Arguments against Keeping Animals in Zoos
My research report is about the following "All around the world, animals
are kept in captivity, such as in zoos. Write a report considering the
background, giving specific cases and outlining the arguments for and
against zoos as opposed to leaving animals in their natural environment."
For tomorrow, I need to submit the 4 sources relevant to the topic and a
reference page using APA format. The sources should be reliable.
Solution
Introduction
Traditionally, wildlife was to be part of the natural heritage of a nation therefore, various
communities coexisted with wildlife to balance the ecosystem. However, due to the urbanization,
the natural habitats of animals have been threatened and some animals are in the verge of
extinction. Hence, some people think that the only way to protect the animals from extinction
and other external threats is by establishing animal reserve areas such as zoos. According, to
Lacy (2013), wildlife reserves and other facilities only contribute to the conservation of animals
but they do not bring real solutions since wildlife can only be saved by empowering their own
natural habitats. Therefore, zoos and animal reserves are only temporary solutions to the threats
that wildlife face hence the most important thing to understand is that such facilities only explain
the captivity of wildlife for conservation and education to suit humans desires.
Background Information
The oldest modem of zoological concept was established in Egypt in 2009 of the 3500
BCE Menagerie during an excavation mission at Hierakonplis which was managed by the rich
people. The fact about conservation of wildlife was first discovered in the carvings of caves that
implied the rulers and aristocrats created Menageries or zoos as early as the 2500 BCE. The
evidence points back at the records that the main purpose that Menageries was created was to
bring back the exotic breeds back of animals such as giraffes, elephants, bears, dolphins, and
birds. The practice later extended to the Chinese empress who had a house of deer the practice of
keeping animals extended to Greece and Rome. The modern zoo became popular and public in
the 18th century during the age of enlightenment where during that time people started
developing interests for studying animals for scientific reasons. The first modern zoo was build
ANIMAL CONSERVATION IN ZOOS 3
in 1793 opened in Paris France where the Menageries of the French Aristotle therefore from that
period zoos are controlled by the government.
Arguments for Keeping Animals in the Zoos
Young (2013) asserts that wildlife conservation is the practice of protecting wild plant
and animal species and their natural habitat. Therefore, wildlife conservation involves the
protection of natural habitats for the animals which on the contrary have been misinterpreted and
used to put animals in captivity through the establishment of zoos. Zoos are much more
important to the animals since some of the zoos are developed majorly based on the interests of
the animal’s wellbeing such as providing vet services to the injured and ailing animals in the
zoos. Zoos protect against animal species that are almost extinct since species protected in
captivity provides a reservoir population against a population crash or extinction in the wild. A
good number of species only exist in captivity and still more only exist in the wild because they
have been reintroduced from zoos, or the wild populations have been boosted by captive breed
animals. The efforts of zoos are therefore explained to protect the animals from human threats in
the quest from urbanization. Animals such as Oryx, wolves and condors have benefited from
captive breeding programmes (Young, 2013).
Arguments against Keeping Animals in Zoos
Zoos are majorly a problem to animal conservation than a solution since based on a
research that was conducted in 2010 by a freedom of animal investigator, death of animals in
zoos have significantly increased. Due to poor management, animals such as the Harambe, a
captive-born gorilla, was shot dead after a young boy fell into its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo
in the United States (Mills, 2012). Apart from the fact that most zoos are developed for monetary
ANIMAL CONSERVATION IN ZOOS 4
reasons, most animals are subjected to mistreatment since a case study in Colombia explains that
some animals such as tigers are used for circus. Consequently, zoos post a major threat to the
extinction of 22,780 species due to the lack of space and accommodation for successful breeding
programmes for larger animals (Wadley, 2014). Moreover, due to the interference of animal’s
life biology by a human being through the introduction of treatment methods hence reducing
their life expectancy. The conserved wildlife fail to relate to the mild environments often die
earlier than those in their natural habitats kept in close proximity with predators hence they are
under stress. Therefore, zoos lead to the death of animals that disrupt the whole definition of
animal conservation than the animals in their natural habitat.
Conclusion
The understanding of human psychology expresses that freedom is a perceived issue;
therefore, the freedom of animals is determined by their environmental surrounding. Zoos are
more of captivity than a freedom haven for the wildlife due to the fact that most animals go
under stress and pressure due to the limitation of movements and being in confined spaces.
Therefore, animals in zoos are treated like prisoners of life despite the fact that the national
animal conservancy agency ideology to establish that zoos are a safe zone for animals.
Moreover, more deaths and other challenges that animals face in zoos increase the chances of
extinction. However, zoos aid in the protection of nearly extinct species and introduce new
breeds to the ecosystem. In conclusion, zoos are more of a captivity zone of a problem than they
are a solution to wildlife conservation.
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