Animal Captivity Did you know that animals in captivity live long miserable lives? Some animals feel performing is stressful, confusing, and often tortuous. Animals must be taken out of captivity due to the fact that animals may have mental illness, they are unhealthy, and they have a shorter life span. There are many reason why animals should be taken out of captivity one reason is that many animals experience mental illness. “Gus a polar bear in central park zoo, alarmed visitors by compulsively swimming figure eights in his pool. He stalked children from his underwater window staff put up a barrier. Gus’s neuroticism earned him the name of “the bipolar bear” [Laura Smith]. He was given prozac and 25,000 dollars worth a therapy but in the end gus stopped eating due to a so called toothache but it was a tumara and later he died. Many animals in captivity have died from mental illnesses .
There are many different mental illnesses that animals can show such as depression. “ Flint was a chimpanzee living in Gombe National park in Tanzania.
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One of many major problems is that the animals in captivity live a shorter life span. In china at Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo siberian tigers have died. “Creative commons siberian tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, which makes this story from china all the more chilling: blaming food that was too expansive, the Shenyang forest wild animal zoo allowed 11 of its siberian tigers to starve to death in cold cramped metal cages during the first three months of 2010”[Blythe Copeland]. Animals died because their food was to expansive. Zoos and wildlife parks may be breeding more animals than they can afford hoping to sell off the carcasses for high prices to use in traditional medicines. This shows that some zoos and wildlife parks do not really always care about their animals as much as most people
I will now provide arguments against the use of animal captivity. Firstly, I will use Peter Singer, who I believe delivers the strongest argument against animal captivity. Singer is a consequentialist who argues for animal rights and the position that animals should not be held captive. Singer reminds us that humans are animals but language makes us overlook this. As a utilitarian and hedonist, Singer looks towards the end result, where like human beings, other animals choose pleasure over suffering. Singer regards interests of consciousness rather than self-consciousness. Therefore since animals are conscious beings and animal captivity causes pain and suffering, it is wrong. Robert Garner
The article, “Are Zoos Cruel? The Pros and Cons of Zoos and Wildlife parks”, discusses the advantages and disadvantages animals have being in zoos and wildlife parks. It states, “The physical and mental frustrations of captivity often lead to abnormal, neurotic, and even self destructive behavior, such as incessant pacing, swaying, head-bobbing, bar-biting, and self-mutilation. In other words, animals tend to become psychotic when held in captivity. Their psychotic behavior comes from the restriction of freedom they have. This is significant because it validates my argument that dysfunctions.
I will now move onto arguments supporting the use of animal captivity. I am starting with Kant, who provides a strong argument for animal captivity. Kantian Ethics holds the view that we do not have any direct ethical duties to non-human animals. We only owe ethical duties to rational beings, and non-human animals are not included in this group. The value humanity comes from our capacity to be governed by autonomous, rational choices. Since non-human cannot be part of this, Kant believes we can do as we please with them. This can be demonstrated in Kant’s ‘Political Writings’ when he argues,
Second of all, animals in captivity show stereotypical behavior and how this shows that animals are bored in zoos. Animal Welfare Institute says “Stereotypic behavior is an abnormal behavior frequently seen in laboratory primates. It is considered an indication of poor psychological well-being in these animals. As it is seen in captive animals but not in wild animals, attention has been focused on the situations in which this behavior develops,” (Animal Welfare Institute). You don’t see animals doing stereotypical behaviors in the wild. This is not good for them, they're just doing the same things over and over again. This can also lead to self-mutilation,(A.K.A) them harming themselves in some way over and over again, like hitting their head
Chapter one: History of captivity Gianna Sparcino. The start of animal captivity started in the 50s and 60s. At this point in time, circuses and zoos were extremely popular. In the circuses they would tour around with 200 animals which included horses, lions, chimpanzees, camels, elephants, polar bears, and sea lions. Television programs introducing wild animals are now becoming popular too, including Desmond Morris’ Zoo Time & David Attenborough’s Zoo Quest, which made people want to collect wild animals and display them for public entertainment ASAP.
Finally, when the animals in captivity show signs of abnormal behavior, persistent distress and physical harm, they are suffering from physical and emotional damage due to their conditions. All of three of these
Animals should not be held captive in zoos because it is inhumane and unfair to the animals. There are so many records of terrible things that have happened to animals in zoos over the past few centuries, the go under the radar too often. Too few people even know about these animal care atrocities, and therefore the New York Times decided to bring light upon this situation. The Times did a first-of-its-kind analysis of 390 elephant fatalities at accredited U.S. zoos over the past 50 years (Berens 3). It found that most of the elephants died from injury or disease linked to conditions of their captivity, from chronic foot problems caused by standing on hard surfaces to musculoskeletal disorders from inactivity caused by being penned or chained for days and weeks at a time.
Many animal rights activist argue that animals should be allowed to live their lives in the wild instead of captivity. That we as humans have no right to neither alter the fate of other species nor use them for our personal benefits. PETA who is well known for their animal rights view argue that “Captive animals are deprived of everything that is natural and important to them and as a result, they become bored and lonely and many even suffer from a condition called zoochosis.” (PETA 1) Zoochosis is a condition in which the animal wonders back and forth usually in the same position for hours on end. This condition is only seen in the zoos as a result of the animal’s captivity. As a result zoos provide these animals with Prozac, which is a mood-altering drug to help prevent public atte...
Animals should not be kept in captivity for any reason unless they have been harmed and need to receive treatment, but they should be released as soon as they are healthy and capable of taking care of themselves again. The use of a captive animal for research, education, or entertainment is just wrong; no creature deserves to have their life taken away for our benefit. Would you want to be captured and put in a tiny box, or a fake little ecosystem, or abused and tortured because apparently that’s the only possible way to train an animal? How about just knowing that your real life is over and now all you get to do is put on a show for people? That is what we put these animals through for our entertainment, we tear children away from their parents.
Even though some zoos have an endangered species exhibit with the intention of protecting and rehabilitating animals, many do not do an adequate job of protecting the animals. Zoos have been harmful to the very animals they have sworn to protect. Animals in captivity often suffer from anxiety, boredom and other severe issue related to prolonged confinement. Most animals are unable to thrive in small enclosure with unnatural weather and climates. For example elephants are known to walk as far as 30 miles per day, but the association of Zoos and aquariums only require a space the measures $0 feet by 45 feet, which is about the size of a three car garage, to house these large animals. (peta.org) the drastic difference in the amount of space their allowed ...
6,126 species of animals are trapped inside of tiny zoo cages with hundreds of people watching every move they take. These animals should be free to go back to their real home. Zoochosis, sad animals, and the fact that zoos aren't helping are a couple of reasons why. As I already told you, animals in zoos should be let out into the wild.
Animals in zoos often become sad and depressed. In zoos the cages are too small and don't give animals the room they need to live a healthy life. Animals are also sometimes separated or put together, some animals don't do well with others of their kind and others need more animals to be social with. It's not just that though, “Some animals just don't do well in zoos” states Tim Zimmermann a Outside Magazine contributor. Some of the most popular animals in zoos are the ones that do the worst in them and can suffer from depression and eating problems.
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.
Zoos are an unsuitable environment for wild animals and should, therefore, be abolished. Firstly, zoo animals are kept in a very confined area compared with their vast natural habitat. Secondly, breeding programmes are far less successful than zoos claim. Thirdly, zoo animals are exposed to many diseases and other dangers.
The reasons that animals are held in captivity could favor some people and others not. Animals in captivity are usually held for entertainment, education, research, and conservation purposes. The other major reason they are held in captive is the process of rehabilitation. The article, Ethical Issues, defines rehabilitation as the treatment of wild animals found injured or ill, taken into captivity until restored to full health and then returned to the wild. Then when the animal is released they are then able to live freely in their own habitat. Although this may lead to suffering and stress or even death for the animal. The animal is so dependent on their caretaker that once they are put into the wild they do poorly (1).