Many people consider zoos amoral and cruel while others have the notion . Forests Under Threat: A Comprehensive Look at the Latest Deforestation Statistics, Puppy Mills vs. In the age of social media, high profile culls have sparked heated debates. People are always attracted to exotic animals such as grizzlies, lions, wolves, tigers, and alligators among others. This paper is going to discuss why animals should not be kept in captivity. She somehow got over the 12-foot wall surrounding her 1,000-square-foot enclosure and attacked one of the teenagers, killing him. These associations ensure that members are treating their animals with a high standard of care and following any guidelines they provide. Zoos have been around for thousands of yearsas far back as 3500 BC in Egypt. These experiences are often harmful to wildlife and dangerous for you. Unfortunately, this is done under the guise of conservation and to protect endangered species. In fact, while animals will have almost unlimited space in the wild, they are often caged in rather confined areas in zoos. Copyrights 2023. Tigers, lions, elephants, bears and nonhuman primates are all included in this law. Its protections are minimal as well. Life expectancy is controlled by both the mental and physical health of most animals. The common negative effects of zoos on animals are listed below. Reintroduced animals have a hard time coping with life in the wild after long periods away. Reasons why people think keeping animals in zoos is bad for their welfare: the animal is deprived of its natural habitat; the animal may not have enough room; the animal is deprived of its natural . There are a few exceptions. Tatiana the tiger, kept in the San Francisco Zoo, snapped one day in 2007 after three teenage boys had been taunting her. Animals are forced to live in artificial habitats that arent anywhere close to their former homes (the wild). Roadside zoos dot the American landscape. CreditPhotographs by Peter Fisher for The New York Times. In a 2011 study, researchers quizzed visitors at the Cleveland, Bronx, Prospect Park and Central Park zoos about their level of environmental concern and what they thought about the animals. His father works for a large national Cat charity in the UK, and Alex has regularly taken part in fundraising events for them through the years. They are removed from their natural habitats and confined to small limited spaces and often forced to perform tricks or entertain visitors. What if zoos stopped breeding all their animals, with the possible exception of any endangered species with a real chance of being released back into the wild? Should zoos be banned? | National Geographic Running a successful zoo is about drawing in visitors as much as it is caring for animals. Zoos often do more harm than good, creating unnatural environments that look realistic enough to make any potential return to the wild all but impossible. 2021 ScienceTimes.com All rights reserved. One of the best examples of this advantage is the Przewalski's horse. Your email address will not be published. Apes are excellent at escaping. An animals worth is only equal to the attraction it offers to visitors. The Enigmatic Wombats: Surprising Facts and Myths Debunked. Earlier this month, footage of a dolphin attacking its trainer in Miami Seaquarium went viral. Polar bears have one million times less space. Why Animals Should not be Kept in Zoos? Essay There is always that element of choice that gets removed from them in a captive environment. Taking your family for a day out at the zoo has been a sort of tradition for a very long time and given recent statics the number of visitors is growing. I have written before about the importance of zoos and the role they have to play in the world for conservation . Why? But it's clear, say welfare specialists, that captivity can compromise orcas' health. See Related: How Similar is Human DNA to Other Animals. Those who reported a sense of connection to the animals at the zoo also correlated positively with general environmental concern. These are wild animals, who are dangerous by nature and cannot be domesticated. This support of the exotic pet trade also results in a lot of preventable animal deaths. These are highly intelligent animals with complex social constructs that scientists have studied for . Early in the pandemic, the Neumunster Zoo in northern Germany coolly announced an emergency plan to cope with lost revenue by feeding some animals to other animals, compressing the food chain at the zoo like an accordion, until in the worst-case scenario, only Vitus, a polar bear, would be left standing. In 1898, the reason was cited by the New York Zoological Society when it resolved to inform the public of the continued decline in animal populations, to stimulate sentiment in favor of animal protection, and to cooperate with scientific organizations to ensure the preservation of species. Zoos across the US can take credit for reviving the wild Arabian oryx, golden lion tamarin and Californian condor populations, among many others. In zoos, elephants are often given a small outside enclosure and an internal house. This is nowhere near enough space to provide an elephant with a life comparable to that of its wild counterparts. Zoos - Pros & Cons - ProCon.org These are species that would have vanished totally were it not for captive populations around the world, many of which reside in zoos (or, for plants, botanic gardens). Deforestation will be the next problem when animals such as moose, elks, and deer start eating everything even young trees. However, they are really just teaching children about caring for animals in captivity. Ms. Marris is an environmental writer and the author of the forthcoming book Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World.. The first efforts to keep wild and exotic animals for non-utilitarian uses began about 2500 BCE, when rulers in . This is due to the inhumane conditions that these animals are forced to endure. Is Keeping Wild Animals In Zoos Unethical?: Arguments For - WorldAtlas Here's What Experts Think. For example, a lion might have a hard time adjusting to hunting for its meals when it has spent years being fed and lazing around. But the law excludes protection for birds, rats and mice, farmed animals and "cold-blooded" animals such as reptiles, amphibians and fish. Many zoos use Prozac and other psychoactive drugs on at least some of their animals to deal with the mental effects of captivity. Things like ensuring animals arent caged and treated less than they deserve. There are a number of reasons why animals should not be kept in captivity. People assume that because an animal can move great distances that they would choose to do that. If they have everything they need nearby, he argued, they would be happy with smaller territories. Others are captured from their native habitats, or come from backyard breeders or the black market. Most people visit the zoo to see the big draw animals. Many suffer from arthritis and other joint problems from standing on hard surfaces; elephants kept alone become desperately lonely; and all zoo elephants suffer mentally from being cooped up in. Slow animals with minimal to zero predators such as elephants have brief life spans in captivity. The forerunners of the modern zoo, open to the public and grounded in science, took shape in the 19th century. Should animals be kept in captivity? - The Current Read on to find out why animals should not be kept in zoos. For some animals, reintroduction will always be difficult, such as baby elephants, or pet cheetahs, both of which habituate to human care very quickly, says Moore of IFAW. It is expensive and difficult to keep wild animals in captivity. These standards set a low bar and are widely considered to be sub-par in protecting animals. Many zoos and aquariums offer behind-the-scenes tours and informative talks on animal welfare. All of these animals are well studied and have a plethora of documentaries and video footage of them in the wild. The surpluses are then sold off to zoos, aquariums, or even circuses. The better alternatives to zoos are the options that dont result in animals being held in conditions that are unsuitable and forced to live in natural environments. In contrast, those nesting animals or cornered ones will try to defend themselves if being approached to protect their young. Yes, it is time consuming and it is expensive, but if it is possible, we have to try, simply because is the right thing to do.". It is not humane to keep large mammals like orcas, dolphins or elephants in zoos or theme parks. In the past five years, the number of zoos has been gradually going up. The first modern one was opened in Paris, France in 1793. Zoos | Freedom for Animals People are fascinated by animals. Reasons Why Animals Should not Be Kept in Zoos - GradesFixer says that its members host more than 50 reintroduction programs for species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Nevertheless, a vast majority of zoo animals (there are 800,000 animals of 6,000 species in the A.Z.A.s zoos alone) will spend their whole lives in captivity, either dying of old age after a lifetime of display or by being culled as surplus.. The truth is that zoos are a prison for animals. As a result, many animals at zoos may die prematurely from stress or illness. A Brief History of Zoos . How Does Saving Water Help Climate Change? Opinion | Zoos Are Bad for Animals - The New York Times Most zoos or animal sanctuaries dont have the space or the facilities to truly recreate the wild. However, the vast majority dont do enough to accurately replace an animals natural habitat. This is particularly true if the animal is there for entertainment. Mr. Hribal documented many stories of elephants making a run for it in one case repairing to a nearby woods with a pond for a mud bath. Why Animals Should Not Be Kept In Zoos - AnimalLoveTalk.com Below are a dozen reasons why zoos can be bad for animals: 1. If you dont have people that know how to care for them, know how to breed them successfully, know how to keep them in environments where their social and psychological needs can be met, then you wont be able to do that, he said. Pros and cons of zoos: Should animals be kept in zoos? The monotonous, confined life of animals in captivity is a mere shadow of what life was like for them in the wild. Animals are stressed when they get separated from their packs or herds, especially when they end up as the only one of their kind in their new homes. There are a great many negative effects of zoos on animals.When we visit zoos, we can see they often go to great lengths in order to recreate the animals natural habitats. An increase in the populations of herbivorous animals such as deer and buffalos isnt a good thing, especially not for the vegetation and ground cover. But whether recent events have triggered a profound shift in public consciousness is harder to quantify. Animal Legal Defense Fund,National Headquarters Even though they might be getting enough food, if your animals are not okay mentally they might still not live to their full potential. They learned from their parents to be mistrustful because they have no way of knowing whether people could be good or do them harm. Animal Behavior: Resources for Applied Ethology, Man in Uganda Beats Lion With Bare Hands In Bloody Battle Before Feasting on the Beast for Dinner, Dolphin Attacks Trainer in Front of Horrified Families in Miami Seaquarium: How Often Do These Sea Creatures Attack Humans? Captive animals are forced to spend their lives swimming endlessly and aimlessly instead of traveling up to 100 miles a day at fast speeds in the wild.