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Advantages of keeping animals in zoos
The consequences of zoos for animals
Animals in captivity
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Recommended: Advantages of keeping animals in zoos
Is it wrong to keep animals in zoos? Some people believe it is okay to keep animals in zoos. No animal should be kept in a controlled environment because after time in captivity, animals lose their survival instincts, animals need more room than what is provided to them in zoos, and overcrowding is a problem due to breeding programs. Zoos can have many negative impacts on animals. For example when animals live in man-made habitats, they do not have to hunt and care for themselves. This causes them to sometimes lose their survival instincts. In the article The Impact of Animal Protection, it states, “In man-made habitats animals are fed on a regular schedule, receive medical care, and are protected from predators and hunters.” It also explains that, “Release can be dangerous can be dangerous for animals …show more content…
In addition, many zoos don’t provide enough room for animals to behave freely and naturally. In Do Animals Lose in Zoos?, the author explains, “Many organizations, like PETA, oppose zoos because the ‘homes’ made for zoo animals meet only their basic needs.” and that animals “...would thrive so much better if they were allowed to live in the wild and be free.” The environment given in zoos restrict the animals’ behavior and prevent them from living a healthy, natural life. Furthermore, overcrowding is a big problem for many zoos. Do Animals Lose in Zoos? states, “In order to get more business, some zoos initiate breeding programs to have babies be on display more frequently. This leads to a surplus of animals at the zoo.” Zoo enclosures
Have you ever seen an animal sitting in a cage all alone with nothing to do. Well, zoos are trying to change that fact. They will allow the animals to live in an environment that is like their home. Many people don't realize this, but zoo are keeping and breeding these animals because they would not survive in the wild alone. In the three passages, ¨The Stripes Will Survive,¨ ¨The Zood Go Wild from No More Dodos,¨ ¨Our Beautiful Macaws and Why They Need Enrichment.¨ All of these articles present one claim, that is that the role of zoos is no longer to keep animal, but to protect them.
Author Robin Ganzert states that in today's society Zoos are using “robust and sophisticated breeding programs” to conserve animal life. While the programs may conserve some animal life, the author over exaggerates the quality of the breeding programs. Most facilities don’t have the resources or the space to support a larger breeding program. Captive breeding programs also have a high cost to support and properly care for each animal so they consist of few animals that cannot sustain a proper breeding population. These programs can often fail to imitate wildlife causing major changes in animal behavior such as: a decrease in foraging abilities, decrease in physical activity, and some problems in social behaviors.
Even though zoos try to imitate the natural habitat of each animal, the area for the zoo might not be able to support the animals needed environment. When visiting a zoo many people fail to notice that the animals have living areas measuring an acre or smaller. “Their enclosures are often small, barren, and without shade or privacy” (Laws). “Animals also need to endure dirty living conditions, stagnant water, and hard floors to sleep on at night” (Laws). It’s obvious that in the wild any animal has almost unlimited space to live in. They catch and forage for food naturally and mate naturally.
The difference between right and wrong is not always perfectly clear. A long-standing part of cultures across the world, zoological and animal parks have been around for hundreds of years. While in the past concerns and issues regarding the ethical problems zoos seem to impose were less prominent, in recent times the rise of animal rights activist groups and new generational values have influenced the way people view these parks. Critics believe that zoos are an unnatural habitat for animals and force them to live in captivity, having a negative impact on their health. Yet, there are still many who fully support zoos, citing business and educational reasons.
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
In conclusion, I hope one day all the zoos will be shut down, so that the animals can live their life in their natural habitat so suffering will go away and they will not be put into misery. So I think animals should not be put in
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...
The reasons that animals are held in captivity could favor some people and others not. Animals in captivity are usually held for entertainment, education, research, and conservation purposes. The other major reason they are held in captive is the process of rehabilitation. The article, Ethical Issues, defines rehabilitation as the treatment of wild animals found injured or ill, taken into captivity until restored to full health and then returned to the wild. Then when the animal is released they are then able to live freely in their own habitat. Although this may lead to suffering and stress or even death for the animal. The animal is so dependent on their caretaker that once they are put into the wild they do poorly (1).
Zoos are public parks that claim to display animals for the purpose of education and procreation of endangered species; but in reality Zoos area actually doing more harm than good. Animals that live in zoos are more likely to suffer from illness or injury as opposed to those who live in the wild, and they also have shorter lifespans.
Zoos introduces captive-bred projects to take care of some animals for years and reintroduce them back to the wild. However, captive animals usually lose their survival skills in wild after under an absolute protection for a long time, especially those who are used to learning from their parents. They no longer able to escape from predators or track preys. Reintroduction often needs to be abandoned permanently.
This deprivation—combined with relentless boredom, loneliness, and sometimes even abuse from the people who are supposed to be caring for them— "causes many captive animals to lose their minds. Animals with this condition, called “zoochosis,” often rock, sway, or pace endlessly, and some even resort to hurting themselves by chewing on their own fingers or limbs or pulling out their fur or feathers." (Francois, 2014) Animals used in traveling zoos are subjected to the stresses of transport, strange and frightening environments, irregular feeding and watering, mishandling, and extensive public contact.
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.”
Such as, animals that are hunted for their fur or meat. Animals are also treated with medical care in the zoos, where was if they were living in their natural habitat they would not have immediate medical care. However, argument against having zoos think by capturing the animals out of their natural habitat it disturbs the way they live. Once you put animals in a cage, it changes the atmosphere and the behavior. It also changed the way the animals mate, a specific species may start decreasing in size because they are being put into zoos all around the world.
Zoos are an unsuitable environment for wild animals and should, therefore, be abolished. Firstly, zoo animals are kept in a very confined area compared to their vast natural habitat. Secondly, breeding programmes are far less successful than zoos claim. Thirdly, zoo animals are exposed to many diseases and other dangers. Zoo animals are usually kept in very cramped enclosures and do not behave like their wild counterparts.
Unwanted animals from zoos are sometimes sold to circuses, hunting parks and even for meat. 8. Many zoos help endangered species to find a mate and breed. They would not have this help in the wild. 9.