Zoos

Zoos and safari parks always make the bold claim that they are centres of wildlife conservation, protecting endangered species from extinction and loss of habitat. In actuality, these zoos and parks are tourist centres aimed at creating as much profit as possible. Animals are disregarded as living beings and instead treated as money making commodities. This is the unfortunate reality of zoos.

Conservation

Animals live in enclosures on average 100 times smaller than their natural habitat. At the highest end of the scale, zoo enclosures can be up to 10,000 times smaller than the animals natural environment. Enclosures are extremely restrictive leaving animals unable to display regular behaviour and regular social patterns. As a result, the animals will be constantly frustrated and overtly bored. Animals may develop psychological problems and display repetitive behaviour patterns such as; pacing up and down and swaying constantly. There have been cases where highly frustrated animals have resorted to self- mutilation. As if this wasn’t enough, most animals have a much shorter life span in comparison with animals living in the wild. In the wild, elephants typically live up to 3 times as long than elephants in captivity. According to The Captive Animals Protection Society, 95% of all animals in U.K zoos are not actually endangered and 25% of zoos do not even house threatened animal species.

Education

The majority of zoo’s do not predominantly feature near extinct animals, instead they use well populated animals like chimpanzees, elephants and seals to provide tourists with simple entertainment. Zoos additionally claim their facilities are education when in reality they provide a skewed view of animal life. This distorted view is due to the conditions animals are housed in. Animals do not display their stereotypical behaviours because they are confined to limited sized enclosures and unnatural living conditions which tell us nothing about how the animal would normally behave in the wild. Zoos actually do the opposite of informing and educating visitors.

Excess Animals

Zoo animals are treated as products with every aspect of their lives being influenced and controlled by money. Surplus animals are sold to companies normally seeking to make more of a profit from the animals. Zoos betray their extra animals by selling them to game hunters, circuses and private keepers. If a bargain is not reached to sell every single animal, the remaining animals are deemed unprofitable and are slaughtered.

Circuses

Zoos around the world have been known for their connections with circuses. Some zoos in the United Kingdom have been caught breeding animals, particularly tigers, to be used in circus entertainment. Circuses house animals in even more small and restraining enclosures than zoos. Animals are either stored in cages for the majority of their life or are kept in limited enclosures with barely enough space to move. Circus animals become physically and mentally deprived resulting in premature deaths and illness. Circuses beat animals, using bull hooks, electric shocks, whips and bludgeons until the animal is fearful and obeys every command. This ruthless industry is a direct side effect of the zoo and safari park industry.

Health Dangers

Due to the confinement and close proximity between animals in zoos, disease and illness can develop and spread at a rapid pace. These diseases including E-Coli, herpes and salmonella can all be passed on to humans. Zoos often encourage visitors to have direct contact with animals which leaves the human more susceptible to contracting disease. Injury is also more likely to occur in zoos where humans are encouraged to touch animals and in zoos with inadequate barriers between enclosures and visitors.

Action

The only way to save wild animals is to ensure their habitats are preserved and protected from threats such as logging, construction, mining and industry. Promoting the importance of biodiversity and the need to preserve natural habitat is a key element in protecting wild animals.

Please never visit zoos, safari parks and circuses, funding them only fuels their business and provides them with even more money to exploit animals for entertainment Eventually, when more and more people realise the cruelty of zoos, the profits will fall and zoos will listen to the legitimate concerns from animal advocates and improve conditions for animals. By consistently boycotting and pressuring them, it can be hoped they may send some of their animals to sanctuaries and reduce the overall number of animals they keep.