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Why zoos need to be abolished
Ecological benefits of zoos
Why zoos need to be abolished
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This brings us to the second reason for keeping zoos. They play an important role in education. More than one tenth of the human race visits zoos every year to see living animals. Such a wide and varied audience provides an excellent opportunity for education. "Zoo education is a holistic discipline targeted at zoo visitors, staff and the wider community aiming to promote an understanding of, and concern and respect for biodiversity, animals and the natural world, and encourage action for a sustainable future" (Centre for Environment Education,2006). Several studies (Horton, 2008; Jamieson, 1985) have shown that there is evidence that zoos are very successful in educating people about animals. People learn from visiting zoos physiology, behavior
Wallace-Wells' article "The Case for the End of the Modern Zoo", addresses whether there is a valid reason for zoos to exist.The author begins by explicitly stating that he is a huge fan of zoos, and visits them frequently with his young daughter. He states that the zoo he visits takes extra precautions to protect the well being of the animals, such as reducing visitation hours and attempting to replicate natural habitats. In addition, the author calls to attention recent studies that suggest animals suffer in captivity (through malnutrition, infanticide, and frequent deaths).Wallace-Welles also emphasizes a recent "anti-zoo sentiment" stemming from pop culture such as "Madagascar", "Planet of the Apes", and "Blackfish". This "anti-zoo sentiment"
The practice of keeping wild animals in a zoo or aquarium is looked at favorably in most aspects but what we fail to realize is that we have placed animals which at one point lived freely in wide open spaces into captivity. Society is assuming these animals are happy to be taken from their natural habitat and placed in pens and cages because they have every need handed to them. David Suzuki asked “What gives us the right to exploit other living organisms as we see fit?” (681). Through selfishness, people have justified zoos and aquariums to be an educational benefit to children, to help them learn about animals, their individuality and where they come from. Zoos and Aquariums are for society’s personal entertainment not for the good of the animals and should be closed down.
efforts being done for the right reasons? Will zoos remain as a form of family
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.
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, if managed and run correctly, are beneficial to a majority of animals and endangered species. Zoos were created by humans to display animals as works of art, but now zoos are much more. Many zoos have breeding programs to help animals repopulate. Animals are also safe from predators, common but fatal diseases, and even illegal wildlife poachers. Lastly, zoos give the public a chance to see animals up close and offer chances to have real live animal interactions, along with providing educational experiences.
A zoo is a place where animals live in captivity and are put on display for people to view. An example of a zoo animal would be an elephant. As of October 2017, there are 230 Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA)-accredited zoos in the world; however, there have been numerous reports of unaccredited zoos reported. There are many reasons why animals do not belong in zoos, but a big reason is they do not have the proper size space to live in. People against zoos has been an issue throughout society for many decades.
Zoos as we know them have existed for centuries. They provide entertainment and educational opportunities for both children and adults. Zoos also encourage people to get outside and learn more about the world and the animals in it. They provide opportunities for research and conservation programs that would not happen otherwise. For my Formal Report, I propose that the Bryan and College Station city councils should join together and build a zoo.
Families strolling, children squealing , and adults gazing with interest; People go to zoos seeking entertainment; a way to see animals they never imagined being so up close and personal with. At least as personal as a someone can get with a two inch glass pane and fields of grass in the way. The zoo provides a fun and educational time for families, but the joy of seeing adorable creatures blinds people from realizing the pain zoo animals live with. Yes, from human perspective it seems very enthralling. But what about the animals actually inside these enclosures?
The article, All Zoos Should Be Closed, by Philip Hoare, begins with the statement, “what does it take to close a zoo?”(Hoare) And then discusses the tragedy of south lakes safari zoo. The article talks about the loss of nearly 500 animals at the zoo and asks if the way we treat them is fair. In the next paragraph he brings up his friend who goes to zoos frequently with his kids, here his friend states that zoos are an educational experience but we should be able to see all animals such as tigers, for moral reasons. Then in the next paragraph talks about how kids should know the world is full of amazing animals beyond social media and cartoons, but where is the line between educational and exploratory. He then discusses treatment of animals
Should we have zoos? One day, your family decides to go to the zoo. When you arrive, your parents say, “Wow! We are going to learn about so many animals.” You think to yourself, “I want to see the seals balance a ball on their nose!”
An intruder enters someone’s house, the intruder kidnaps them, rips them from their family and jails them for life. Zoos should be banned because they do not have the right to kidnap the animals and jail them for life even if they are endangered. Stealing the animals from their home for our entertainment, shameful. The crazy thing is we are so entertained by it so much they make $175 million a year (1). The animals and people are equal none have less of an importance we are both living beings.
Science has shown that some mammals are far more intelligent than society initially thought; there is evidence that primates are making their way into their own stone age (Westergaard), and certain countries in Asia have started granting rights to species that are self-aware. Society, however, still keeps many of these mammals in zoos. Some believe zoos will never be able to give the proper care to the animals while others say zoos should not exist at all. Zoos have become progressively more humane over the years by moving away from the age of small, tile boxes, but no one is sure how much change is enough. Organizations like the AZA, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, have helped progress by setting standards for treatment, but many of
The state of mind in which zoo animals are in, is an unhealthy one. Zoos are meant to keep animals in captivity to put on a show for humans. This is not a humane thing to do, and zoos should be banned all around the world. “Between 3,000 and 5,000 healthy ‘surplus’ animals are ‘culled’ (i.e., killed) by European zoos each year (PETA UK), this is not just happening in the United States. There have been multiple cases in which animals have been killed in zoos, put to sleep (killed on purpose) because of “incidents” that wasn’t the animals fault, and many more things that just are not right.
Supporters of zoos argue that they help to conserve endangered species, but in fact they are not very good at this. Even the world famous panda-breeding programme has been very costly and unsuccessful. Also, zoo life does not prepare animals for the challenges of life in the wild. For example, two rare lynxes released into the wild in Colorado died from starvation even though the area was full of hares, which are a lynx’s natural prey.