Laurel Braitman's Animal Madness: Inside Their Minds

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.

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.

A short documentary film, ‘Zoochosis’, highlights odd behaviors captive animals can exhibit. These unnatural behaviors are repetitive, such as rocking, vomiting, head-bobbing, pacing, and other repetitive actions. Although the cause is still unknown, many experts believe one of the reasons for this disorder is extreme stress (Ramos). When animals are placed in enclosures with animals they aren’t compatible with, it can often lead to aggression and hostility. This is an unhealthy and stressful environment for the animals and, if stress is the cause of zoochosis, can lead to the unnatural behaviors.

Some people say that Harambe should have been killed instantly because a human’s life is more important that an animal’s. I agree with them that human lives are more important than animals, but I don’t think Harambe should have been killed. I think that the zoo should have tranquilized

Lonely, captivated, miserable and isolated are all traits that describe how an animal held in confinement feels. These animals have a mother, a family and siblings. They don’t deserve to be taken away from that against their will, even if it’s for the sake of science or entertainment. The first time I ever visited a zoo I remember feeling horrible for all the animals kept in cages, exploited. They are living creatures, with feelings, just like us and I don’t see us humans placed in cages for everyone to see?

For many centuries, zoos have served as a way of both educating and entertaining various audiences around the world. However, many ethical and moral concerns have arisen recently regarding the manner in which the animals in these facilities are treated. Zoos disregard the rights of animals because the audiences and employees treat them poorly and animals are unable to thrive in the small enclosures. Journalist Michelle Carr is correct in her claim about the harsh reality of zoos. Even though authors Leslie Kaufman and John Pickrell are accurate when they claim that many zoos serve as educational and conservational institutions, this does not excuse the fact that zoos take advantage of animals in order to make money.

A terrifying situation occurred on May 28, 2016, a young boy, only three years old, accidently fell into the Gorilla World Habitat in the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. As a result, the boy was in an extremely dangerous situation with a male silverback gorilla named Harambe. The ginormous gorilla dragged the helpless little boy around, disorienting the little boy. After a while, when the boy was in critical condition, zoo officials had to shoot and kill the gorilla just to keep the little boy safe. Luckily the boy survived this incident. Although the decision to shoot the gorilla was controversial, one thing we can all agree on is that zoos are not safe and something needs to be done about that. The current state of zoo safety is not where it should be, animal enclosures are not secure, dangerous animals live in zoos, not much at all is being done to change safety standards in zoos.

Historically, people have collected and kept various animals as status symbols. Many of these “prized collections” were later transformed into public zoos during the 19th century. What began as a private area for zoological study, the zoo eventually became a popular destination for a picnic and entertainment. In those days, animals were confined to small cages, an alienating environment far cry from the open wilderness. While there has been a considerable improvement since then, with the implementation of naturalistic enclosures, the

A sensitive topic not widely spoken about enough in our nation is the illegal killing of gorillas. While this immoral activity is typically seen as a horrendous act to commit, it still occurs more than we’d like to see. These illegal killings have now put one of the closest animal groups to humans on the endangered species list. Gorillas tend to be killed for a multitude of reasons nowadays. The cruel game of hunting, the need of their meat to be sold on a market, or that they can be seen as a threat are all reasons why gorillas may be illegally killed. One real life scenario is the killing of a gorilla named Harambe in the Cincinnati Zoo. Harambe was killed because he was seen as a threat to a child, even though Overall these illegal killings

180 million Americans visit zoos in the United States each year. However, an incident in 2016 at the Cincinnati Zoo, where a three year old boy fell into the exhibit of a 440 pound gorilla named Harambe, sparked a controversy in America. Americans have been questioning and debating whether these institutions are actually beneficial to the animals and if it’s really ethical to keep animals like Harambe in captivity. Not all zoos have the money to provide what wild animals need. Considering both the pros and cons of either sides of the issue, it is clear that zoos are detrimental to the animals for various reasons including unacceptable living environments, dangerous health concerns, as well as a huge ethical dilemma.

Animals are meant to roam free and hunt and scavenge for their food. In zoos they have a much more regular diet than in the wild. Without the freedom of the outdoors these animals do not have a chance to express their natural tendencies. “Enclosed and confined to a small area they cannot do what they usually do in the wild: run, swim, climb trees, hunt, and so on. Animals can be victims of stress, which can result in physical and psychological suffering.” (tigers-world). This shows how animals should be left in the wild. They were born there and therefore should remain in their natural habitat. This was compared to humans and how it would feel if we were kept in cages for no reason. Many of the animals kept in zoos are water dwelling creatures. One of the largest attractions are the orcas at seaworld. Many spend the entirety of their lives cooped up in a small cage. One such documentary focused on the horrendous conditions the whales live in. “The documentary made the pretty convincing case that the circumstances of Tilikum's confinement (SeaWorld seems to have kept him, nearly all the time, alone in a tank

Have you ever heard of the meme Harambe? Well it was based off of an innocent gorilla being killed because of a mother and zoo’s stupid act, but it does raise the question of should zoo’s have to kill animals if they put the public in risk. Harambe could have been tranquilized instead of shot, the mom who let her kid into the exhibit should have kept an eye on her child, and should the exhibit have been safer. This is why Harambe should still be alive and prospering.

Thesis: All zoos should be overhauled and replaced with free-range territories or back into the wild to help these animals avoid the detrimental effects that zoo’s cause on their health and to stop teaching people that is okay to imprison these animals.

You are sitting at home. You are relaxed. You see something new. You pick it up. You are shot. Dead. This was the case for the Gorilla, Harambe. Harambe a seventeen year old silverback gorilla, was shot dead by Cincinnati Zoo keepers and workers out of fear that he would hurt Isaiah, the little boy that fell into his cage. You would not allow this to happen to your relative, a friend, any human. Right? This is not uncommon as sixteen animals have been shot, while being in captivity, in the last nine years due to human stupidity. There could have been other outcomes to this horrific story if other methods were used to sustain Harambe.