, Earth, and Resources. This particular article was part of her Peer- Reviewed works. The motivation behind this work and many others is her love of the environment. This article is a peer reviewed article, so the structure and language is professional and scholarly. This article puts a lot of emphasis on zoos being developed to be like their natural habitats. The majority of the article gives detail on the development of zoos over the years. The author takes time to explain everything, and backs up all evidence with quotes and information from other sources. Benbow seems incredibly knowledgeable on Zoos and the environment. She also leaves out her opinion most of the time and give mostly facts, but she seems to think the advancements made have helped improve enclosures. This author makes the idea of zoos seem less bad by explaining how the enclosures have improved tremendously (Benbow, 2000, p 13-23).

The Lincoln Park Zoo should be banned in order to protect animals from unsuitable enclosures and inadequate living conditions. Many of us feel the obligation to give animals the same rights as ourselves, so the idea of closing this zoo will prevent the capturing of wildlife and help end the miseries of several animals. By shutting down the Lincoln Park Zoo, numerous controversial issues and struggles will brought to attention on how to care for captive wildlife, or where animals would go without a home. However, if public zoos planned to close within the next year, hundreds of animals that are currently residing in the exhibits will be transported to an animal care center and then released back into the wildlife. This would allow for animals to roam free without being enclosed within a limited space, and be able to enjoy their natural habitat. Getting rid of cages reinforces the idea of interacting with animals and biodiversity in parks and reserves in a natural way.