Issues for Having Animals in Captivity

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At the San Francisco zoo in California a young girl was killed by a tiger who had escaped his low-quality enclosure; the tiger was shot dead on the spot. If wild animals were kept in the wild, deaths and injuries of people from zoo animals would never happen. Animals are taken out of their natural habitats to live unhappy lives in zoos. As a result of having animals in captivity, animals suffer from health problems, insufficient living spaces and conservation problems.

Having animals in zoos can be extremely hurtful to the animal’s wellbeing. Often time in zoos animals are not provided with sufficient food, are not treated at all when they develop illnesses. Under the animal Welfare act it is the zoos legal responsibility to take care of their animals in the way that is necessary for each individual animal (“Wild Animals in Captivity”). It is very common for zoo animals to develop physiological, physical and mental health issues. One reason these problems occur is because animals in zoos do not have anything to do. The purpose they once had in the wild to hunt or protect themselves is gone. Without purpose zoo animals sit around in their cages as their health gets progressively worse. The term zoocosis is used to describe the condition that animals are in when they constantly repeat an action that they would not normally do in the wild, such as pacing around their exhibits or excessively scratching or liking themselves. Another contributor to animal health problems is the neglecting to the animal’s needs. Animals in captivity do not properly take care of their animals by neglecting to care for their sicknesses or giving them the physical interactions they need. Most zoo animals are in exhibits all a...

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...n cages conservation projects work on protecting animals and keeping land protected. If there were no zoos and only conservation then what happened to the tiger and the young girl would not be repeated with other animals. Keeping animals in captivity can only be acceptable if all of their needs are met, but it is still unnecessary and inhumane to keep animals in zoos (“Wild Animals in Captivity”).

Works Cited

“Animals for Entertainment”. Bbc.co.uk. BBC. WebND

“10 facts about zoos”. Captiveanimals.org. Captive animals’ Protection society.

3 March 2010.Web.24 2014

Roberts, Adam. “Zoochotic: Is Keeping Wild Animals in Captivity Crazy?” bornfreeusa.org.

BornFreeUSA. 31 March 2008. Web. 20 Feb 2014

“Wild animals in Captivity.” rspca.org. RSPCA. Web. ND

“Zoos.” Liberationbc.org. LiberationBC. Web. ND

“Zoos: Pitiful Prisons”. Peta.org. Peta. Web. ND

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