Zoos On Animals And Zoos

“Some people talk to animals. Not many listen thought. That’s the problem.” - A.A. Milne. I feel that this means some people command the animals to work, while not understanding what the animal also wants or needs. In the debate, “Are Zoos Bad News?”, written anonymously, the author reports the ethical and unethical reasoning between zoos. This came after the attack on three victims. In my opinion, the existence of zoos should endure seeing that it educates people, zoos can alter the behaviour of people to animals and zoos promote wildlife conservation.

One of the most fun, visually amazing functions to visit are zoo's. Growing up as a kid going to the zoo was so much fun and basically guaranteed a great day out. People have been complaining and questioning the role of zoo's for a long time now. Some claim that it actually kills the animals off faster. Others claim that zoo's actually help protect and preserve the lives of these animals. Only one can make a reasonable argument by studying sources, and finding out statistics. Based off of the articles, "The Stripes Will Survive", "The Zoos Go Wild", and "Our Beautiful Macaws and Why They Need Enrichment", we can truly get in-depth analysis about the role zoo's play.

Zoos have always been criticized because some claim that animals are being abused and mistreated due to the lack and care of certain zoos. However, zoos actually help many animals with research and are critically important for conservation purposes. People need to understand that zoos have programs that breed endangered animals as well as rescue programs for exotic animals that people are no longer able to support. Also, they have many hands on activities that allow people to get more connected to animals. In addition, zoos do not only focus on animals. They focus on environmental problems/concerns as well. Zoos help us stay educated about environmental impacts and animal care.

Zoos have been around for 4,000 years, for many years people have gone to zoos to see wild animals up close. What people do not know is animals don't have the best interest in being in a zoo. The article, "Zoos: The Historical Debate" from Globalanimal.org discusses some pros (positive sides) and cons (negative sides) of zoos. As well as how millions of people visit zoos around the world and how some argue that zoos are either places of education and conversation or unnecessary prisons. After reading the article a logical conclusion is zoos are detrimental to animals.

Zoos take giant roles to protect animals. In the magazines I read, "The Stripes Will Survive", and "The Zoos Go Wild," and the video that I watched called "Behind the Scenes with the National Zoo's Lion Cubs.", there are ways that they help the animals.

Zoos present a certain blend of nature and culture. They have always provided a way to bring natural wildlife and urban Americans together as a means of entertainment. Yet, throughout the years the role of zoos have changed. Though once used for amusement, zoos are now being used for education on preservation and the welfare of endangered species. One may wonder where and how the idea of zoos started and just how they, and the environment around them, have changed throughout history.

Moreover, zoos help to repopulate endangered animal species such as the California condor, a vulture. As it says in the article “Zoos: The Historical Debate” after ten years of working

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.

There are animal preservation groups that don’t require putting these wide ranges of species in captivity. Their sole purpose is to help injured animals or species that are going extinct, and release them back into the wild where they belong. I think that zoos should be abolished unless they change into sanctuaries where injured animals are taken in, helped, and released back into the wild immediately. Zoos would still be allowed to do this in front of public eyes. Animals should never be held captive and “research” is never an excuse. Animals can be researched while in the wild where they are in their most natural and happy state. Zoos do not do this. Zoos claim that they are helping animal species when in reality they’re hurting them and torturing animals to the point of depression and insanity. There is no justification for shooting animals when they act up because they shouldn’t be in those situations in the first place. Animal instincts should not change. Wild animals aren’t meant to be ‘tamed’ in order to provide entertainment to the public. Most zoo visitors say they don’t take away any real connection afterwards so zoos really don’t have any righteous or moral

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”

Zoos provide protection for animals. Some hunters may kill animals in the wild for their skin so they can sell it. In a zoo, this can never occur. Another reason that zoos should not be banned is that animals are really looked after in the zoo. If an animal got sick in the wild nature there is no one to treat it and most probably the animal will suffer from pain and may even die. However, if the same case was in a zoo, highly qualified vets will be available to deal with this situation appropriately and these vets will provide medicine to the sick or injured

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

Are zoos worth having? After reading “Zoos: The Historical Debate”, I think that animals should not be kept in zoos for the following reasons. Zoos get their animals through captive breeding, so they end up having too many animals. Also, animals’ needs cannot be met in zoos, and they are also causing distress for the animals. Zoos have more animals than they need.

Did you know that a giraffe was killed in a zoo and fed to the lions because it had outlived it’s “usefulness”? This giraffe was only two years old! Animals in zoos suffer. How would you like to be held in captivity and be abused for the rest of your life? I know that I wouldn’t like that at all. Zoos are harmful because the animals have poor habitat, the animals get abused, and zoos are hardly educational.