Ethics of Zoos

868 Words2 Pages

There are many places where people can go to see live animals such as aquariums, zoos, and safari parks. A pleasant way to define a Zoo is to call it “an establishment that maintains a collection of wild animals”. (Google def) Another way to say that is a facility in which animals are “enclosed in cages for public exhibition”. I believe zoos are ethical; however, changes need to be made to eliminate problems I have discovered. In this argumentative essay, I will be arguing the ethics of zoos and certain problems that need to be addressed that people are not aware of. Zoos are great places to take the family out for the day to have entertainment; however, problems such as captive breeding, length of life, and animal stress need to improve. Captive breeding programs are what make zoos ethical, but several problems need to be confronted. Zoos operate captive breeding programs in which they take animals from the wildlife and breed then in a scientifically controlled environment. They have saved several species from extinction such as the Red Wolf and the Przewalski Horse, and are aiding many others such as the blue-crowned laughing thrush. Before the breeding program saved the Red Wolves from extinction, there were only 14 pure breed Red Wolves remaining. When a species gets endangered it goes on the Species Survival Plan program. There are two issues that I came across during my research. Firstly, some zoos are taking advantage of several species to generate revenue. Cohn said that “to get more white tigers, zoo managers in India and the United States in the 1950s mated fathers with daughters, granddaughters, and even, on occasion, great granddaughters. (Cohn 654)” The question is whether this is ethical? After reading this I felt... ... middle of paper ... ...provide a habitat for animals that had there’s destroyed. Furthermore they need to improve their captive breeding programs and abandon the failed programs. Zoos need to address the concern that animals are not living up to there actual life span and either release them into there natural habitat or find an alternative. Animal stress is also of big concern because it is causing physiological harm. Work cited Cohn, Jeffrey P. "Do Elephants Belong In Zoos?" Bioscience 56.9 (2006): 714-717. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Clubb, Ros, et al. "Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants." Science 322.5908 (2008): 1649 Stroud, Peter. "Defining Issues of Space in Zoos." Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 2.6 (2007): 219-22. Singer, Peter ed. “In Defense of Animals”, New York: Basil Blackwell (1985): 13-26

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