Zoos Ethical Controversy

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

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.

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.

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;

Many people have memories of visiting a zoo or an aquarium in their childhood, but are they safe for the animals inside? Indicators for both support and opposition exist, making the debate double sided and more complex than originally thought. For example, SeaWorld recently shut down their orca breeding program because the whales were being harmed. Despite this, animals in captivity may be a necessity. Habitats being destroyed and the threat of predators and poachers are becoming more common. Zoos and aquariums can provide a safe haven from these dangers. Alternatively, some zoos and aquariums can be even more dangerous for the animals than if they were in their natural habitat. Mistreatment of animals in captivity is a problem that only seems

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

Every year almost 175 million people visit a zoo, yet the mistreatment of animals in zoos goes almost completely unnoticed. This mistreatment is constantly swept under the rug by issues that society deems more relevant or impact us more. For example, issues like climate change receive more attention. However, this mistreatment is relevant and is constantly impacting society. These animals that are left malnourished, fatigued, and constantly fighting bacterial infections, are important. Every time an animal is pulled from the wild and put into captivity 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 enclosures that are too small, surplus animals, and mental illness in animals.

Some people may argue that zoos are good for sick or injured animals; however, while they can help nurture babies and bring sick creatures back to health, they are not safe for healthy animals. Dr. Lesley Dickey estimates that every year about 3,000 to 5,000 animals are ‘management euthanized’ in European zoos (Barnes). This means that zoos put down animals if there is not enough space for them. This is called zoo culling. Some zoos even dissect animals in front of guests that they killed. Zoos are for caring for animals, there is no place for cruelty. Although most zoos don’t kill surplus animals, that doesn’t make them innocent. Some animals don’t live as long in zoos as they do in the wild. The median life span in European zoos for African

The habitats the zoo animals live in are not secure enough. Not only can a person easily end up inside of an animal’s

Zoos, or any other place alike, do not take adequate care of their animals. The habitats. that are constructed to mimic the creature’s nature one, often fails in meeting that expectation. The spaces dedicated for the animals are cramped and not regularly maintained. [stat about that here] In addition most

There are flaws in the measurement for animal welfare in zoos. According to Dita Wickins-Drazilová “the usual criteria for measuring for measuring animal welfare in zoos are physical health, long life, and reproduction” (Wickins-Drazilová). There are more factors of animal welfare than the usual criteria. Many zoos claim to have healthy animals that live long lives and reproduce, but that is not merely sufficient enough for proof of good care. A long life in suffering, for example, is not a great way to live, and it is possible for animals to live long

The treatment of animals in zoos has become a very debatable issue, as animals deserve to live in their natural habitat with their family, but they are having to live in cramped, fake living spaces for nearly all their lives, separated from their families, not much room to walk around and being very bored.