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Zoos are beneficial for animals
Efforts taken to protect endangered wildlife
Zoos do more harm than good
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Imagine a beautiful cheetah running at her maximum speed. All four paws are stretched out in front of her in mid air. The sun shimmers against her shiny fur and her strong muscles come out. With her claws out to get traction, her front paws hit the ground first followed by her two rear paws. She is off the ground again. She has reached the peak of her speed causing the wind to blow her hair back. She almost looks like she is floating in mid air because she spends most of the time in mid-air. When you imagine this beautiful creature, do you see her in a limitless wide space surrounded by trees and grass or in an enclosure at the zoo? Animals belong in the wild where they can live freely. In the wild, animals can achieve their needs that zoos …show more content…
Humans are present in both the wild and the zoo. In the zoo animals are constantly watched for entertainment. In the wild animals are hunted and killed for game or for their body parts. There is no way animals can escape the dominating presence of humans. Humans can take away the animals home from the animals if they choose to. They can also take the animals away from their home. Animals can be taken away from their home for reasons as little as for entertainment or for larger reasons such as helping restore them back to health. Helping the animals recover is great; however, sometimes they cannot fully recover and they are sent to zoos. In zoos, the animals will live in small enclosures that are nothing compared to the lifestyle they were living in the …show more content…
Throughout time, some zoos have mimicked an animal 's natural habitat. While some zoos are becoming more suitable for the animals, many are still left behind. Many of the smaller zoos continue to have small cement enclosures with little nature. When an animal is placed in a small enclosure they are unable to complete their needs that the wild can easily give them. Animals such as elephants are used to walking 30 kilometers per day, at the zoo they are unable to fulfill their needs. Needs that can not be fulfilled leads to unhealthy behavior. According to PETA, “Many develop neurotic and self-harming behavior [known as] zoochosis, that is rarely, if ever, observed in the wild. Primates throw feces and eat their own vomit. Birds pluck out their own feathers. Tigers pace incessantly and polar bears swim endless figure-eights. In the zoo animals can also not experience hunting for their own food. Most of the animals at the zoo are predatory animals, that enjoy hunting for their food. A zoo can not provide that; therefore, the animals are fed in bowls. A zoo is nothing compared to the wild. There is no limit to where the animals can walk, fly or swim. There is no cement around just pure nature. Animals live an authentic life in the wild while playing an important role in their ecosystem. Hunting is an exciting part of the day for some animals while other animals face challenges against natural selection. In their
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
When people go on a trip to the zoo, it can be assumed that they do not think about much more than what they can see. Signals that make zoos unfair and sometimes unbearable for the captive animals are not visible to most spectators. This essay will explain how zoos are unjust and should not be supported. Animals should not be held captive due their negative behavioral changes, lack of natural habitat and the zoos failure to effectively preserve endangered species.
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.
Stroud, Peter. "Defining Issues of Space in Zoos." Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research 2.6 (2007): 219-22.
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.
Mason, Robert A. B. "Wild Mammals In Captivity: Principles And Techniques For Zoo Management, 2Nd Edition." Austral Ecology38.8 (2013): e26. Environment Index. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Since approximately 1250 B.C., ancient Egyptians had created and practiced the capture and display of animals in what are now known as zoos (Fravel). Records describe such exotic animals as birds, lions, giraffes, and tigers in captivity (Fravel). Since then, zoos have continued to entertain millions with the exciting chance to view exotic animals up close and personal. Even in ancient Greece, exotic animals were on display in fighting arenas, and in enclosed viewing areas. Originally in America, zoos were just created so that royalty and the wealthy could flaunt their exotic animals to the public (Leolupus). Today, with species threatened and habitats disappearing worldwide, zoos are serving a new purpose other than the mere exhibition of animals – conservation. (Fravel). When you think of a zoo, you either think of a fun, entertaining place that provides close-up and exciting exhibits of wild animals that you would otherwise never get the chance to see, or a place where people keep suffering, unhappy animals captive just for entertainment and display. However, despite whichever view you hold, and despite the stereotypes, some zoos have evolved to serve alternative and helpful purposes. Although some zoos face controversy due to allegations such as lack of space and quality care, neglect, and cruelty, some zoos have programs specifically designed to help and protect animal species. For example, these zoos have programs that help such conservation efforts as breeding.
Some people may argue that zoos protect animals and species under this polluted world, however, do animals in zoos really need our “help”? Yes, but surely not that many. According to Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS), 79% of animals in United Kingdom zoos and over 70% of elephants in European zoos are wild-caught. It seems that zoos need them rather than they need zoos.
Zoos display fascinating animals from all over the world for human entertainment, research, conservation, and education. Many scientists conduct studies on animals in captivity that they may not have been able to in the wild. Zoos educate all the visitors that come; they let people know everything that they know about the animals on display. We do learn a lot from these animals, but not all of the animals in the zoo are behaving like they normally would in the wild. Larger animals, such as elephants and orcas (commonly known as killer whales), have trouble with being confined in such a small area. However, many smaller animals benefit from zoos because they provide protection from predators, natural disasters, and poachers. They also benefit from conservation efforts; the babies being born get all the care they could ever need. Some animal rights activists are concerned that the conservation efforts are limiting the gene pool of the species. They argue that the small number of animals able to breed in captivity limits biodiversity and leads to weaknesses in the species overall. Zoos are wonderful places to study and learn about animals, but we need to improve the living standards for animals that struggle with captivity.
These “performances” teach audiences nothing about how animals behave under normal circumstances. Animals in zoos are forced to spend their lives behind bars just to entertain the public. Living conditions are often terrifying, with animals confined to tiny, filthy, barren enclosures. But even the best artificial environments cannot come close to matching the space, diversity, and freedom that animals want and need.
In “The White Heron” the heron was protected from the hunter by a girl. The girl could represent a zoo while the young hunter could represent people who exploit animals for personal reasons, such as money. Zoos promote the awareness of animals that are going extinct. This would allow for people to help fund the repopulation of those animals. 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 make 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 limited greatly. This will –as an end result- lead to inbreeding which will create mutations and defects in the offspring.
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.”
The zoo is an unnatural environment that exposes animals to numerous dangers. Diseases often spread between species that would never live together naturally. For example, many Asian elephants have died in US zoos after catching herpes from African elephants. Furthermore, zoo animals are often exposed to chemicals, solvents and other toxic substances. Finally, it is common for visitors to tease and provoke caged animals.