Wild Animals
Should Not Be Kept In Captivity.
How would you feel if you were locked in a cage for the rest of your life? How would you feel if you were always on exhibition? Animals should not be caged and that what the zoos do. Zoos are premises for the captivity of animals. These animals are to making them suffer unnecessarily, using them for entertainment and taking them away from their natural habitats.
Whatever of the good intentions of the zoo-keepers, animals in zoos suffer. They are trapped in small spaces by cages and bars. A study of British Zoos found that elephant enclosures were 10 times smaller than their natural habitats. Wild polar bears are confined in spaces that are more than a million times smaller than their Artic territory. Additionally, animals are physically and mentally healthier in the world than in the zoos. They suffer psychologically, often displayed by abnormal or self-destructive behavior. Aquatic animals do not have enough water, birds are prevented from flying away because they cut their wings. Furthermore, the locations of zoos are in urban areas. The constant noise of the cities and all the people walking and taking photos around make them crazy. One time in a London Zoo a fox attack and killed eleven South African and Rock Hopper penguins.
Zoos used animals for entertainment against their will. Visiting zoos gives a subliminal message that it is okay to use animals for our own ends, however it implicates their freedom or quality of life. There is a counterpoint that says zoos are a good tool for education, the reality is that zoos are deficient on education. People do not go to zoos for educational reasons, they simply go to be entertained by those weird and fun animals seen as objects. Dale Marcelini, a zoo curator, explained a study which found “visitors spend less than eight seconds per snake and one minute in a lion” (Berhaupt). Otherwise, “most people preoccupied themselves with eating, resting and shopping…people treated the exhibits like wallpaper” (Berhaupt). These locals, gives an artificial view of the animals by isolating them from their ecosystem. The only way to understand an animal properly is to see it in its natural environment.
Wild animals belong in their natural habitats. We violate their natural rights by taking them into captivity for our own purposes. They are restricted to get their own food, developing their own social orders and generally behaving in ways which are natural to them. No matter how much we try to replicate their habitats in a zoo, we will never get a full result. Predators need to hunt and taking them from their habitats is really cruel. A study by the journal Science in 2008 found that Asian elephants in European zoos had a median lifespan of just 18.9 years compared to 41.7 years for wild elephants in an Asian logging camp. We destroy the natural cycle by interrupting the food cycle. Nature cannot take its course.
Animals need their freedom, they do not have a real home in zoos. These creatures have feelings too. We are destroying their basic instincts. Animals are equally precious and should equally share God’s earth as humans, instead of being caged like they are in jail. Wild animals should not be kept in captivity now and never.
Work Cited:
GreenMuze Staff. “Wild Animals in Captivity by Rob Laidlaw.” GreenMuze. N.p, 12 Sept 2008. Web. 1 Nov 2014.
Martin Hickman. “Penguins and flamingo fall prey to peckish foxes.” The Independent. N.p, 16 Oct 2010. Web. 1 Nov 2014. Berhaupt, Nicole. “Animal Rights Blog.” Albany Times Union Blogs. N.p, Oct, 2011. Web. 1 Nov 2014.
Singer, Peter. “In Defense of Animals”. New York: Basil Blackwell (1985): 108 – 117. Web. 1 Nov 2014.
Whatever of the good intentions of the zoo-keepers, animals in zoos suffer. They are trapped in small spaces by cages and bars. A study of British Zoos found that elephant enclosures were 10 times smaller than their natural habitats. Wild polar bears are confined in spaces that are more than a million times smaller than their Artic territory. Additionally, animals are physically and mentally healthier in the world than in the zoos. They suffer psychologically, often displayed by abnormal or self-destructive behavior. Aquatic animals do not have enough water, birds are prevented from flying away because they cut their wings. Furthermore, the locations of zoos are in urban areas. The constant noise of the cities and all the people walking and taking photos around make them crazy. One time in a London Zoo a fox attack and killed eleven South African and Rock Hopper penguins.
Zoos used animals for entertainment against their will. Visiting zoos gives a subliminal message that it is okay to use animals for our own ends, however it implicates their freedom or quality of life. There is a counterpoint that says zoos are a good tool for education, the reality is that zoos are deficient on education. People do not go to zoos for educational reasons, they simply go to be entertained by those weird and fun animals seen as objects. Dale Marcelini, a zoo curator, explained a study which found “visitors spend less than eight seconds per snake and one minute in a lion” (Berhaupt). Otherwise, “most people preoccupied themselves with eating, resting and shopping…people treated the exhibits like wallpaper” (Berhaupt). These locals, gives an artificial view of the animals by isolating them from their ecosystem. The only way to understand an animal properly is to see it in its natural environment.
Wild animals belong in their natural habitats. We violate their natural rights by taking them into captivity for our own purposes. They are restricted to get their own food, developing their own social orders and generally behaving in ways which are natural to them. No matter how much we try to replicate their habitats in a zoo, we will never get a full result. Predators need to hunt and taking them from their habitats is really cruel. A study by the journal Science in 2008 found that Asian elephants in European zoos had a median lifespan of just 18.9 years compared to 41.7 years for wild elephants in an Asian logging camp. We destroy the natural cycle by interrupting the food cycle. Nature cannot take its course.
Animals need their freedom, they do not have a real home in zoos. These creatures have feelings too. We are destroying their basic instincts. Animals are equally precious and should equally share God’s earth as humans, instead of being caged like they are in jail. Wild animals should not be kept in captivity now and never.
Work Cited:
GreenMuze Staff. “Wild Animals in Captivity by Rob Laidlaw.” GreenMuze. N.p, 12 Sept 2008. Web. 1 Nov 2014.
Martin Hickman. “Penguins and flamingo fall prey to peckish foxes.” The Independent. N.p, 16 Oct 2010. Web. 1 Nov 2014. Berhaupt, Nicole. “Animal Rights Blog.” Albany Times Union Blogs. N.p, Oct, 2011. Web. 1 Nov 2014.
Singer, Peter. “In Defense of Animals”. New York: Basil Blackwell (1985): 108 – 117. Web. 1 Nov 2014.