“In the wild, elephants walk up to 30 miles each day, bears are active for up to 18 hours a day exploring their home ranges for up to hundreds of miles, and tigers and lions love running and climbing and will roam many miles to hunt.” But not in zoos. When locked behind bars, animals live cramped, lonely lives. All the natural and important things animals do in the wild vanish. Birds lose the privilege of flying. Lions, usually living among large herds, are kept alone. Zoos have negative effects on animals and lead to suffering all over the world. Animals do not belong in zoos. While observing animals through glass, unnatural behavior is easy to spot. Bar biting, neck twisting, swaying, circling, and self mutilation are all forms “zoochosis,” the mental suffering of animals caused by captivity and unfamiliar environments. This abnormal behavior is shown in a high percentage of animals in zoos. “In a 2001 study of 257 captive Giraffe and Okapi in 49 US institutions, it was found that 80% exhibited some form of stereotypical behavior.” Furthermore, it is impossible for animals to thrive in a zoo. Compared to the amount of space animals have in the wild, zoos provide only a tiny fraction. According to CAPS (Captive Animals’ Protection Society), tigers and lions have 18,000 times less space in zoos than in the wild, while polar bears have one million times less space. These cramped and lonely conditions lead to a long life of suffering. To add on, zoos are
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.
Many people argue that they should be allowed to be kept in the small enclosures because they are well taken care of. This isn't the case. They may be healthy physically from being in a small enclosure, and not having any responsibilities besides getting up to eat or drink, but they are being destroyed mentally. Their enclosures are too small for them to have a normal life. Animals should have adequate space to live and raise their offspring, which means that the animal has enough space to perform its natural functions, happily. Zoo’s do not allow animals the proper space that they need, thus causing many issues. For example, zoo enclosures for polar bears are one-millionth the size of its range in the wild, which can reach up to 31,000 square miles. In addition, cramped enclosures for elephants create stress and dangerous situations. This is mainly because they are forced to be in close quarters with other elephants that may
Animals are deprived of their natural habitat when transferred from the wild open space of the wild only to be fenced inside a limited habitat. Peta.org explains “Elephants typically walk up to 30 miles in just one day, but Lucy, the lone elephant at the Edmonton Zoo, is locked inside a barn… spends most of her time indoors…”. This doesn’t only apply to elephants, but to many other animals. Preventing them from thriving, because of the limited space provided per animal. Additionally, this leads to health problems because of the restricted amount of movement, health problems like arthritis. However zoos are not only causing physical harm, but mentally making animals sick causing many cases of depression. Trapping animals in cages stressed them out and can make them unhappy taking matters into their own hands trying to kill themselves according to
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).
As claimed in the LCA article, ”Animals in zoos are forced to live in artificial, stressful, and downright boring conditions”(User, Super). Evidence shows time to time that animals are being affected by zoos. There are many things hidden behind the facilities, that many people do not know about. The animals are being held in conditions that no animal should ever live in. Even though some zoos do focus on helping the animals, they are not as beneficial to the animal because they are not provided with the proper care and attention they need and zoos do not try to fix their problems.
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
Most people go to zoos with the expectation of a happy family and enjoying a day staring at wild animals that we do not see very often except of a screen. They see zoos as a place to experience something different and to take their children to. However, few people know of the mistreatment and unfit conditions the animals are forced into. On the contrary to popular belief, there are many zoos that care so little for the health of the animals the zoos are actually the reason the animals become ill. For the truth is that animals in zoos are mistreated, neglected, and even abused because of the awful situations they are in. In this essay, then, we will go over the excruciating conditions and the abuse these animals face everyday of their lives
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.
All animals deserve the opportunity to run free in their natural habitat. Lions should be able to sprint across the savanna, just like whales should be able to navigate the deep Atlantic Ocean. Animals in zoos do not have this opportunity and have to live in enclosures that are much too small. For example, in a report done by the New York Times, the typical polar bear enclosure is one-millionth the size of their home range in Arctic
An animals life in a zoo is dreadful.”A 40 year long study showed that polar bears - along with lions, tigers and cheetahs- exhibit great evidence of stress in captivity.” Zoos have replaced crowded cages and poor diets with spaced out cages and well-researched
responsible in creating. A common case amongst zoo animals is that of anxiety. This can be due to several factors in the zoo environment. This includes animals strict diet, the constant attention from zoo goers, lack of companions, and loss of freedom. The animals may be unaware to how they have ended up in their situation, but their instincts know something isn’t right. There have also been cases of depression with zoo animals. Most cases of depression are due to lack of companions or a loss of a companion, if a zoo animal is surrounded by a companion and the companion passes the behavior of the animal changes. For example, in NY Times article Zoo Animals and their Discontent by Alex Halberdtadt he mentions a male gibbon who struggled psychologically, displaying behavior qualities after the passing of his companion,” He ate less, moved less and sometimes refused to go on exhibit.” (paragraph 25 line 9-10). Behaviorist Virga believed the cause to be grief, which happened to last for a quarter of the year. The psychological effect physically caused the animal harm regarding its health. In the wild gibbons live a life with several companions so when one dies, the loss isn’t as tragic or mentally straining on the animal. This affliction zoos have on its animals is correlated to captivity in general.
When people hear the word Zoo many different thoughts and opinions come to mind, but the levels of positivity and negativity vary from person to person. A common grievance is that zoos are jails to animals and their conditions are similar to circuses. Due to traveling and poor living conditions. Animals of the entertainment business are treated with much less respect than in a zoo. Others tend to think of the cute, fuzzy, and even funny animals living in well-designed habitats. No matter the opinion one approaches this article with, the knowledge of how a zoo actually works is often lacking. Few actually know that these animals are in the best place for them, and often feel just as at home. A great example is The Denver Zoo’s own Red Panda
When zoos claim to show ‘’natural animal behavior’’ the zoos actually are not showing natural behavior because the animals have nowhere else to go then what they are enclosed to. If the animal is not acting like they would in the wild, they have been in an enclosed area for too long and are most likely to not be used to what happens in the wild. Even though zoos can help with building up a population of an animal, animals should be put in a large fenced in area in the wild where they can still get the help they may need. Zoos should only have animals in for a limited amount of time because if they are in for too long they will not survive in the wild on their own. Animals will not be able to choose their mate, animals are doing the same things over and over, and the placement of animals are not ideal for what a person would see in the wild.
In the article “Do Animals Lose In Zoos?” states that “Animals in zoos live longer than animals in the wild.They are well fed,protected from predators,and treated by veterinarians”. The only reason they live longer and are well fed is because they are being pampered in a zoo to where they don't have to try and hunt for their own meal to where it is just given to them. When zoos end up releasing a certain type of animal they won't know what to do in the wild because in zoos everything