The Oppression Of Elephants

Due to the massive amounts of interbreeding the zoos have in order to provide the customers with a “cute” and loveable attraction; the habitats in the zoos are becoming smaller. This calls for more habitat construction in the zoo, but with the amount of people wanting to see the new born attraction, instead of providing a habitat for these animals, a new parking lot to accommodate the customers are made. The animals that are viewed as expandable are sold to “circuses, canned hunting facilities, and even for slaughter.” (Doris 2) For those animals that are kept by the zoos their lives are cut in half. It is estimated that elephants in the wild live up to 56 years of age, compared to elephants in captivity that live estimated up to 17 years of age. This age difference is astronomical. Animal rights activists predict that this number is due to the stress, loneliness, and zoochosis that these animals go through.

Firstly, animals in captivity show distraught behavior and don’t have the same abilities as those in the wild. For example, in the article The Loneliest Elephant written by Tracy Tullis, it states, “With limited space and and no infants to care for, captive elephants can become catatonically bored. A great majority of elephants in American zoos -- as much as 80 percent according to a 2013 study by the Honolulu Zoo -- develop disturbing neurotic behaviors, such as repetitive swaying and head bobbing.” Furthermore, it is clear that some animals in zoos behave differently, in a negative manner, in zoos than in their natural habitat (Tullis, 3). Also, a wildlife behavioral biologist Toni Frohof talks about Happy, an elephant kept in isolation at the Bronx Zoo. His words in The Loneliest Elephant was, “She exhibits self-awareness, yet one of the most important aspects of her psychological and physical life, the ability to be around other elephants, she’s been deprived of.” This shows, elephants who are caged in seclusion don’t feel the same as other elephants who get to be around each other 24/7; Happy is forced to be alone for the rest of her life (Tullis, 3). Concludingly, elephants and other animals can form mental and physical issues while caged or isolated.

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

Despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, African elephants are still being poached in large numbers. Tens of thousands if elephants are being killed every year for their ivory tusks. The ivory is often carved into ornaments and jewellery - China is the biggest consumer market for such products. Its natural when a human hears the question what's worth more the elephant of its tusk? For them to answer from the heart: Of course, the elephant.

Zoos have also been known to remove animals from their natural habitats when they would have been much better remaining where they were. For example, in 2003 the San Diego Wild Animal Lowry Park Zoo captured eleven endangered wild African Elephant ("Zoos: Pitiful Prisons”) . It would be vital to the African Elephant population that those eleven elephants remained in the wild so that they species could hopefully grow and become stronger. However, the zoo made the decision to rip them from their homes during a time when they most needed to be in the wild. This choice was unethical because it could create further issues for the struggling species. Taking the elephants so that they could be an attraction in a zoo is not a valid reason for removing them from their homes. Normally in the wild, African Elephants live in massive family groups, and each member develops a close bond. Female elephants keep lifelong relationships with their female calves and with other relatives. When they are captured, usually the entire family is not taken together, so the bond are forcefully severed. The separation is incredibly stressful to the elephants, which are known to be very emotional creatures (“The Social Lives of Elephants”). If this is the way that zoos capture elephants, it is the same way that they take other animals as well. Unless the animal is in imminent danger, it should not be removed from its home. And if that is the case, it should be sent to

Because of the poaching of African elephants there has been a decrease in the average weight of their tusks, poachers look for elephants with larger tusks. This has been recorded by the Uganda Game Department between 1925 to 1928 (Dawkins, 2009). Natural selections is a mechanism of evolution beginning with variations of traits within a population, these variations must be heritable in order to be passed to offspring, there must also be differential reproductive success, this causes the organisms with the favorable gene to survive and pass the trait on to future generations (Berkeley.edu, 2015). Poaching results in natural selection because there is a variation in the gene that codes for tusk sizes. The larger tusks are being targeted and killed, smaller tusked elephants remain giving them a better chance to reproduce and pass their genes, causing the genes that result in smaller tusks to appear more frequently. Directional selection, which is a mode of natural selection, is happening in this population because one phenotype is more favorable. These elephants are displaying a change in genetic frequency, a result of a mutation causing variation in tusk size. This is a heritable trait, the genes that code for smaller tusk sizes are being passed down more than those for larger tusk sizes. Evolution is the change frequency of allele, because the elephants with the larger tusks are being killed the elephants with smaller tusks are left with the best fitness. This leads to a

Harley Wells Mrs. Bauch Speech 18 May 2016 Did you know that the average lifespan of a zoo elephant is 16 to 18 years whereas the wild elephants can live 50 to 70 years (Embar)? Zoos cause animals to be subject to psychological damage and exhibit signs of stress due to poor living conditions and uneducated visitors. Today, I?m going to try to persuade you that zoos are not where animals belong, despite their seemingly good intentions. Captive Animals? Protection Society states, ?

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”

Circuses have long been a form of entertainment for humanity. They have been around for centuries. Like most things that have lasted for great periods of time, circuses have evolved with the times. At one point, freakshows were a popular part of circuses. About a century and a half ago, it was perfectly acceptable for people born with abnormalities to be used as entertainment for the masses. These shows became amazingly popular attracting thousands of people. However, this popularity would not last. As times changed, so did ethics. As the public realized how wrong it was for these “freaks” to be exploited against their will, freakshows grew more and more unpopular. Eventually in order for circuses to survive they had to evolve. As a

For example, the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita Kansas will be building a 4-acre enclosure for their elephants. (Cohn) The large amount of land will allow for more walking space which will help decrease health issues that occur in zoos. The people that do support zoos have a valid point when it comes to furthering their survival. In the wild, elephants are poached for their ivory, so when they are kept in captivity it eliminates poaching as a possible cause of death. In Cohn’s article he introduces Robert Hodge and he says,” Zoos are not great places for elephants, but they are better [there] than dead.” This is a very bitter sweet statement to which I agree with greatly for the sake of their lives. Keeping elephants in captivity allows for maintained breeding so we can assure their species will remain intact. Also in Cohn’s article he states that as many as 40 zoos are expanding their enclosures which will allow for more natural behaviors, this includes breeding, it will allow zoo visitors to see a true elephant group. There are good perspectives that zoos bring to animals in captivity, but it will never be natural or right.

When you think of the African Elephant what do you think? They are massive in size. Also, some studies say they can compare to humans in the caring perspective. Well these mesmerizing animals has a terrifying problem. According to a CNN reporter David Mckenzie, “A third of Africa’s elephants wiped out in seven years.”(Mckenzie “Our Living Dinosaurs”) This is a devastating statistic. People are poaching elephants for their ivory tusks. This is a serious problem with humanity. A problem that comes from greed and selfishness. They are causing a major extinction of these gentle giants. These “living dinosaurs” are getting mutilated for one reason. Elephants have Ivory tusks that is very expensive on the black market.

Elephants are one of the worst treated animals in zoos and circuses. Their life spans are dramatically shorter than elephants who live in the wild. Out of 321 elephants that are/were being held captive, at least half of them were dead by the age of 23, while elephants living in the wild can live up to 60 years. “[T]he decades long effort by zoos to preserve and protect elephants is failing, exacerbated by substandard conditions and denial of mounting scientific evidence that most elephants do not thrive in captivity,” (Seattle Times). Dr. Bekoff, the former University of Colorado professor, found an investigation that the Seattle Times had done and found that in the last 50 years

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

When they are placed in captivity, it strips them of the capacity to grow with their offspring, make their own homes, and live the way they desire. The animals are taken from their habitat simply for money, and the interest of people, however, we rarely give them something good in return. Throughout the years, many animals have died due to an environment that is not natural to them. In zoos, aquariums, circuses, etc., the animals are placed in areas that do not benefit the animals, physically mentally, and emotionally. For example, " a survey of the records of 4,500 elephants both in the wild and in captivity found that the median life span for an African elephant in a zoo was 16.9 years, whereas African elephants on a nature preserve died of natural causes at a median age of 56 years"(Zoos: Pitiful Prisons). Hence, captivity does not save an animal from extinction, but it decreases survival. Furthermore, animals that are released back into the wild, but are born in captivity, and bred in captivity, have a small chance of survival in the wild. "Captive-bred animals that are reintroduced to the wild will mate with other previously captive-bred animals, thereby reducing the integration of their genetic material into the wild population (Lansdowne).This means the animals will be at a disadvantage because they will not have inherited the behaviors needed to survive in their natural habitat, leading to an increase in

Imagine walking through the zoo as a child, thinking how awesome it is to see all of those big interesting animals you would never get to encounter in the wild. Now think of walking through the zoo when you are older seeing these same animals in a very different light. Instead of seeing animals happily living their lives you see animals wandering aimlessly around their small enclosures looking bored to tears and depressed. Is it fair that we keep these animals cooped up specifically for our own entertainment? What right do we have to capture, contain, and breed these precious animals as we please? Why should we get to control their lives when they could obviously be living a better life elsewhere? Often these questions are meet with responses of conservation and education, but in reality those defenses have little backing. No animal should be forced to live in captivity for its whole life, which is why zoos should be banned since they are truly unjust to the animals living in them.