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The benefits of animals in zoos
Controversy of zoos
The benefits of animals in zoos
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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 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. According to one study “the median Pacing can be a way for animals to cope with stress and anxiety, or pacing could be due to a lack of stimulation. I’ve personally seen this in action at a place specifically about wolves and I would see many of these wolves walk up the front of the gate pace for a little and then walk away. They would be in a non-stopping loop coming up pacing and then walking away, pacing and then walking away. Over grooming include pulling out hair or feathers which leaves bald patches, and irritated and broken skin. This can lead up to biting or chewing limbs or tails or hitting head against a wall. It can affect all animals who need that social contact like birds, monkeys, bears, and big cats. Animals usually over groom because of social isolation (which happens a lot in captivity), stress, and anxiety and it’s their only way of coping with it. Research on captive primates and birds has showed that over grooming can lower ones heart rate and make
I recently learned about Social Scratch. Everyone scratches because it relives and irritation. We do it absentmindedly and so do apes. What I found interesting is that is become more of a social grooming. Unlike grooming where each ape is grooming each other silmutanesoiuly, in social scratching only the gromee is getting the benefit. These apes do this because of the “I know you know” on other words you scratch my back I scratch yours. (McGrew 136). I found this happening very often among the chimps more than the gorillas. I also noticed that they would pull their hair and they had many bald spots throughout their body. Why is that? I still haven’t discovered an answer, but I would like to know the reasoning behind
Similar to the human illness Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), zoochosis is related to animals that have been captured from their native habitat and placed into a restricted exhibit in zoos and aquariums (“Animal Facts”). Significantly, zoochosis can reduce the overall management of stress and could decrease the overall life expectancy of an animal. The assistance of animal caretakers does not benefit the animal in certain situations as well. Illnesses that are not prevailing in the animal’s initial environment are developed inside the captive walls. Unfortunately, the animals are incapable of developing any form of resistance to these viruses (“Zoos”). Likewise, the treatments animals are faced with hurt them both emotionally and physically. Nevertheless, animal nutritionists have been improving the diets of animals, including the extension of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals. “Besides ample quantities of fresh food, substantial effort is made in preparing a diet that is adequate and healthy for the animals.” (Haque 334). Considering the transition from an abundant amount of diverse foods, animals need a replacement in their diet, which increases their health.. Regardless of this positive enhancement in the zoo, animals still suffer due to the overcrowded and limited environment, and lack of treatment or care for the
According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, animal husbandry is defined as the physiological, biological, psychological and social needs of animals.1 Every zoo that is AZA accredited needs to fulfill these needs correctly for the species and on a regular basis. In the UK, the ‘five freedoms’ are used to determine proper animal husbandry: freedom from injury and disease; freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition; freedom from thermal or physical distress; freedom to express ‘normal’ behaviors; and freedom from fear.4 Other freedoms have been proposed – freedom from boredom and freedom of animal to exert control over it’s quality of life, to name a few – but the five have remained as structure to determine proper animal husbandry.4 Many different employees are needed to fulfill these needs, from animal keepers to curators to veterinarians. Each aspect of animal husbandry, as described by the AZA, will be briefly addressed.
Animal cruelty is the abuse or failure to care for an animal. Before the past couple of years, people did not have to worry about how the animals in zoos were treated. For centuries, families have gone to zoos to be educated on the different species of animals. As years have gone by, zoos have become a trending topic of animal cruelty. While zoos do not physically abuse the animals, they have been known to not properly care for them. “According to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), there are over 10,000 zoos worldwide” (Fravel 2). Of these 10,000 zoos, only some of them actually care about their animals. Caring for wild animals is extremely hard because zoos have to recreate the animals’ natural habitat. Zoos believe that they are protecting the animals’, yet; they tend to forget how it affects the animals. In reality, the animals are depressed and bored. These wild animals are being taken out of their natural habitats and are enclosed in small cages and habitats. Wild animals should live in their natural habitats, the wild, not in a zoo for the entertainment of zoo visitors. Therefore, banning zoos will end the horrible cycle of animal cruelty.
Animals can become depressed and lifeless when living in a zoo. They start showing unnatural behavior such as pacing and sleeping all the time.
Tigers, lions, giraffes, and other exotic animals are rarely seen in the wild. However the public, without humans and/or animals being harmed at the same time, can see exotic animals when a zoo opens. Zoos for many are a wonderful experience, but to others they see the animals as being treated poorly and not able to roam free. These people do not consider the beneficial sides of zoos. Zoos around the world help species that have been endangered by protecting and caring for them. Otherwise they would have became extinct and killed for their valuable fur or feathers. Zoos were created for a purpose that needed to be filled. If there were no purpose for them they would have not been created. Zoos are needed and if there is a need in this world, the spot will most likely be filled without hesitation. Some zoos were not trained properly and do not treat their animals very well. Some bad zoos do not feed their animals enough and keep them in a confined cage. Although some zoos are harmful for both animals and people, many of them are good zoos and take care of their animals better than most people take care of them selves. It is amazing to be able to see such care and love are associated with zoos. Not only do zoos help the endangered animals they also help people learn to respect such amazing creatures. Zoos are a good attribute to society because they promote education, research, protect, conserve, and outlook.
Animals not only experience cruelty from their caretakers, but from visitors as well. As a result of this, the abuse can cause psychological damage and varies from the animals being teased, yelled at and having objects thrown at them (OccupyTheory, 2015, List of Cons of Zoos, para. 4). Animals that are restricted to zoo living arrangements show a great deal of abnormal behaviors as well as mental health issues. For example, animals in captivity easily become lonely and bored when deprived of their natural necessities. Due to stressful living situations, many animals begin to show signs of a psychological condition known as zoochosis, a repetitive and multiple obsessive behavior (Netivist 2016, Cons of Zoos, para. 2). Some symptoms of repetitive and obsessive behaviors that have are common include, but not limited to self-mutilation, pacing up and down or rocking back and forth (Isacat, 2015, Chapter.8). According to the database on the animal advocacy organization, Born Free USA website (http://www.bornfreeusa.org/reports/exoincidents.php) there is over 1300 recorded incidents of "deadly and dangerous captive wild animal incidents" that have occurred since 1990 (ResearchBuzz, 2010). One of the most recent incidents involved Harambe, a western lowland gorilla that lived in the Cincinnati Zoo. Animal psychological and former head of Zoo Atlanta, Terry Maple stated, "Its difficult to say whether
As a kid, I had always looked forward to days at the zoo. I was, however, far more interested in the jungle-themed surroundings than the educational parts. I was told that zoos protected animals and took good care of them. Now I'm not too sure that's the truth. Animals like tigers, lions, and elephants are born to live and grow up in the wild. They aren't meant to live inside of a cage in a zoo. Not only that, but the animals' health isn't as good as you'd expect. Although lots time and money has been spent on zoos, animals are still suffering. Zoos are fun and exciting for kids and tourists, however, the animals aren't enjoying it as much as us.
Many animal rights activist argue that animals should be allowed to live their lives in the wild instead of captivity. That we as humans have no right to neither alter the fate of other species nor use them for our personal benefits. PETA who is well known for their animal rights view argue that “Captive animals are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them and as a result, they become bored and lonely and many even suffer from a condition called zoochosis.” (PETA 1) Zoochosis is a condition in which the animal wonders back and forth usually in the same position for hours on end. This condition is only seen in the zoos as a result of the animal’s captivity. As a result zoos provide these animals with Prozac, which is a mood-altering drug to help prevent public atte...
The idea of a zoo is a noble idea. The objective of the zoo is to be a sanctuary where animals live in safety from dangers such as poachers and diseases. This wildlife refuge prevents animals from going extinct, and new generations of people can learn about these animals and appreciate them. Due to human shortcomings, some zoos are concrete prisons or execution chambers. The video, “Captive Animal Misery in European Zoos”, provided by Born Free Foundation on Youtube.com that is published on 12th January 2012 shows animals in poor living conditions. In that video, there is an elephant in a small metallic enclosure. In fact, there are no plants or anything that would be in the elephant’s habitat. The video continue to show multiple images of animals in concrete pens. These animals paced around the walls in anguish. Not only in Europe, but zoos all over the world bring misery to animals.
Although many families have argued that zoos are educational buildings that aloud children and adults to gain knowledge about wild life and are not harmful for animals, closer examinations show that zoos are just entertainment centers that should be shut down. However, debate about whether the zoo should be shut down or not has become more serious. Zoos should be shut down. Animals suffer from mistreatment, malnutrition and murder, also people don’t gain the right knowledge about these animals because zoos aren’t educational and the horrific stories about the animals are all the reasons why zoos should be shut down.
Zoos have always reflected the curiosity and intrigue of humankind toward the animal kingdom. Throughout several different ancient civilizations dating back thousands of years, including Egypt, China, and all over Europe, caged wild animals were seen as divine representatives and sat next to the thrones of only the most wealthy and powerful. “Stone tablets found in the Sumerian city of Ur, dated to around 2300 BC, document the establishment and management of the earliest known animal park” (Hamilton 2007). In ancient Egypt, for example, tamed lions were often kept by the sides of pharaohs thrones (Bostock 7). In sixteenth century Europe as well, animal collecting among the wealthy was a popular sport. “King Manuel the First of Portugal received monkeys and macaw’s from South America, grey parrots and baboons from Africa, and elephants, rhinoceros, and cheetahs from India” (Bostock 24).
All around the world, zoos and circuses are merely entertaining places to visit animals doing what they would in the wild or performing mind blowing tricks. Although zoos are said to be a learning environment and circuses just a harmless show, these environments are some of the most threatening to wild animals. What these people do not see are the horrors that happen behind the curtains or behind closed doors. These people do not witness the constant brutality or the constant neglect that animals in zoos and circuses experience almost every day. *Due to abusive environments and lack of resources critical to their development, wild animals should not be used for entertainment purposes.
There's a tossup between whether keeping animals in zoos is bad or good. Some instances to determine this would be which zoo the animals would be staying in. A lot goes into establishing a zoo and providing adequate care for all of the animals. It's impossible to know if animals would be happier in natural environments or in a zoo environment. I believe keeping animals in zoos helps to protect them and gives caring people a chance to provide for them. It's a great place to take children to educate them on animals, as well as a great place to just spend the day and hang out.
Polar bears, for example, are given about 10 metres of walking space, whereas in their Arctic home they roam for many hundreds of kilometres. Similarly, primates, big cats and birds are often confined to cages where they lack exercise and stimulation. Many animals develop unnatural habits, such as pacing back and forth or swaying from side to side. Supporters of zoos argue that they help to conserve endangered species, but in fact they are not very good at this. Even the world famous panda breeding programme has been very costly and unsuccessful.