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Brandy Bolton

Ms. Hunter

English 1101

08 October 2019

Zoo or No Zoo

Over the years animals have been gaining almost as much rights as humans which has led

to the debate whether zoos are considered animal cruelty or not. Although animals in captivity

may lose their natural instincts the benefits of zoos outweighs the negatives. Zoos are working

hard on their conservation efforts to educate people on how important it is to save these animals.

They have been working hard to bring some animals back from extinction and prevent others

from going extinct. Zoos are crucial and beneficial to animals and we need them.

The evidence is obvious that a zoo enclosure can never be like the wild. Animals in the

wild have space to roam. Animals in the wild have prey to hunt in order to eat and survive. They

live in packs or herds with other animals. They have all their basic instincts to hunt, reproduce,

and survive. In a zoo animals are fed by people at certain times a day and do not have to hunt for

their food. The animals enclosures are sometimes nothing like what their natural habitat would

be in the wild. Animals bred in captivity would not be able to survive in the wild. “Their lack of

hunting skills and lack of fear towards humans are major disadvantages.” (Owen par.4) The

study team looked at survival rates for 17 species of reintroduced mammals, including tigers,

wolves, lynx, cheetahs, brown bears, and others. More than half of the fatalities were attributed

to human causes, such as vehicle collisions and deliberate shootings.(Owen par.7) Captive born

carnivores were also more likely to starve to death than their wild-bred counter parts, as well as
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became more susceptible to viruses and diseases, the study showed. (Owen par. 8) Even though

zoos cannot be the wild zoos have evolved to make them more enriching for the animals.

Zoos have designed and developed enrichment programs to better suit the animals. They

make the enclosures bigger. They also make the enclosures more like what their natural habitat

would be if they were in the wild. They make the animals enclosures to work for their food so it

feels more like they are hunting for their food as they would in the wild. They put interactive

toys in the animals enclosures to work on brain activity so they won’t get bored and depressed.

Enrichment is defined by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Behavioral Advisory

Group as “A process for improving or enhancing animal environments and care within the

context of their inhabitants’ behavioral biology and natural history. It is a dynamic process in

which changes to structures and husbandry practices are made with the goal of increasing

behavioral choices available to animals and drawing out their species-appropriate behaviors and

abilities, thus enhancing animal welfare.”(Fort Worth Zoo par.2) At The Fort Worth Zoo they

promote the expression of natural behaviors by their animals. They provide a wide variety of

foods, objects, and scents to encourage animals to display their own species-specific behaviors.

They provide their animals with a sense of control and encourage positive interaction with their

environment. They provide structures and objects that encourage animals to make their own

choices, whether they prefer to rest under a shade structure or enjoy sunning themselves in an

open space.They Increase opportunities for exercise, which enhances animal health. They scatter

and hide food in exhibits and provide objects for animals to manipulate, which promotes

exploratory, foraging and hunting behaviors.They provide mental stimulation for our animals.

They develop "puzzle feeders" to offer animals opportunities to solve "problems" and work for

their food. They Increase animal visibility which provides a more exciting and educational
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experience for our guests. They provide opportunities for our their guests to observe animals

interacting with enrichment to showcase the unique behaviors of our animals..(Forth Worth Zoo

par.4)

The purpose of zoos is not just to show off animals anymore. Zoos are working

hard on conservation efforts. Showing animals in a zoo setting and letting the public interact with

the animals teaches them about the animals. If not for zoos people would not get to see how

those types of animals interact and act. Zoos educational programs engage people’s interests and

help them understand how important it is to protect animals. It helps them understand that you

have to do more than just talk about it. You have to do something. “Zoo detractors say, well, you

can just look at a video. To a degree, yes, but there’s a limit to the effect that has on a person

versus seeing the live animal. What really tugs at your heart is seeing the live

animal.”(Kraemmerer, McMarlin par.9) Zoos are teaming up to save endangered species .

They're also devoting millions of dollars to research and focusing on teaching visitors about

challenges animals face in the wild.( Anastasia par.7) Zoos will continue to be safe havens from

poaching and habitat loss caused by human encroachment and climate change , and zoo

organizations will continue to take the lead in research and conservation to fight species

extinction worldwide. (Gaspard, McMarlin par.7) Zoos have breeding programs to try and fight

extinction.

There is evidence stating why animals should not be breed in zoos. Its not natural to be

breed in captivity. Inbreeding could be a problem when breeding inside some zoos which would

lead to mutations of the animals. Zoo critics argue that many breeding programs focus more on

sustaining zoo populations than saving species--and that many animals being bred aren't

endangered. Zoos, critics say, are more concerned with having baby animals, which bring
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people--and therefore more money--into the parks. (Anastasia par.15) Breeding animals in zoos

is not helping with the animals in the wild. They are wild animals so why make them breed in

captivity? Recently, the debate over keeping wildlife in captivity has grown even more heated.

This past February, the London Zoo in the United Kingdom tried to mate two Sumatran tigers , a

species that is critically endangered. But the male mauled the female to death before zookeepers

could intervene. The incident shocked people around the world and caused many to ask: Have

zoos transformed enough to truly benefit animals? (Anastasia par.9) Why breed animals that are

only going be shown on display in zoos?

Many of the conservation efforts zoos have is to breed animals to prevent extinction. If

there were no conservation efforts to breed animals going extinct then many animals we know

about now would cease to exist. Each animal has a prey that they hunt to eat. If the prey they are

hunting go extinct than its likely eventual that animal will lose its food source and eventually go

extinct as well. Using robust and sophisticated breeding programs, these institutions fund and

facilitate countless initiatives to propagate species and preserve genetic biodiversity, and then

reintroduce critically endangered or extinct species into the wild. Consider the Arabian Oryx, a

striking breed of antelope from the Arabian Peninsula. The species was hunted to extinction in

the wild nearly four decades ago, when the last wild Arabian Oryx was shot and killed in 1972.

The Phoenix Zoo helped lead the ensuing breeding and reintroduction programs, which

ultimately birthed more than 200 calves from just nine individuals. Now between Oman and

Jordan, there are about 1,000 Arabian Oryx living in the wild. (Ganzert par.4) Even when

animals are never introduced into the wild, placing them under human care can still improve the

lives of their wild counterparts. (Ganzert par.4)

There are some negatives to zoos but it is proven that there are far more benefits. Just

letting people see animals in person and talking about them is a giant help for the efforts to keep

animals from going extinct but talking about it and seeing alone is not enough but it is a start.

You can go to your local zoo and visit or donate to any zoo to help in the ongoing efforts to save

animals from going extinct.

Works Cited

Owen, James. “Most Captive-Born Predators Die If Released.” National Geographic, 16 Aug.
2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2008/01/predators-captivity-habitat-
animals/.

Animal Enrichment Program, https://www.fortworthzoo.org/animal-enrichment-program.

Anastasia, Laura. "THE FUTURE OF ZOOS." Junior Scholastic/Current Events, 13 May 2019,

13 May 2019, p. 10+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A587974225/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=0bbf0

8ac. Accessed 29 Sept. 2019.

Ganzert, Dr. Robin. “Zoos Are Not Prisons. They Improve the Lives of Animals.” Time, Time,
https://time.com/4364671/zoos-improve-lives-of-animals/.

McMarlin, Shirley. "Zoos of the Future May Be Animals’ Last, Best Hope." Gale Opposing

Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/JLEEAI829551748/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid

=d0fd023c. Accessed 29 Sept. 2019. Originally published as "Zoos of the future may be

animals’ last, best hope," Washington Times, 4 Sept. 2016.