ZoosSome critics contend that keeping animals in zoos is inhumane and must be changed. They believe that zoos are unnatural and provide no real benefit to society besides providing entertainment at the expense of the animals involved. The truth is that zo

Zoos

Some critics contend that keeping animals in zoos is inhumane and must be changed. They believe that zoos are unnatural and provide no real benefit to society besides providing entertainment at the expense of the animals involved. The truth is that zoos are essential to a modern culture that places value in animal life.

Animals are treated well in zoos. In fact, the most passionate animal lovers are usually the animal keepers found in zoos. They ensure that the animals maintain the same level of psychological “happiness” as their wild counterparts. They, along with the zoo itself, help animals live longer, feed better, and suffer from fewer diseases; These animals are allowed to exist without the fear of predation or famine because of zoos.

Additionally, zoos are no longer seen as or marketed as forms of entertainment, but as education. Zoos work to inform the public about exhibited animals, wildlife in general, and the important need to preserve our Earth. The emphasis on conservation and education is an important one. Visitors are taught about issues and animals that they would never have direct experience with otherwise. Thus, zoos provide a crucial tool to direct the public towards more humane ways to look at the world.

Finally, zoos serve the vital function of helping to protect and preserve endangered species. For example, the Golden Lion Tamarins are an endangered species native to Brazil. In the early part of the 1970s, only around 200 of these small monkeys existed. It was only through the coordinated actions of several zoos and the Brazilian government that these animals were saved from extinction. Today, as a result of these efforts, you can find about 1,500 living in the wild.

Lecture

Zoos have been a topic of debate for the past few decades, ever since animal rights have become more of a concern. Though there is room for debate, many activists have problems with the arguments made in the passage. They don’t believe that those arguments prove that zoos benefit animals or society in any meaningful way.

First, the treatment of animals in zoos is not at all as pretty as the author would have you believe. In fact, in one zoo, questions of animal safety arose when two red pandas were found dead after being exposed to rat poison. Though the zoo’s safety managers could have prevented this sad incident, they were nowhere to be found. This case is one of many that show the lack of care zoo administrators provide for the animals in their exhibits.

Second, most zoos are still seen as forms of entertainment, not as sources of education. The average zoo houses the kinds of animals that will attract visitors, not those that the public should learn about. This sends a subtle yet strong message to guests that it is ok for us to use animals for own purposes. And, though there may be some zoos that attempt to inform the public, visitors can’t truly understand or appreciate these animals because they are seen in artificial and often misleading exhibits.

Third, the claim that zoos help endangered species is problematic. Though the author points to one successful example of the endangered Tamarin, overall zoos have a very poor success rate. Most hold only a very small number of an endangered species; consequently, these species tend to interbreed; meaning, they mate with members of the same family, which results in a high number of birth defects. Also, zoos provide no distinct advantage over saving endangered species while they are still in their native habitat.