A lot of people have been to the zoo, or to an aquarium at least once, sometimes for fun sometimes for school, but a lot of the time they don’t stop to think about the treatment of the animals. Sadly the U.S. government allows the capture of wild animals for public display and entertainment. The capture and captivity of animals for zoos and aquariums is cruel and unjust and should be prevented and banned. Animals in captivity suffer from stress and boredom in confinement. Family bonds are broken when individuals get sold or traded to other zoos, and no pen or even drive-through safari can compare to the freedom of the wild. In an aquarium or zoo you’re not actually accurately observing the animals because they are acting differently than they would in the wild so zoos and aquariums are not factual educational resources.
Animals in a zoo face no stimulation or privacy so as a result animals suffer emotionally; often they become bored and stressed, due to the unchanging routine of the zoo. Animals such as tigers, lions, and elephants who usually travel long distances in a day are contained in a small area. This is especially true for marine animals like seals, dolphins, whales and turtles who are contained in a tank, that to them the tanks are the size of a bathtub compared to the ocean. They lose control over
…show more content…
If anything zoo’s teach kids not to respect other individuals and their freedom. Showing that it is ok to cage the animals is teaching kids to not respect the animals. Also while animals are in zoos and aquariums they tend act bizarre and unnatural so they act different than they would in their natural habitat, this paints a distorted picture of an animal’s behaviour and actions. This further proves that animals shouldn’t be forced into
Animal rights have become a very serious issue here in the United States over the last few decades. One issue that has been discussed is whether or not zoos serve a good purpose or are they just a torture chamber for the animals. Locked up in small cages so people can yell at them and stare. Or are zoos the key to save our species in an ever growing human population. Rachel Lu, a philosophy teacher and senior columnist, writes the article, “Let’s Keep Zoos: Learning stewardship is a good thing.”, published April 18, 2014, argues that zoos are worth keeping. Rachel Lu uses her personal experiences to appeal to her audience that zoos are valuable to people especially young children because it gives them a perspective on nature.
Analysis of Argument for Ethical Zoos and How They Benefit Animals Due to the recent events in the Cincinnati Zoo, arguments have been sparked about the ethics of zoos. Most articles try to argue against zoos and closed environments, but there are those that still support zoos and the programs that they provide for endangered species. The argument “Zoos Are Not Prisons”? They Improve the Lives of Animals” focuses on the positives of animal enclosures and fights for support to keep zoos in business. The author, Dr. Robin Ganzert, ties examples of programs that zoos help create and what type of research is conducted in the zoos, to support his claims.
He states that “Animals in zoos and aquariums can live longer, healthier, and richer lives than their forbearers ever did in the wild.” Studies have proven again and again that for most animals a caged life was a short and unhappy one. To begin with, for many species, a stare is received as a threat. With the public constantly staring at the animals, many of them become depressed. Scared and depressed animals might fill the hours with repetitive behaviors known as stereotypy: masturbating to a danger point, pacing their paws raw, or swaying endlessly from side to side (Cokal 492).
The practice of keeping wild animals in a zoo or aquarium is looked at favorably in most aspects but what we fail to realize is that we have placed animals which at one point lived freely in wide open spaces into captivity. Society is assuming these animals are happy to be taken from their natural habitat and placed in pens and cages because they have every need handed to them. David Suzuki asked “What gives us the right to exploit other living organisms as we see fit?” (681). Through selfishness, people have justified zoos and aquariums to be an educational benefit to children, to help them learn about animals, their individuality and where they come from. Zoos and Aquariums are for society’s personal entertainment not for the good of the animals and should be closed down.
Keeping animals locked in cages, bored and cramped up in such a small space is an awful sight to show the children. It creates an image in the little minds of children that animals are to be treated like they don’t matter. They say Zoos are a place where children can learn about the wild, exotic animals, but in reality it doesn't teach them anything only that they are meant to be caged up, which is wrong. Also, it is really painful to see the animals bored and lonely, so why should people keep letting them do this to these beautiful creatures. Animal captivity for entertainment should end to let them go to their rightful home.
However, there is another side to the educational perspective. A critic of zoos, Yourofsky argues against the positive education experience others believe zoos provide, supporting his opinion with how the animals are in their unnatural habitats. Yourofsky writes, “one cannot learn about animals who are in an UNNATURAL habitat displaying UNNATURAL behaviors from the stress of confinement and lethargy of captivity” (Yourofsky). Hence, from this logic the educational experience is minimized because the animals are in an inaccurate environment, impacting behavior and differentiating from how they would truly behave if they were in their natural habitats.
Well over 181 million people visit zoos and aquariums each year. However, there have been recent reports that reveals that not all zoos and aquariums are the same. For example, Sea World has been under fire for the past several years for unethical practices of capturing and keep their orca whales ever since documentaries like Blackfish (2013) had come out. Zoos have been called out for their unsuitable exhibits for their animals. Even our own Oregon Zoo has been exposed for using concrete grounds for the elephant exhibits which causes extreme pain for the elephants are they weigh so much, stand on the concrete for many hours, and even getting foot disease leading to an early death. The ethical question it raises is, it ethical to keep wild animals in zoos for human viewing pleasure the expense of the animals well being? People have been putting animals in zoos since the ancient Greek times to profit off of humans wanting to view exotic animals. While some zoos have ethical practices in regards to the treatment and acquiring
It is said that in order to protect the wildlife, we need to be educated about the wildlife that inhabits our planet. As humans, and the superior species on Earth, we put exotic animals, aquatic and terrestrial, in zoos or aquariums where people can go to see them to learn more about them in order to protect them. It just so happens that by putting these animals into captivity, we are causing more damage to them, just as damage is occurring in the wild and more species are becoming extinct. Animals should not be held in captivity; it does not save them from going extinct, but helps kill them off.
It’s always fun to go with your friends and family to see cute and exotic animals when you go to the zoo, right? You may think that they have the best life having people to give them things that they want and to protect them, but some of them are actually suffering just for our amusement from being in that small enclosure all day and all night. Animals should not be put in zoos because they can develop many mental and physical health problems due to the absence of some natural necessities and they are not always treated as nice as you think. “Zoochosis” is a term used for the specific behaviors that animals in captivity get due to unstimulating or even small enclosures. These behaviors are usually repetitive and purposeless, like pacing and overgrooming.
middle of paper ... ... Freedom is precious and animals are constantly suffering mentally and physically from the lack of freedom that captivity brings to them. Although many zoos are visited by millions of people annually, they still operate at a loss and have to make budget cuts. Funds that should be used to provide humane conditions for animals are often wasted on cosmetic improvements such as landscaping, refreshment stands, and gift shops in order to draw visitors, leaving the animals behind steel bars and glass trapped in a concrete jungle for no reason without hope of ever being free.
... danger too. A good reason for captivity is rehabilitation for an animal that is hurt or wounded and could be treated. Then having a second chance back out into the wild. Also by keeping endangered species from going completely instinct by figuring out genetics of an animal. So having zoos and farms do help animals but does put them at risk.
Even though some zoos have an endangered species exhibit with the intention of protecting and rehabilitating animals, many do not do an adequate job of protecting the animals. Zoos have been harmful to the very animals they have sworn to protect. Animals in captivity often suffer from anxiety, boredom and other severe issue related to prolonged confinement. Most animals are unable to thrive in small enclosure with unnatural weather and climates. For example elephants are known to walk as far as 30 miles per day, but the association of Zoos and aquariums only require a space the measures $0 feet by 45 feet, which is about the size of a three car garage, to house these large animals. (peta.org) the drastic difference in the amount of space their allowed ...
Some people may argue that zoos protect animals and species under this polluted world, however, do animals in zoos really need our “help”? Yes, but surely not that many. According to Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS), 79% of animals in United Kingdom zoos and over 70% of elephants in European zoos are wild-caught. It seems that zoos need them rather than they need zoos.
Animals in captivity tend to develop zoochosis. Zoochosis is an obsessive, repetitive behaviour, and described zoo animals behaving abnormally. Animals that are kept in captivity develop zoochosis because they don't have any companion , and they can't do the things they would out in their natural habitat. Also animals develop zoochosis because they get stressed of being in such small cages and that they are removed from being in large groups of animals and their families. “ The disruption of family or pack units for the sake of breeding is another stressor in zoos, especially in species that form close-knit groups, such as gorillas and elephants.”
Furthermore, zoo animals are often exposed to chemicals, solvents and other toxic substances. Finally, it is common for visitors to tease and provoke caged animals. In conclusion, therefore, it is not true to say that zoos are educational or they help to protect endangered species.