Isn’t it the Time for Zoos to be in History Books?
Zoos might be everyone’s childhood memory. It is not peculiar to have zoos as a
destination for family recreations or school field trips. Zoos are often seen as educational and
preservation places by most people. Even though it is not 100% wrong that zoos can contribute
to education and animal conservation, I think caging animals and making them a display for
many people to see is just erroneous, and zoos deserve to be confined in our history books for
at least three reasons.
The first reason is that many zoos profit from animal exploitation. Most zoos only care
about making money, not preserving animals. Zoos display animals in cages; some even make
them human rides or circus actors for enjoyment. Real animal preservation places would not
sacrifice the well-being of their animals for human entertainment like this. The peak of animal
exploitation that was done for the sake of profit and entertainment in zoos is animal inbreeding.
For example, the infamous white tiger inbreeding case in the US. A white tigress in the
Washington DC National Zoo was a great attraction to visitors, and the zoo wanted more white
tigers. However, white tigers result from emerging recessive genes, which are passive and rarely
appear. In 1969, the zoo tried to inbreed tigers that are connected by blood to make the
recessive gene surface, resulting in disability and death among the newborn cubs.
Secondly, no animals deserve to be isolated in a cage and exhibited in front of many
people. Being captivated in a cage and surrounded by many people would be very devastating
for zoo animals since most of them belong to the wild. Bob Jacobs, Professor of Neuroscience at
Colorado College, found that the zoo environment damages elephants’ brains because it
confines their social, mental, and neural needs. In addition, animals in zoos usually show
stereotypic, abnormal behavior known as zoochosis. The abnormal behavior shown in animals
with zoochosis includes head-bobbing, bar-biting, and swaying that are not found in animals
living in wildlife.
Lastly, most zoos cannot provide a decent living space for the animals they hold captive.
Living things live their best in their natural habitats, and humans cannot remake every aspect of
the wildlife for animals. Some animals cannot adapt entirely to the captive environment. As a
Zoos might be everyone’s childhood memory. It is not peculiar to have zoos as a
destination for family recreations or school field trips. Zoos are often seen as educational and
preservation places by most people. Even though it is not 100% wrong that zoos can contribute
to education and animal conservation, I think caging animals and making them a display for
many people to see is just erroneous, and zoos deserve to be confined in our history books for
at least three reasons.
The first reason is that many zoos profit from animal exploitation. Most zoos only care
about making money, not preserving animals. Zoos display animals in cages; some even make
them human rides or circus actors for enjoyment. Real animal preservation places would not
sacrifice the well-being of their animals for human entertainment like this. The peak of animal
exploitation that was done for the sake of profit and entertainment in zoos is animal inbreeding.
For example, the infamous white tiger inbreeding case in the US. A white tigress in the
Washington DC National Zoo was a great attraction to visitors, and the zoo wanted more white
tigers. However, white tigers result from emerging recessive genes, which are passive and rarely
appear. In 1969, the zoo tried to inbreed tigers that are connected by blood to make the
recessive gene surface, resulting in disability and death among the newborn cubs.
Secondly, no animals deserve to be isolated in a cage and exhibited in front of many
people. Being captivated in a cage and surrounded by many people would be very devastating
for zoo animals since most of them belong to the wild. Bob Jacobs, Professor of Neuroscience at
Colorado College, found that the zoo environment damages elephants’ brains because it
confines their social, mental, and neural needs. In addition, animals in zoos usually show
stereotypic, abnormal behavior known as zoochosis. The abnormal behavior shown in animals
with zoochosis includes head-bobbing, bar-biting, and swaying that are not found in animals
living in wildlife.
Lastly, most zoos cannot provide a decent living space for the animals they hold captive.
Living things live their best in their natural habitats, and humans cannot remake every aspect of
the wildlife for animals. Some animals cannot adapt entirely to the captive environment. As a
