Argumentative Essay On Zoos

The Modern Zoo: Conservatory or Crime?

The modern zoo allows visitors to travel through hundreds of animal habitats without ever leaving the confines of the park. This is not only an amazing feat, but additionally, an amazing education opportunity. But what is the cost of this privilege? Amidst the controversy surrounding zoos, some advocates for zoos claim that they extend the lives of the animals and provide a safer and happier lifestyle. However, when zoos around the world house animals that are developing mental health disorders, experiencing a greatly decreased quality of life because of the artificial habitats, and suffering because business for the zoo comes before the conservation efforts, the modern zoo becomes an issue. While keeping animals in captivity can provide a small number of benefits, the overall impact

Thanks to years of research and exploration, treatment for disorders like those in humans is widely available and effective. However, when these disorders develop in animals in captivity, they pose a much different problem. In recent years, animals that reside in urban zoos have been showing symptoms of phobias, OCD, or depression, all seemingly correlated to the environment they are in and the constant interactions with humans. Alex Halberstadt’s article in the New York Times highlighted the discrepancy between the mental health of captive animals and those in the wild: “Disorders like phobias, depression and OCD, documented at zoos, don’t appear to have analogues among animals living in the wild.” (Wallace-Wells, 2014) Halberstadt’s information on the mental health of zoo animals helps to exhibit that, when kept in captivity, the quality of life for the wild animals decreases drastically and exposes them to human issues that would not normally be present in their natural