Pros And Cons Of The Captivity Of Animals

It’s often thought that the captivity of animals is for “educational purposes” or for “conservation of endangered species”, but in my opinion these words of fiction are really to conceal the fact that these animals are being mistreated and mishandled for financial gain. Confining animals to cramped conditions in unnatural habitats, with the constant violation of privacy from the public and their loss of freedom makes zoos the worst, so called, home for animals.

Zoos provide unnatural habitats. For these confined creatures its near impossible to replicate the environment wild animals experience. This is due to the limited space each animal gets provided, this leaves the captive animals feeling imprisoned and uncomfortable rather than feeling

Zoos that fail to meet the necessary standards for housing these beings, result in them behaving unnaturally. Animal right activists often refer to the term zoochosis to better describe the mental and behavioural condition of animals experiencing prolonged captivity. zoochosis evokes stress, self-harm, frustration and other metal problems upon the animal. This can gradually lead to the animal adopting an aggressive personality, in some extreme cases the animal may attack and kill zoo keepers due to this built up aggression. Looking back to November 2014, the senior zookeeper of Whipsnade zoo, was rushed to hospital after being head-butted and stamped on by the 30 stone Asian rhino. The Animal charity PETA described this incident as "100 per cent preventable” saying the enormous beasts "are not suited at all for a life in captivity". Another statement further expands the idea of animal’s behaviour being altered due to its captivity; "Rhinos are enormous, powerful animals with wild instincts, and when they are denied the opportunity to fulfil even their most basic desires, such as selecting a mate, moving about freely and leading a life without constant human domination, it is surely no wonder at all that they develop aggressive and resistant behaviour, suffer from depression or lash out