It’s 2019 and people are more aware than ever. One of the many controversial questions is are zoos bad? Some people may view zoos as either sanctuaries or prisons. So which is it? Are zoos good or bad? And how do you differentiate between what's good for one animal versus what's good for the entire species?
The first thing that comes to mind when talking about zoos is that they cannot provide the amount of space animals have in the wild. For example, in Eastern Siberia tigers can travel from 31 to 37 miles a day but that's unusual for them. In Chitwan national park, tigers travel about four to six miles a day. The range of miles a tiger can travel a day really just depends on the tiger
There’s also the issue of overcrowding. For one elephant there needs to be 1800 square feet and another 900 square feet for every elephant added. San Diego Zoo holds 12 elephants in their park. Good thing is, it’s a safari park and it’s size is about 78,589,210 square feet. As well as having enough space for elephants, they are also studying how many miles their elephants move each day by having select individuals wear specially designed pedometers. Then the results will be compared between individual animals, zoos, and even what has been documented in nature to see if zoo elephants get enough exercise. San Francisco Zoo has also decided to stop having elephants because they are well aware that they cannot make an enclosure big enough to house elephants.
Not all zoos are aware of this, take Alaska Zoo for example. They had an elephant named Maggie who spent most of her time in a small indoor enclosure because of the cold temperature outside. She also refused to use the elephant size treadmill the zoo made for her to exercise. Zebras held at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. died because of insufficient or incorrect food. At that same zoo, red pandas died from ingesting rat poison. Animals like elephants, zebras, giraffes and gazelles are meant to run across miles of open space and some zoos don't provide that.
So can a zoo ever be good for animals? Some people completely forget that there are some zoos that really care about their animals. Remember Steve Irwin? The famous and loveable crocodile hunter? His wife owns the Australia Zoo where she and her kids care for and know every single animal in their zoo. They have many separate programs that focus on animal conservation and education for the younger generation. They also have a wildlife reserve which homes rare and vulnerable plants and wildlife. PETA tried coming for their brand by spreading rumors that the zoo was mistreating their animals. PETA then acknowledge their mistake and how wrong they were but then continued to blamed the error on the zoo’s publicity.
The procedure for acquiring animals has also changed. Before zoos would capture their animals from the wild but now get their animals from Captive Breeding Programs, other zoos, and Rescue Programs. Those that were rescued are brought back to health and taken back to the wild if possible or taking to a sanctuary in their home country. Those in the breeding programs help restore threatened species. After 10 years of working to build up the population numbers of the California Condor, Los Angeles and San Diego Zoos were able to bring up the numbers from almost two dozens birds to 170. Zoo programs like these have brought back many animals. Pere David's deer was brought back from extinction. Chinese and European zoo programs enabled four of the deer to be released back into the wild in 1985, where they're now self sustaining. Both Baltimore and Detroit Zoo have taken animals in from circus that wouldn’t otherwise have a home.
There’s nothing on this planet that irritates me more than people saying all zoos are bad. Since I work at Happy Hollow Zoo, I get to see what goes on behind the scenes. Let me tell you, those zookeepers care for those animals like they were their kids. Not only do the zookeepers care for them but so do the other staff. Out of the views of the public, staff celebrates the holidays with the animals. For Halloween we make treats for the animals, Christmas we make enrichment toys for them and Valentine’s Day the staff are assigned as secret admirers for the animals. We even held a viewing for the death of one of our horses where employees were given the chance to speak or just attend. All of this is done without the public knowing. Now if all zoos were bad then we would be doing this with the public. We’d be exploiting our animals but we’re not.
Other than the animals, zoos also benefit humans. Aside from being entertaining, they aim to educate us. There’s plenty of programs for kids and adults that teach them about the importance of conservation. Before visiting a zoo, do some research to make sure you’re attending one of the good zoos and not the bad ones.
The first thing that comes to mind when talking about zoos is that they cannot provide the amount of space animals have in the wild. For example, in Eastern Siberia tigers can travel from 31 to 37 miles a day but that's unusual for them. In Chitwan national park, tigers travel about four to six miles a day. The range of miles a tiger can travel a day really just depends on the tiger
There’s also the issue of overcrowding. For one elephant there needs to be 1800 square feet and another 900 square feet for every elephant added. San Diego Zoo holds 12 elephants in their park. Good thing is, it’s a safari park and it’s size is about 78,589,210 square feet. As well as having enough space for elephants, they are also studying how many miles their elephants move each day by having select individuals wear specially designed pedometers. Then the results will be compared between individual animals, zoos, and even what has been documented in nature to see if zoo elephants get enough exercise. San Francisco Zoo has also decided to stop having elephants because they are well aware that they cannot make an enclosure big enough to house elephants.
Not all zoos are aware of this, take Alaska Zoo for example. They had an elephant named Maggie who spent most of her time in a small indoor enclosure because of the cold temperature outside. She also refused to use the elephant size treadmill the zoo made for her to exercise. Zebras held at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. died because of insufficient or incorrect food. At that same zoo, red pandas died from ingesting rat poison. Animals like elephants, zebras, giraffes and gazelles are meant to run across miles of open space and some zoos don't provide that.
So can a zoo ever be good for animals? Some people completely forget that there are some zoos that really care about their animals. Remember Steve Irwin? The famous and loveable crocodile hunter? His wife owns the Australia Zoo where she and her kids care for and know every single animal in their zoo. They have many separate programs that focus on animal conservation and education for the younger generation. They also have a wildlife reserve which homes rare and vulnerable plants and wildlife. PETA tried coming for their brand by spreading rumors that the zoo was mistreating their animals. PETA then acknowledge their mistake and how wrong they were but then continued to blamed the error on the zoo’s publicity.
The procedure for acquiring animals has also changed. Before zoos would capture their animals from the wild but now get their animals from Captive Breeding Programs, other zoos, and Rescue Programs. Those that were rescued are brought back to health and taken back to the wild if possible or taking to a sanctuary in their home country. Those in the breeding programs help restore threatened species. After 10 years of working to build up the population numbers of the California Condor, Los Angeles and San Diego Zoos were able to bring up the numbers from almost two dozens birds to 170. Zoo programs like these have brought back many animals. Pere David's deer was brought back from extinction. Chinese and European zoo programs enabled four of the deer to be released back into the wild in 1985, where they're now self sustaining. Both Baltimore and Detroit Zoo have taken animals in from circus that wouldn’t otherwise have a home.
There’s nothing on this planet that irritates me more than people saying all zoos are bad. Since I work at Happy Hollow Zoo, I get to see what goes on behind the scenes. Let me tell you, those zookeepers care for those animals like they were their kids. Not only do the zookeepers care for them but so do the other staff. Out of the views of the public, staff celebrates the holidays with the animals. For Halloween we make treats for the animals, Christmas we make enrichment toys for them and Valentine’s Day the staff are assigned as secret admirers for the animals. We even held a viewing for the death of one of our horses where employees were given the chance to speak or just attend. All of this is done without the public knowing. Now if all zoos were bad then we would be doing this with the public. We’d be exploiting our animals but we’re not.
Other than the animals, zoos also benefit humans. Aside from being entertaining, they aim to educate us. There’s plenty of programs for kids and adults that teach them about the importance of conservation. Before visiting a zoo, do some research to make sure you’re attending one of the good zoos and not the bad ones.