They learned from their parents to be mistrustful because they have no way of knowing whether people could be good or do them harm. Opinion | Zoos Are Bad for Animals - The New York Times As humans, we have no right to hunt and lock up animals for our enjoyment. They are removed from their natural habitats and confined to small limited spaces and often forced to perform tricks or entertain visitors. The California condor breeding program, which almost certainly saved the species from extinction, includes five zoos as active partners. That's how animals living in captivity feel. But whether recent events have triggered a profound shift in public consciousness is harder to . I have written before about the importance of zoos and the role they have to play in the world for conservation . It is not humane to keep large mammals like orcas, dolphins or elephants in zoos or theme parks. In addition, baby animals that are deemed excess to requirements find their way into black market sales. For comparison, in 2018, they spent $4.9 billion on operations and construction. See Related: Best Books on Endangered Species. The allure of baby animals and the crowds they pull can lead a zoological garden director to increase them to keep attracting customers. Alas, theres plenty of heartbreaking evidence that many are not. Copyright 2023 The Science Times. Bears, lions, and other animals languish in roadside zoos across the country. Local laws are often most effective in governing the private possession of exotic animals. All things considered, animals should not be kept in zoos or aquariums. The Toledo Zoo has dosed zebras and wildebeest with the antipsychotic haloperidol to keep them calm and has put an orangutan on Prozac. Such zoos might even be merged with sanctuaries, places that take wild animals that because of injury or a lifetime of captivity cannot live in the wild. PETA says: "People who care about protecting endangered species should donate to organisations that safeguard them in their natural habitats if a species' native environment has been destroyed, there's nowhere left for the animals to go. Crustacean Chronicles: A Deep Dive into the Fascinating World of the Crab, Pet Food Manufacturers and Who Rules the Roost in a Growing Market. The practice of killing surplus animals is kept quiet by zoos, but it happens, especially in Europe. India bans the keeping of elephants in circuses and zoos. A gorilla named Togo at the Toledo Zoo used his incredible strength to bend the bars of his cage. WorldAnimalFoundation.org, Today's Deal: $300 Discount on Halo 2+ GPS Dog Collar. In a study done on 40 chimpanzees in six different zoos, all of the chimps exhibited behavior their counterparts in nature did not. Animals such as lions, elephants, and tigers dont get even close to one percent of the area they roam in the wild. But, for every story that casts zoos in a bad light from Vince the rhino's poaching at Paris' Thoiry Zoo in March; Cincinnati Zoo shooting endangered gorilla, Harambe, last year after a child fell into his enclosure; or Copenhagen Zoo killing and publicly dissecting Marius, a two-year-old giraffe in 2014 there are heart-warming tales too. In the case of America, our maps, developed with experts, show where extreme heat is causing the most deaths. It is these boastful collections of animals, these autocratic menageries, from which the modern zoo, with its didactic plaques and $15 hot dogs, springs. Another time, one of the orangutans, Kumang, learned how to use sticks to ground the current in the electrical wire around her enclosure. Captive animals are forced to spend their lives swimming endlessly and aimlessly instead of traveling up to 100 miles a day at fast speeds in the wild. If you go on holiday to any major destination, the chances are high that there will be at least one zoo and/or one aquarium nearby. Zoo elephants tend to die young. Many suffer from arthritis and other joint problems from standing on hard surfaces; elephants kept alone become desperately lonely; and all zoo elephants suffer mentally from being cooped up in tiny yards while their free-ranging cousins walk up to 50 miles a day. After being captives of the pandemic for more than a year, we have begun experiencing the pleasures of simple outings: dining al fresco, shopping with a friend, taking a stroll through the zoo. Earlier this month, footage of a dolphin attacking its trainer in Miami Seaquarium went viral. Zoos | Freedom for Animals There are a number of reasons why animals should not be kept in captivity. However, that does not stop the silent damage that captivity delivers to such roaming animal species. Is Keeping Wild Animals In Zoos Unethical?: Arguments For - WorldAtlas In this way, they could lead the predator away from their nest. Should We Keep Animals in Zoos? - Scholastic However, this is often not much more than an illusion for the customer. Many zoos will then resort to drugging animals in order to keep them docile and normal for the pleasure of the viewing public. This becomes a major blow to the biodiversity of the affected region. However, when the animals being culled arent in demand, they might find themselves facing death. Yes, it is time consuming and it is expensive, but if it is possible, we have to try, simply because is the right thing to do.". Exotic animals have become very popular, but they are also dangerous in so many ways. The state and local laws protecting wild animals in captivity are spreading. She could then climb the wire without being shocked. Captive tigers pace back and forth, and in a 2014 study, researchers found that the time devoted to pacing by a species in captivity is best predicted by the daily distances traveled in nature by the wild specimens. It is almost as if they feel driven to patrol their territory, to hunt, to move, to walk a certain number of steps, as if they have a Fitbit in their brains. What began as a way to pass time soon became a compulsion. Zoos often have insufficient knowledge of animals. There is always that element of choice that gets removed from them in a captive environment. Below are a dozen reasons why zoos can be bad for animals: No matter how dedicated a zoo is, it cant meet the space requirements for most of its animals. In 2020, facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums contributed more than $230 million to conservation efforts. The sale of excess animals to traveling roadside zoos is another big problem. For the unlucky ones that end up in the circuses, they are always in for a wide awakening. Wild animals have certain behaviors that are uniquely influenced by their environments. What Is The Hunters Role in Wildlife Conservation? Zoos across the US can take credit for reviving the wild Arabian oryx, golden lion tamarin and Californian condor populations, among many others. Unlike in the wild where these endangered species have to worry about staying safe, in these breeding programs they get taken care of. Jason Hribals 2010 book, Fear of the Animal Planet, chronicles dozens of attempts. A zoological park is defined as an establishment designed for conservation, study, and public display. However, looking back as an adult with a world-savvy eye, there is far more to animal captivity than meets the eye. Living collections were often presented in taxonomic order, with various species of the same family grouped together, for comparative study. Persuasive Speech: Why Animals Should Not be kept in Zoos. Theyre generally small menageries where wild and exotic animals like lions, tigers, monkeys, wolves, and others are kept in captivity, and often suffer badly. or the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria have studbooks and genetic pedigrees and carefully breed their animals as if they might be called upon at any moment to release them, like Noah throwing open the doors to the ark, into a waiting wild habitat. These standards set a low bar and are widely considered to be sub-par in protecting animals. This is evident in killer whales' most vital body part: their teeth. This alteration of the animals behavior will eventually do more harm than good. Capturing animals even smart ones like apes, for amusement shouldnt be going on anywhere. It is not possible to have zookeepers versed in a detailed understanding of every single species. PETA isn't alone. Wildlife experts remind people that these animals do not know people's intentions, so they will try to protect themselves no matter what. Going to the zoo is often quite affordable. This alone increases the risk of disease, as animals are exposed to viruses they have never encountered before. Taking your family for a day out at the zoo has been a sort of tradition for a very long time and given recent statics the number of visitors is growing. This type of behaviour is almost unheard of in their wild counterparts. Why zoos are good | Zoology | The Guardian These experiences are often harmful to wildlife and dangerous for you. Its zookeepers who arent fond of animals that go around hurting animals even when they havent been provoked. By designing these enclosures so that many animals could be seen at once, without any bars or walls in the visitors lines of sight, he created an immersive panorama, in which the fact of captivity was supplanted by the illusion of being in nature. It is impossible to read these stories without concluding that these animals wanted out. Animal Legal Defense Fund,National Headquarters The process of training an animal is a long and brutal one. For example, a lion might have a hard time adjusting to hunting for its meals when it has spent years being fed and lazing around. Due in part to unnatural enclosures, animals in zoos are under stress. The California condor shows what zoos can accomplish. People are always attracted to exotic animals such as grizzlies, lions, wolves, tigers, and alligators among others. These are wild animals, who are dangerous by nature and cannot be domesticated. When confined they rock, pull their hair and engage in other tics. But it's clear, say welfare specialists, that captivity can compromise orcas' health. Ms. Marris is an environmental writer and the author of the forthcoming book Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World.. Captive Animals - Animal Legal Defense Fund People are fascinated by animals. This is seen as a cheaper option as opposed to moving them back into the wild. But the law excludes protection for birds, rats and mice, farmed animals and "cold-blooded" animals such as reptiles, amphibians and fish. Animals in zoos can sense this, and over time their confinement can lead to worrying behavioral changes. Zoological gardens have been working to help ensure that any endangered species are given another chance to thrive again over time. Sadly, most of these associations end up protecting the interests of their members, and not the animals they should be protecting. Its protections are minimal as well. In 2014, the Animal Legal Defense Fund successfully brought a lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act against a roadside zoo called the Cricket Hollow Animal Park, that was mistreating protected animals. When wild animals shouldn't be in captivity. Why Animals Should not be Kept in Zoos? Essay If you dont have people that know how to care for them, know how to breed them successfully, know how to keep them in environments where their social and psychological needs can be met, then you wont be able to do that, he said. Sanctuaries promise to take in and care for any animals that have been abused, neglected, or abandoned and to keep them for life. Breeders: How to Stop Puppy FarmsPermanently. Even without a consciousness (that we know of) animals are alive and should be treated as such. These are species that would have vanished totally were it not for captive populations around the world, many of which reside in zoos (or, for plants, botanic gardens). When it works out, breeding endangered animals has positive results that can be felt even in the human kingdom. Animals held captive in zoos are in very small environments such as cages, and they have no freedom. The trade in wild animals involves tremendous suffering at every stage of the process. The A.Z.A.s policies allow for the euthanasia of animals, but the president of the association, Dan Ashe, told me, its very rarely employed by his member institutions. Zoos have been around for thousands of yearsas far back as 3500 BC in Egypt. But whether recent events have triggered a profound shift in public consciousness is harder to quantify. In states without tight enough regulation, local jurisdictions oftentimes adopt ordinances that ban or restrict the display of captive wild animals. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope Captures Dramatic Hour-by-Hour Changes of Dart Mission Slamming on an Asteroid, Can Humanity Deflect Potentially Hazardous Asteroids? Caring for animals on a full-time basis requires someone who is both informed and cares about them. People may behave eco-friendlier after going to the zoo. When it comes to lethal force and animal welfare, at least, public opinion swiftly sides against zoos. Top 50 Most Good-looking Nationalities: AI Shows Beautiful People From Different Countries; How Does Science Measure Beauty, Attractiveness? In fact, while animals will have almost unlimited space in the wild, they are often caged in rather confined areas in zoos. For some animals in zoos, the shock of their relocation alone can be fatal. Even the best zoological park cannot fully capture the wild, and many smaller zoos fail to take effective measures to ensure the health and well-being of their animals. Young chimpanzees on movie sets are trained through regular beatings and then discarded around age 8 when they become too large to control. This is due to the fact that many zoos want to keep as many animals as . For example, smaller and faster animals with a lot of predators in the wild tend to thrive in zoos. They go to get out of the house, to get their children some fresh air, to see interesting animals. Display would be incidental. Sign up for our free newsletter for the Latest coverage! Tatiana the tiger, kept in the San Francisco Zoo, snapped one day in 2007 after three teenage boys had been taunting her. Bears and cats pace. Zoos provide opportunities for nice family trips. According toAnimal Behavior: Resources for Applied Ethology, fleeing or running away is the most popular reaction of animals towards humans. Likewise, consuming sustainable seafood provides a valuable source of food for people and helps promote sustainable jobs. ALSO READ: Man in Uganda Beats Lion With Bare Hands In Bloody Battle Before Feasting on the Beast for Dinner. Should zoos be banned? | National Geographic However, they are really just teaching children about caring for animals in captivity. Many visitors will disturb and disrespect the animals in a zoo simply because they feel as though they are owed a performance of some sort. Having seen a majestic leopard in the zoo, the visitor becomes more willing to pay for its conservation or vote for policies that will preserve it in the wild. The AWA establishes only baseline standards of care for licensing exhibitors. Welfare of Wild Animals in Captivity | RSPCA Their natural habitat extends far beyond anything captivity zoos could provide. Drugs given to animals include sedatives and antipsychotic drugs. Visitors will hammer on the glass or clamor around an animal enclosure, calling and shouting for the creature to perform for their pleasure. Climate change has become a very real threat for the next and even current generations. Not investing enough when designing a habitat for your animals to save money. They are contained in small spaces, often made docile through drugs and other medications, and slowly strip away all autonomy and freedom from all animals. In this article, we will take a look at why zoos teach children the wrong lesson about captive animals. Climate change around the world: In Postcards From a World on Fire, 193 stories from individual countries show how climate change is reshaping reality everywhere, from dying coral reefs in Fiji to disappearing oases in Morocco and far, far beyond. This could cause problems for the animal. Most people visit the zoo to see the big draw animals. Their lives in captivity can be harsh especially when the animal has been completely removed from its social structures. Some studies have shown that as many as 80 percent of zoo carnivores, 64 percent of zoo chimps and 85 percent of zoo elephants have displayed compulsive behaviors or stereotypies. The common negative effects of zoos on animals are listed below. YES. For intellectual property information and terms of use, visit our Intellectual Property Terms of Usepage. This was the first time that the ESA has successfully been used to protect captive wild animals. The real question is, how can we change things? Today, nearly every country in the world is a member of CITES. How Similar is Human DNA to Other Animals, Animals That Have Become Extinct in the Last 100 Years, 9 Best Solar-Powered Computers to Buy Today, 10 Impactful Ways to Conserve Coral Reefs. Fewer and fewer states are allowing residents to keep captive wild animals without a permit. Zoos, aquariums, water parks, and other facilities can help to maintain the viability of endangered species when humanity does not do a good enough job of protecting the animals in the wild. Caring for the said animals, away from their predator will give their species a chance of repopulating. As a late Gen-Xer-cum-early-Millenial, my childhood was rich with trips to visit zoos. Cons of zoos Animal cruelty in zoos continues to be extremely common. Are Sliding Doors or French Doors More Energy Efficient? According to an article inPlant Based News, marine parks and aquariums are a billion-dollar industry that exists to entertain the public by catching fish and sea mammals from the wild and using them as live exhibits. Private individuals with the financial means use their money to procure rare or exotic animals from zoos to add to their own private collections. Elephants bob their heads over and over. Genes evolved over time to help the animal adjust to a man-made habitat can be a downside to the populations of the species in the wild. Elephants are particularly unhappy in zoos, given their great size, social nature and cognitive complexity. More tigers live in cages in this country, than exist in all the wild. Why Zoos and Aquariums Are Beneficial - Association Of Zoos And Aquariums This can make the animals neurotic, causing them to start biting bars, pacing repetitively, and swaying. The U.S. became a signatory to CITES in 1975. The animals too have rights and they shouldnt be subjected to half the things they undergo. They are just some of the millions of wild animals living in captivity across the United States. Sadly, once the small animals outgrow their cute phase, the zoo has to get rid of them since feeding and housing them all can get expensive. Kept in barren cages rarely larger than 20 by 20 feet, bears in roadside zoos spend their days pacing, sleeping abnormally long periods of time, and bobbing their head all indications of extreme psychological distress. A day may come, he said, when we need to breed elephants or tigers or polar bears in captivity to save them from extinction. This may be true to some extent; however, many zoos are running breeding programs for their own benefit and have no interest in releasing their animals back into the wild. What Mr. Ashe wants visitors to experience when they look at the animals is a sense of empathy for the individual animal, as well as the wild populations of that animal.. Groundhog More than Just a Weather Prognosticator! Do not reproduce without permission. Mr. Fisher is a photographer based in New York. Many animals in zoos are not used to confinement. Pro and Con: Zoos | Britannica Severe arthritis and foot infections are common in captive elephants due to standing on hard, unnatural surfaces all day without room to roam. See Related: Are Humans Animals? Zookeepers also often may neglect their healthcare needs. Here's What Experts Think. However, the vast majority dont do enough to accurately replace an animals natural habitat. However, suffering doesnt have to be physical; boredom, confinement, and stress can cause an animal a lot of suffering. Giant Insect From Jurassic Era Found in Walmart Opens Deeper Ecological Questions, 3,500-Year-old Perfectly Preserved, Mummified Bear Might Lead to 'Breakthrough in Ancient Animal Study', Presumed Extinct Funji-eating Fairy Lantern Plant Found Emerging Again in Japan, How Did Missing Argentinian Man's Remains Get Into a Shark's Stomach? Our EIN number is 94-2681680. Unfortunately, this is done under the guise of conservation and to protect endangered species. Going to the zoo is sort of a short vacation for many people. Even though they might be getting enough food, if your animals are not okay mentally they might still not live to their full potential. To many people, a trip to the zoo is a fun day out for the family. This support of the exotic pet trade also results in a lot of preventable animal deaths. A peer-reviewed 2017 study in the . When it rains, the topsoil gets washed away leaving the land more exposed. Zoos and circuses are among those who fall under this act. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.