Should the Zoos Be Shut Down - Essay Example

Zoos should be shut down It is a ridiculous idea to keep zoos as an entertainment center because animals are used for recreation or entertainment when they should not be. Animals in the zoo do not also live long because it is not their natural habitat. Many of the reason that the zoos were opened such as for education, conservation and entertainment are not really serving its purpose and in fact, Zoos are in fact doing more harm to animals and therefore it should be shut down. Using animals for entertainment is just despicable and utterly cruel. It teaches us nothing except to be tolerant to cruelty and hardship as we get used to sufferings of the animals in the zoo just to get us entertained or educated. Moreso, when the kind of entertainment we get is twisted because it is at the expense of animal lives and well-being. Nor are we educated about animals because we are not seeing the animals in zoos in their true nature. All animals in the zoo relatively behaves the same because of the small space and they are caged in. Zoos are harmful to animal lives. It has already been proven that animals live longer in the wild than in the zoo. It is because the wild is the natural habitat of the animals where their instinct to survive, adapt and feed on their own is honed. In the wilds, they can run, hunt which is good for them because their ability to hunt and survive is present not to mention that they can exercise there (all living animals needs to exercise!). When one cage them, animals loses their instinct to hunt and survive and becomes dependent to the zoo keeper making their lives miserable, depressed making them look like pathetic animals rather than a strong and wild. Animals in the zoo live a miserable life because it is not their natural habitat and many of them even some of them display neurotic behavior because of their confinement. If you wonder why some animals kept on walking in circles on ages and keeps on shaking their heads, it is because the animal is suffering from neurosis which is wrought by the despicable environment of the zoo. As a result, the lifespan of animals in the zoo are shortened. Elephants for example, which are known to be survivors in the wild only live less than half of its natural years. Where it usually lives for 56-60 years in the wild, elephants can only live for an average of 17 years! Thus, the arguments used by zoo owners and keepers that zoos conserve animals are false. Keeping animals in zoos is not conserving them but in fact killing them. Imagine the lion that we see on TV with all its might running and hunting its prey, that suddenly when it was caged, it became lethargic and meek slowly dying like a poor cat dependent on the food given by the zoo keeper. Thus, the arguments used in keeping zoos open are already defeated by by this fact and even supported by studies and experience. The main argument of keeping zoos for educational reason is not really serving its true purpose. It is because animals kept in the zoo do not display their natural behavior and therefore gives the zoo visitors a false impression about the animals being caged. As used as an example earlier, a visit in the zoo gives us the impression that lions are tame and meek because it is just there lying around or just walking in circles. But this is not their natural behavior. Their behaviors were changed because they were suddenly confined. Zoos are not conservation, entertainment centers or educational areas, they are in fact a prison where animals die a slow death. When we cage animals in enclosures and feeding them, the animals loses their instinct to live. They will not be able to develop their skills to survive such as hunting, running and stalking and instead becomes dependent and lethargic. And if they already have that survival skills, animals loses that ability once they are caged. Such that, when animals that came from zoos can no longer survive on their own. Zoos could also be dangerous. We have already heard the news many times that either zoo keepers or visitors were attacked by the animals. It is because animals are threatened by the zoo and its environment is not its natural habitat nor are people to be its natural companions. When they feel threatened by their new environment, they attack as what hteir instinct tells them and we blame the animals for being vicious when in fact it should be us who should be blamed because it is us who brought the animals in the zoo. Once a wild animal is caged, naturally they will protest and even attack because it is not their home. We are contradicting nature and we absolve ourselves by not pointing the blame on us. There are several things that could be done to shut zoos down. First and obvious, is to ask zoo owners to shut it down for the reasons stated above. Most likely they will refuse especially if they are making money out of it. So we could ask the government to shut it down either by revoking their licenses to operate or passing local laws that prohibits the operation of zoo. If government is insensitive to the plight of animals in the zoo and sides with the zoo owners, we, people can do a lot of things to shut zoos down if we can get our acts together. First, is we can pressure our government officials by writing them letters. If that does not work, we can stage protest rallies against zoo operations. But to make this more effective, we should not patronize zoos especially if it operates as a business. When it the zoo business is no longer making money and that there is too much protest from the people against it and declining government support, it will be more likely that zoos will finally be shut down and never be reopened again. Read More