Sociology Of Zoos

Introduction

According to a study done by Associate Professor at the University of Otago Neil Carr and Dr. Scott Cohen, only 42% of the zoos studied around the world, incorporates the educational aspects of zoos for their visitors (Carr and Cohen, 22). Therefore, what is the primary reason of zoos? According to Marc Bekoff, Professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Colorado, zoos are visited around the world by millions of people, as they are considered as a source of entertainment by many (Bekoff). Animals are confined in zoos for the sake of human entertainment, as well as constantly suffering from the lack of care, being abused, and even being killed for nonsensical reasons. Executive director Dr. Lesley

What most likely does not come to mind, is the suffering animals go through to provide humans with these feelings of entertainment. There are a great deal of horrific actions that occur in these wildlife parks that the public does not see. According to Richard Fagerlund, an environmental reporter for Gale, there are many zoos that secretly sell their animals to make extra profit. These zoo animals are then sold to ranchers who sell hunting permits. Afterwards, the animals are released back into the wild, so the hunters ,who bought the permits, have a chance to shoot exotic animals (Fagerlund). There is a lot of secrecy surrounding zoos. Also, animals who are held in zoos endure extremely poor living conditions. For instance, according to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the living conditions for these animals are so poor, that it causes animals to have a disease called zoochosis. Zoochosis is caused by the confinement of animals, and it causes them to constantly pace, sway, rock, and even hurt themselves by pulling out their fur/feathers or chewing on their fingers. The filthy living conditions consist of unsanitary cages, tight space, limited resources, and for animals in petting zoos, being constantly touched by the visitors (PETA). Although the living space for animals may be efficient for the zoo and the workers, they are not efficient for animals- especially if animals are in a state of zoochosis due to their living space. Moreover, in an article by CAPS (Captive Animals’ Protection Society), the government did an inspection of a public zoo and stated, “The animals were very crowded and there was no provision for individual feeding or sleeping areas. Some of the lions exhibited skin wounds and multiple scars of various age, some fresh, and some healed.” (CAPS). There was no