Effects Of Zoos On Animals

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.

Although zoos have portrayed an image which suggests they

What people do not know is that the animals in circuses are more than often abused to force them into learning these tricks as well as deprived of essentials while on the road. In both zoos and in circuses, animals are taken from the wild. The abduction of animals from the wild to be used in circuses has the same effect on the animals and the ecosystem; it pushes that species closer to extinction. If wild animals are not taken directly from the wild, they are bought from circuses. Regardless from where they are taken, this causes animals to stress due to unfamiliarity, such as discomfort. According to the Performing Animals Welfare Society, animals do not have access to any of their basic necessities such as food and water (1). Even if the animals are being fed and have access to water, it is in moderation These animals also do not have the ability to walk around as they would in zoos. They are constantly confined in boxcars, often in extreme temperatures. One incident recorded by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) stated that “... a young lion traveling with Ringling, died in a poorly ventilated boxcar while the circus was crossing the Mojave Desert, where the temperatures reaches at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit” (“Circuses” 1). Sometimes, there are more than one animal confined to one boxcar. This limits the space the animals have even more, as well as confining two naturally aggressive animals together. Often times, predators in prey are placed in the same vicinity, which also causes tension and stress between the animals. Along with the constant confinement and the restriction to necessities, animals in the circus are treated awfully. To train the animals, extremely abusive tactics are used, not positive reinforcement. According to the Last Chance for Animals foundation (LCA), “Animals in the circus are routinely whipped, beaten with