The Issue of Elephants in Captivity - Assignment Example

Controversies usually arise over matters such as habitat destruction and human overpopulation (Cohn 654). Issues of the destruction of natural habitats for endangered species are of prime importance to zoos because their core business is ensuring the proper management of wild animals. However, while doing this, controversies and tradeoffs have been the order of the day. Zoos have also had to deal with issues of conservation of endangered species and determining which species are endangered.

The issue of elephants in captivity has been raising standoffs between animal welfare advocates and zoos (Cohn 714). On one hand, animal rights advocated the feeling that zoos have inadequate space to house a sufficient number of elephants comfortably. On the other hand, zoos feel that they are constantly improving and expanding. Zoos further argue that they prefer to house elephants because those elephants living in the wild are exposed to human conflicts, poaching, habitat loss, drought, and disease, a scenario that is not experienced if the elephants are housed in zoos. Animal welfare advocates are known to claim that keeping elephants in zoos has been causing baby elephants to be separated from their mothers and those that have lived together for many years being split as they are sent to different zoos (Cohn 715).

Birdwhistell used a film showing elephants being visited by families at zoos to demonstrate that physical gestures are cultural-specific and not universal. According to Birdwhistell, the elephants held in zoos are like captives (Rothfels 480). They are usually irrelevant to the people who come to visit and view them at the zoos. He does not understand why people choose to interact with extraordinary animals such as elephants in small confined spaces such as zoos instead of visiting them in their natural habitats. He describes these interactions as limiting and pointless (Rothfels 481). Zoos are not a reflection of the world because they simply provide a fascinating paradigm of how people view the world. The animals in zoos are not as they are in real life because they are simply a creation of how we, or the designers of zoos, want them to be.

Captive breeding has been under scrutiny because many critics have been questioning its effectiveness since it is associated with high costs, low success levels in reintroductions, and risk of domestication (Gippoliti and Carpaneto 806). Captive breeding for immediate recovery programs such as reintroduction into the wild should not be confused with captive breeding for other purposes such as research because the two have very different goals and outcomes. Captive breeding should be done with realistic goals in mind, and, the welfare of the animals should always be put first.