You could already have visited a zoo or a safari park at one point of your life or maybe even more than once. Many people argue about animals being kept in zoos. Some people think zoos are a good thing and some people don’t. The zoo was created for many reasons, like research making, conservation, and educational purposes. You might see zoos like some sort of an artificial environment for the animals, but in my opinion, it is horrible for animals to be kept in zoos as animals are supposed to stay out in the wild where they can enjoy their lives.
There are good zoos which will provide great care and protection to animals, besides which the animals are kept in a well looked after environment where they are able to be in the same habitat as the wild. In addition to this, they are fed their normal diet and keepers make them hunt for their food in hiding spots, so it is not like they are taken away from the wild. As well as, at zoos there are veterinarians on hand, constant food, and there are no predators. A good zoo will prolong the life of an animal, as long as the animals are taken proper care of. Furthermore most zoos run educational programs, which teach us everything we need to know about animals and educate us about the appreciation of animals and motivate us to protect the animals. You may also argue with me that the animals are housed in what is known as a mini-habitat, this means that the atmosphere where that particular animal lives is as close to its natural habitat as possible. However in my opinion it is really mean to take animals away from their family and force them to live in cages, which is really stressful for the animals causing them to suffer from loneliness. I believe that animals should stay where they were born, out in the wild because animals in cages may suffer from stress, boredom, and confinement. Moreover, animals kept in zoos are almost NEVER going to be released back into their natural habitats. It is nearly impossible to release captive-bred animals into the wild safely. Animals who are reared in zoos live in unnatural environments and can’t learn survival skills—and often, they have little or no natural habitat left to return to because of human encroachment. Aren’t there laws to protect animals in zoos?
According to a website named Captive Animals’ Protection Safety (CAPS), African elephants in the wild live more than three times as long as those kept in zoos. Even Asian elephants working in timber camps live longer than those born in zoos. They also mentioned that, 40% of lion cubs die before one month of age as compared to those in the wild that only 30% of cubs are thought to die before they are six months old and are mostly due to a natural event like predation. Nevertheless, some zoos help rehabilitate wildlife and take in exotic pets that people no longer want or are no longer able to care for.
In spite of this, as stated from the website, Infogram, lions in zoos spend 48% of their time pacing, 60% of animals in zoos have marks on their heads because of continuously banging their heads against the bar, and over 40% of elephants performed stereotypic behaviours. Moreover, lions and other big cats have 18,000 times less space in zoos than in the wild, meanwhile, captive polar bears have one million times less space in zoos than in the wild. Furthermore, it is 50 times more expensive to keep an elephant in a zoo than to protect its natural habitat. Sadly, 10 to 15 % of animals die in zoos in India every year, while 98 out of every 100 marine fish died within a year of being captured in Philippines. Therefore in my opinion, I don’t think it’s right to keep them in captivity. They are meant to be free! Additionally, animals are physically and mentally healthier in the wild than in zoos. Many of you would continue to argue that animals are supposed to be kept in zoos to protect them and that zoos are there to save animals, but my position still stand that animals should not be kept in zoos.
Conclusion
Animals should be kept where they were born out in the wild. It is really cruel to take animals away from their homes and force them to stay in small cages at the zoos for the rest of their lives. Well, whether you think that zoos are a help to the animal community or not, as long as they make money as people go to the zoos and buy tickets, zoos will continue to exist.