Animals have many different homes: deserts, grasslands, rainforests, oceans, and even our very own homes, at times. Some would call the zoo, however, their safe heaven. Creatures such as these are rare and endangered species, injured animals that could no longer thrive in the wild, and the offspring of such beasts. In 'The Reality of Zoos' by Michelle Carr, it states that “Captive animals are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them.” (Carr, line 15) According to Michelle Carr, zoos are not appropriate places for animals. In her words, she describes them as depressing prisons where animals don't thrive, as they would in the wild.
She grossly generalizes that zoos, are unfortunate prisoners for even more unfortunate animals. Given, there will be always some bad apples in the barrel. But in the way she portrays
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zoos out to be, the whole barrel would be rotting away. She sources are compiled mostly of PETA articles, and they have listed no data or sources to support their claims.
This renders their arguments as words with no backing to them, as it shows with most of the sources input into the article itself. One is even unavailable to view due to a 404 error. That could be from any number of reasons, but should be considered.
As was mentioned prior, many of the sources she cites don’t provide much valid support. For instance, the article 'Wildlife Parks' on the PETA website has no listed author. PETA and it's authors have been known for this sort of behavior. That is, to provide information with little to no citations, and utilize only their personal opinions and appeal to emotional bias in order to gain their support.
In the book 'Last Animals at the Zoo: How Mass Extinction Can Be Stopped', author Colin Tudge talks about how zoos have become an important part of today's conservation efforts to save rare and endangered species of animals. He also examines all aspects of ways to help conservation, such as breeding programs, which would be a key element in helping the population of endangered
animals. The only other notable piece of literature the author had posted was an article on fashion and reptile skin. The scope of the issues surrounding reptiles and fashion are far different than those of zoos and conservation. The author doesn’t seem to be able to supply reputable sources for this kind of subject, much less know enough to talk about. Her research was all done on or through PETA, which renders it weak due to a high possibility of biased influence. In conclusion, Carr is not a reliable author on the subject of zoos. This conclusion can be drawn from their biased sources, and their lack of a sufficient background to designate that the understand enough to dictate how zoos are operated, how they should be operated, and whether or not there should be any in the first place. She grossly generalizes all zoos in a vague manner, and gives little support for her words.
For example, she showed old footage of baby Orcas being captured and taken from their mothers. Then, she moved on to them being trained, specifically Tillicum, who later became aggressive and killed three people. By showing us that footage she is igniting feelings of understanding and sadness. A human that is being taken from their mother would be in distress also. I interpreted that footage as her saying it is wrong to take whales out of their natural environment.
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.
Considering the many challenges animals face in the wild, it is understandable that people may be eager to support zoos and may feel that they are protective facilities necessary for animal life. In the article “ Zoos Are Not Prisons. They Improve the Lives of Animals”, Author Robin Ganzert argues that Zoos are ethical institutions that enrich the lives of animals and ultimately protect them. Statistics have shown that animals held in captivity have limited utilitarian function resulting in cramped quarters, poor diets, depression, and early death for the animals thus, proving that Zoos are not ethical institutions that support and better the lives of animals as author Robin Ganzert stated (Cokal 491). Ganzert exposes the false premise in stating
In “Why zoos are good” Dr. Dave Hone highlights education as one of the main reasons he supports zoos, mentioning how many people who live in cities may never get to experience wild animals if it weren’t for zoos. Hone states educational videos and documentaries are an option, but they “pale next to seeing a living creature in the flesh, hearing it, smelling it, watching what it does and having the time to absorb details” (Hone). Not only do zoos provide interactive learning opportunities and a direct opportunity to experience how animals behave in the flesh, Hones notes zoos can be educational else where, as a significant amount work to send workers abroad to conservatives to help educate others on how to improve conditions for the animals. 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
Zoos like Phoenix Zoo, National Zoo, Linkin Park Zoo, and Columbus Zoo help endangered animals on a regular basis. Rick Schwartz is a zookeeper at the San Diego Zoo who specializes in endangered animals and Rick is committed to helping people learn about wildlife and national and global conservation. For instance, San Diego Zoo has over 165 endangered species and regularly introduce them back into the wild. Zookeeper Rick sheds light on how he and the San Diego Zoo help the endangered animals, “The San Diego Zoo has a deep history of working to protect species and habitats around the world. Long-standing breeding programs have created situations where endangered species such as the California Condor, Pocket Mouse, Arabian Oryx and Caribbean Iguana (to name a few) have been released back into the wild.” Endangered animals are admitted to zoos very often for savior and breeding to let the species have another chance at
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...
"How Zoos Are Saving Our Animals." – Features – ABC Environment (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2015.
This does not change it as zoos are here as conservation and education; we are here to save the animals, and make more people aware of the situation at hand. I believe that we shouldn’t turn our heads or back to problems that zoos are suffering, going through misunderstanding or beliefs of what others say. This means propaganda, misinformation, or organizations; for example, PETA, should not matter on what actions we are to make. We have a job to do for these animals, and this world; because if we don’t take that first leap, then we have not just lost the fight but we have lost the
Zoo’s enclosures and parks have been around for quite a while now, and it is the duty of the public to go to these parks to explore a new world and experience the “true” animals. People are attracted to new experiences and to learn about exotic animals and see them in their “natural” habitat, or so owners try to present zoos to the public in that way. The seller ideas to get the public to continue to go to the zoos is gaining new exotic animals that you wouldn’t normally see around your house or near civilization. As stated by DeLuca and Slawter-Volkening, zoos are used to “bringing a taste of wilderness” to its public (3), trying to give a false reality of the wilderness. Later in the same article, they stated that “fundamentally zoos exist to amuse people…..animals are reduced to actors in the play/world created by humans for humans” (DeLuca and Slawter-Volkening 4). This statement shows that humans do in fact enjoy the “fake” over the real, and that animals are only objects or toys used to amuse the people.
Let’s take a look at Pitiful Prisons (Zoos) for instance. Despite their professional concern for animals, zoos could more accurately be described as a "collection" of animals rather than actual safe havens or homes. Zoos claim to be educational but visitors spend maybe a few minutes at each display searching for entertainment more than enlightenment it doesn't matter what’s on display the people look at it as if it is wallpaper. Even taking consideration of the best circumstances at the ...
What do you think about zoos? Children standing in front of big cages, feel excited to see those lovely animals and share the joy with their parents. Parents will then read aloud the information on the signs to educate the children. At lunch hour, animals in bonds wait for delicious dishes provided by zoo keepers and live happily ever after. It seems that zoos are really a heaven to us and animals. It gives us a place to keep close to nature, saving those little pitiful things in wild. Unluckily, that is not the truth we wished. Indeed, zoos magnify their contribution to educational circle, exaggerating the importance of role play in conservation work, in order to cover those disgraceful secrets behind.
She always portrays him as an ignorant person. Animal bad behaviors always goes back to his way of talking to people around him. His wordings are the negative impact of his image that people have view on. Because of his depiction, people might have think he is a person who snitch on people for his own benefit or just for being very talkative. However, those were not the case, he is being very secretive of his actions.
If more people are aware of new animals on the endangered species list, there is more of a chance that researchers will get more funds. Zoos also create habitats for animals on the verge of extinction where otherwise there would be none. There is some controversy between zoos and endangered species. Because of the limited gene pool of a species, the variation is greatly limited. This will –as an end result- lead to inbreeding which will create mutations and defects in the offspring.
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.
There has been a long-standing debate surrounding the nature of zoological parks. In recent years, the concern over the health and safety of animals in captivity has grown significantly. This is due, in part, to the rise in attention people have started paying towards the way these animals are treated and held captive within zoological parks. On the news, more cases pop up yearly involving animals that have been abused, neglected, and even killed. Furthermore, animal rights groups have become larger in numbers and more outspoken regarding the problematic existence of zoos. Though despite these facts, there has not been a decline in the amount of people visiting zoos, the economic revenue is as strong as ever, and the establishments are still