Zoos – Top 3 Pros and Cons
A leopard at the Tamil Nadu ZooSource: “Visit to Tamil Nadu Zoo,” piqsels.com (accessed August 12, 2021)
There have been zoos since 2500 B.C. in Egypt and Mesopotamia, where it is mentioned in the records that giraffes, bears, dolphins, and other animals were kept by high people.
Most of the exhibits at the London Zoo in Regent’s Park, these zoos were intended for “entertainment and encouragement,” according to Emma Marris, environmental writer and Institute Fellow at the UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability.
Carl Hegenbeck, a German animal importer, introduced the modern trend of more natural habitats for animals than specialized facilities. in his Zoo in Hamburg in 1907.
That change caused the store’s story to shift from entertainment to animal protection.
At the end of the 20th century, the story changed again to save animals to prevent extinction.
Controversy has surrounded zoos throughout history, from debates over the display of different people at shows to zookeepers who don’t know what to feed the animals.
A gorilla named Madame Ningo, the first gorilla to arrive in the United States in 1911 who lived in the Bronx Zoo, was fed hot food and cooked meat even though gorillas are herbivores, for example.
Modern debates about zoos often focus on the welfare of animals on both sides, whether they are protected by zoos or imprisoned.
Zoos educate the public about animals and conservation efforts.
As of April 2021, there are 241 certified zoos in the United States.
According to a study of 26 zoos around the world published in Conservation Biology, zoo visitors increased their knowledge of biodiversity and specific actions to protect biodiversity.
Robin Ganzert, PhD, President and CEO of American Humane, said, “the zoos give people, especially active children, the opportunity to see these amazing animals up close.
No matter how closely programs like Planet Earth show animals, nothing matches the scope of seeing them in real life.
Just look in the eyes of a child at the zoo when they meet a tiger or something dangerous like that.” [12]
Zoos provide useful scientific research.
228 accredited zoos published 5,175 peer-reviewed articles between 1993 and 2013.
In 2017, 173 US zoos spent $25 million in research, studied 485 species and subspecies of animals, worked on 1,280 research projects, and published 170 research articles.
Because many diseases can be transmitted from animals to humans, such as Ebola, Hantavirus, and bird flu, zoos often conduct disease surveillance studies in the animal population and on their own. captives can lead to a direct impact on human health.
For example, medical staff at the Bronx Zoo in New York notified health officials of the presence of the West Nile Virus.
Animal research is used in other ways such as informing legislation such as the Sustainable Shark Fisheries and Trade Act, helping engineers build a robot that moves like a snake sideways, and encourage younger students to enter STEM fields.
Zoos save species from extinction and other threats.
Corroboree frogs, eastern bongos, regent honey’s, Panamanian golden frogs, Bellinger River turtles, golden lion tamarins, and Amur leopards, among others, have been saved from extinction by zoos.
Zoos are also working to save polar bears, tigers, and wild African elephants from habitat loss, apes and rhinos from poachers, dolphins and whales from poachers, and bees and butterflies from habitat loss. population, along with many other efforts to help many other animals.
23% of birds and 47% of small mammals (less than 2.2 pounds) are adversely affected by climate change.
By maintaining animal populations and managing wildlife restoration, zoos can help save species at risk from climate change.
A joint conservation effort between the San Diego and Los Angeles Zoos and other organizations resulted in a population of 276 California condors in the wild and another 170 in captivity in 2016.
Przewalski’s horses, the last wild horses, were declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s when only 12 lived in zoos.
By 2018, breeding programs in stores increased the number to 2,400 horses, and 800 were reintroduced to the wild.
Zoos do not educate the public to justify animal slavery.
A review published in the Animal Studies Repository concluded, “to date there is no conclusive evidence or specific evidence that zoos and aquariums promote behavioral changes. , education, and interest in saving visitors.” Even a study that was widely cited as supporting the argument that zoos teach the public stated, “no statistically significant change in understanding [of the concepts] was observed” because there were many visitors know about the environment before going to the zoo.
TV shows like Planet Earth bring wild animals into living rooms, allowing people to see animals in their natural habitats without harming animals like the endangered snow leopard.
Romesh Ranganathan, a British singer, said, “It always amazes me if anyone thinks we should have zoos.
Animals always look sad in captivity… [T]he idea that children are only interested in what they can see in the flesh is absurd.
Animal cages affect the physical health of animals.
A study of 35 species of animals, including brown bears, cheetahs, and lions, found that enclosures were too small for the animals to perform their normal activities, which caused problems such as speed and many babies.
Polar bears, for example, have a 65% rate of infant mortality due to birth defects.
About 70% of adult male gorillas in North America have heart disease, which is the leading cause of death among gorillas in captivity, although the incidence is almost zero. all in the wild.
Other great apes have similar health problems in captivity.
Captive elephants live about half as long as wild elephants: 18.9 years v.
Out of 77 elephants in 13 zoos, 71 were overweight and spent 83% of their time indoors, causing premature death.
Keeping animals in cages harms the mind of animals.
People often see the behavior of animals suffering from problems not seen in the wild, such as clinical depression in clouded leopards and gibbons, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in brown bears, and anxiety. to giraffes.
Animals are affected by these problems due to small skins, changes in food and activities, and the introduction of things that are not seen in the wild, such as medical tests and people with cameras.
A study of chimpanzees in captivity found that “abnormal behaviors are common in the human population,” and included behaviors such as eating prey, yawning, rocking back and forth, cutting hair, spitting, vomiting, and self-mutilation, etc.
The study confirmed that the cause of such behavior can be psychological problems.
As a result of the 2013 Blackfish document, which revealed the psychological abuse done to orcas by SeaWorld, California banned orca breeding.
Click for an Encyclopaedia Britannica video about the importance of genetic variation in captive breeding.
If you believe it should, consider whether it should stay the same or change.
If you believe it shouldn’t, consider how zoos achieve conservation efforts.
2. Extend the discussion to other human-made animal habitats, such as safari parks and animal sanctuaries.
3. What other conservation efforts are important for the preservation of species?
1. Review “Eight Reasons Conservation is Good for Conservation” from conservation scientist James Borrell.
2. Consider the pros and cons of a video from Noise.
4. Think about how you feel about the subject before reading this chapter.
After reading the pros and cons of this article, have you changed your mind?
If you haven’t changed your mind, list two to three ways that your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” has now helped you to argue your position better.
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2. Schönbrunn Palace, “Zoo,” schoenbrunn.at (accessed April 23, 2019)
3.CBC, “Trapped in a Human Zoo,” cbc.ca, (accessed Apr. 23, 2019)
4. Krista Langlois, “A Secret Killing of Captive Gorillas,” theatlantic.com, March 5, 2018
5. Association of Zoos & Aquariums, “Currently Accredited Zoos and Aquariums,” aza.org, April. 2019
6.Association of Zoos & Aquariums, “Visitor Demographics,” aza.org (accessed May 7, 2019)
7. Maury Brown, “Why MLB Attendance Drops Below 70 Million for the First Time in 15 Years,” forbes.com, October 3, 2018
8.NHL, “NHL Attendance (1975-76 through 2018-2019),” records.nhl.com (accessed May 7, 2019)
9.NBA, “NBA Claims All-Time Attendance Record for Fourth Straight Year,” nba.com, Apr. 12, 2018
10. Brandon McClung, “NFL Attendance Lowest Since ’10 Despite Chargers Rebound,” sportsbusinessdaily.com, Jan. 2, 2019
11.Andrew Moss, Eric Jensen, and Markus Gusset, “Evaluating the Contribution of Zoos and Aquariums to Aichi Biodiversity Target 1,” Conservation Biology, Aug. 22, 2014
12.Robin Ganzert, “Zoos Save Species — Visit One This World Wildlife Day,” thehill.com, March 3, 2018
13.Tse-Lynn Loh, et al., “Quantifying the Contribution of Zoos and Aquariums to Peer-Reviewed Scientific Research,” facetsjournal.com, March 15, 2018
14. Association of Zoos & Aquariums, “Research and Science,” aza.org (accessed May 7, 2019)
16. Taronga Conservation Society Australia, “10 Endangered Species Saved from Extinction by Zoos,” medium.com, May 18, 2017
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18. Association of Zoos & Aquariums, “Pollinator Conservation,” aza.org (accessed Apr. 17, 2019)
19. Association of Zoos & Aquariums, “Climate Change and Wildlife,” aza.org (accessed Apr. 17, 2019)
20.Association of Zoos & Aquariums, “Marine Mammal Conservation,” aza.org (accessed Apr. 17, 2019)
21.Michela Pacifici, et al., “Nature Characteristics Influenced Their Response to Recent Climate Change,” nature.com, 2017
22. Association of Zoos & Aquariums, “Preserving Success Stories in AZA-Accredited Zoos and Aquariums,” aza.org, Apr. 20, 2017
24.Jan Flemr, “Long Way Home as Przewalski’s Horses Fly to Mongolia,” phys.org, July 19, 2018
25. Jane Palmer, “The World’s Last Truly Wild Horse,” bbc.com, Nov. 11, 2015
26. Lori Marino, et al., “Do Zoos and Aquariums Change Attitudes Among Visitors?
A Critical Review of American Zoo and Aquarium Research,” animalstudiesrepository.org, 2010
Falk, et al., “Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter: Evaluating the Impact of a Visit to a Zoo or Aquarium,” docplayer.net, 2007
28. Romesh Ranganathan, “Zoos Are Prisons For Animals — No One Needs To See A Penguin In Sad Body,” theguardian.com, March 13, 2017
29.Edna Francisco, “Zoo Carnivores Need More Space,” sciencemag.org, Oct. 1, 2003
30. Ian Example, “Stress and Lack of Exercise Killing Elephants Zoos Warned,” theguardian.com, Dec. 11, 2008
31.Alex Halberstadt, “Animals and their Discontents,” nytimes.com, July 3, 2014
32. Daniel Engber, “The Tears of a Panda,” slate.com, September 14, 2006
33.Jenni Laidman, “Zoos Used Drugs to Help Control Wild Animals,” toledoblade.com, September 12, 2005
Newton-Fisher, “How Abnormal is the Behavior of Captive, Zoo-Living Chimpanzees?,” journals.plos.org, June 16, 2011
35.John Jett, et al., “Teeth Damage in Captive Orcas,” sciencedirect.com, May 2018
This Is It,” nationalgeographic.com, March 25, 2019
37. Shelby Isaacson, “Mate Rank No. 1 Nonprofit in Published Research by Top Zoos and Aquariums,” mote.org, Apr. 4, 2018
38. Zoo Atlanta, “Variable Research,” zooatlanta.org (accessed May 8, 2019)
39. Bronx Zoo, “Bridging the Gap,” bronxzoo.com (accessed May 8, 2019)
40.Emma Marris, “Modern Conservatives Are Unworthy of Morality,: nytimes.com, June 11, 2021