Treatment Of Zoos : Gorilla Shot Dead By Endangered Sumatran Tiger

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.

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.

In the past, there have been many reports of zoo accidents, to be specific; over 200 zoo accidents in the last 26 years have occurred. From my perspective zoos should be prohibited, taking innocent animals from the wild and holding them captive for display at zoos is cruel. There has been a bulk amount of controversy over the topic of zoo mishaps and whose fault is to blame for the occurrence. In all fairness, nobody should be blamed, but there should be a change or new regulations to guide zoos in a more prominent direction. Because in the end, if there is no difference in the zoo, then tragic events like this will continue to happen. There are various amounts of precautions that can be taken by zoo corporations to prevent zoo accidents;

’’According to CNN, animal advocacy group Born Free reports that there have been 256 injuries in zoos due to animal attacks over the past 26 years, resulting in 33 deaths.’’ Every single year there are many animals killed or injured in zoo’s. There are numerous zoo’s placed all over the United States. The zoo’s keep the animals trapped in a fenced in enclosure with little to no water source or spacious area. Numerous people disagree with the fact various breeds are mixed in the same enclosure. People believe that animals should be allowed to enjoy their own natural habitat and live with their families, and not trapped within enclosures.

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.

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.

Animals are not safe in zoos. Abigail Hauslohner, who wrote the article “Giraffe Suicide? Bear Riot? It's a Zoo Unlike Any Other” for the Washington Post, reveals that animals are dying in the Giza Zoo in Egypt. According to the article, a young giraffe strangle herself to death from a wire. Animals under the supervision of people should not be able to hurt or kill themselves. Another horrifying truth in “Giraffe Suicide? Bear Riot? It's a Zoo Unlike Any Other” is that zookeepers kill camels for the purpose of selling the meat for profit. Those zookeepers have no right to kill those camels. The purpose for the camels is to educate the public. Those two examples are not the only tragedies. “…three black bears died in a single night under mysterious circumstances” (Hauslohner). This example shows that zoos need to be better monitor. The caretakers are more of a threat than anything else for those creatures.

Many people think that all the animals in the zoo are happy and healthy animals. Many may think getting a glimpse of rare creatures may be exciting and the breeding program is great ideas to save animal species, but not all owners are kind to there animals. There are thousands- maybe even millions- of stories of abuse, death, and beatings that happens after closing hours at the zoo. Because of these stories, they have inspired many people to ban zoos, but many of these actions still go on. In 2010, a zoo located in China had Siberian tigers, which is one of the world's most endangered species. In the zoo they starved the tigers to death because the food was too expensive, leaving 11 Siberian tigers to starve to death. The Tigers were cramped

they simply want to make sure the animals are cared for with the highest levels

Zoos, are they harmless fun or are they a prison for animals. A dead wallaby was left to rot by staff at Tweddle Farm Zoo for two weeks and the zoo refused to carry out a post mortem to establish why the animal died. Animals suffer in zoos because they are trained to perform tricks, any surplus animals are killed, and zoos can’t provide sufficient space.

A recent zoo tragedy that has resulted in a death, has left a traumatizing mark on a zoo, mother, and the child. Harambe; a seventeen year old western iowland gorilla who was shot and killed. Harambe’s type of species is at risk for extinction, and his death has been a constant debate on social media, whether it was the zoos, mother, child, or Harambes fault for this event occurrence. In this case, there are so many precautions that could have been taken into action to have prevented this from happening. According to interviews the mother took her eye off of the child for a “second” and so he apparently “fell into the exhibit”. A child does not just fall into the gorilla habitat, his curiosity for the animal was his motivation at the moment.

Benjamin starts the article off arguing that zoos are cruel places that animals don't need to be in. She starts her section off by mentioning the shooting of the gorilla Harambe in the Cincinnati zoo. She mentions how the underlying problem in the shooting was that the gorilla was locked up in the first place. She continues on with that kids may see zoo’s enjoyable because they can get close to the animals they see on TV, but that they are just a relic of the Victorian age and that we should stick to viewing distinctive animals in the comfort of our homes on our TV’s.

On average about 175 million people visit a zoo per year. However, the majority of these people fail to notice a relative issue that is lying in front of their faces. That these animals within these zoos are suffering every day from mistreatment and abuse. Most of the society ignores the many factors that have been revealed to them every time they enter a zoo. Instead, society focuses in on issues that are happening right now, the issues that draw out the media and are on the cover of every newspaper. However, these animals facing this mistreatment are relevant and do impact society. Every time an animal is taken from the wild and placed in the captivity of a zoo it impacts the mental health of the animal and endangers everyone and everything around it. Zoos are to blame for this endangerment, yet so is the public for overlooking mistreatment such as an early death in animals, mental illness, and being imported illegally from the wild.

The habitats in zoos are serious in their lack of concern and can create harm for the animals that live there. Zoos in the 21st century are drawing in many visitors all around the world every year. While ticket sales are increasing for zoos, the number of animals are slowly diminishing over time. Due to the practices