The Pros & Cons Of Zoos

Zoos are often depicted as a terrible place for animals to live, but is there any truth to this?

Read More:
Sources of stress in captivity
“Animals housed in artificial habitats are confronted by a wide range of potentially provocative environmental challenges.”

Let Them Eat Carcass
“We Americans have a funny relationship with food. We may not be apex predators, scientifically speaking, since we augment our meat with grains and plants, but we are predators all the same.”

No Ethical Way to Keep Elephants in Captivity
“I have more than 32 years of experience caring for elephants, both Asian and African, including raising calves and managing dangerous bull elephants.”

How Zoos Kill Elephants
“Playful, mischievous and much-beloved, Mac was just two years old when he became the latest Asian elephant to succumb to the herpes virus at the Houston Zoo last month.”
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[loupblanc]

Zoo's are good for some animals. I say keep the ones that live well in captivity and take care of the injured and endangered ones for some time then rerelease them back into the wild. People focus too much on the negatives of zoos but not the positives it can do.

[ALEX-evvq]

I don't know why people haven't realized this yet, but zoos have 1 important thing, studies. The only problem being that most zoos are often used for profits. Forexample, roadside zoos are only used for the profit and human attraction. I think that it would be in the best interest of the animals to send the animals into a wildlife preserve so we can study these animals, and be able to respect them with their own natural habitat and space.

[MagnitudeReviews]

Man this comment section has a lot of negativity here.

But I would like to mention how I personally volunteer at the mn zoo.

It is so much fun working with little kids and being able to learn a heck of a lot more about the over 500 different species that are inside that zoo.

And i would like to add that the staff that work there all love their jobs and do all they can to make sure that both their guests and animals have the best time possible. And even their habitats are specifically designed to mimic their specific behaviors that they exhibit in the wild (and this also includes every single specific plant placed in the exhibit). This zoo is very educational based and warns the public about the dangers that the animal's species are currently encountering in the wild.

In fact all of the endangered species are in the zoo because either
a) they were found injured in the wild and brought them to the zoo so that they would be rehabilitated back to proper health. For example one of the sea turtles was hit by a boat and cracked part of its shell and through off their center of balance so they were unable to swim down on their own because an air pocket was created inside the shell making it act as if a life jacket were to float to the surface, this injury caused the same thing.
b) or have a disability with a negative gene that they dont want to spread, for example the new Hawaiian monk seals were brought in because they are all blind and dont want this gene to spread
c) they were abandoned by their mothers or pack and was unable to fend for themselves

For all the other species selected to be on exhibit are all part of a healthy population and are specifically selected to mimic the main animal's natural habitat.

In fact the zoo has a natural pond on the property in which outside wild life choose to live there like squirrels, turtles, swans, ducks, etc.

All of the animal's diets are specifically measured to the gram needed for their needs, and are also stuffed with the nutrients needed. For example the big sharks have their fish that they eat which are all target fed and are stuffed with the nutrients and vitamins needed inside the fish.

Also the MN zoo partakes in the act of sending workers out in the field of where an endangered species exist in the world and help support local organizations who protect a certain species from being poached or just educating the locals about how important the animal is to the ecosystem some examples are such as: Black Rhinos in Namibia and the "Save the Rhino Trust", Asian Dholes in Southeast Asia (most specifically Thailand) and hell earlier this week i met the specialist working in this field from the mn zoo and she was an awesome person that really loves her job and cares about the dholes, The asian wild horses in China & mongolia, and much much more.

A large majority of the american zoo's are all in contact with each other trying to help breed endangered species such as the Malaysian tiger which they specifically choose the perfect candidate for a breeding partner (kinda like the tiger dating game) in which they take a look at all of the tigers of the opposite gender who fits the requirement for breeding purposes and take a close look at their age, aggressiveness, breeding success, what family they came from, and the location at which they are currently located in the country.

Some people may ask if the animals get bored of the same old routine every single day and the answer is YES they do. But the zoo keepers supply enrichment for the animals. There are 5 different types of enrichment for the animals and this tackles all 5 senses: sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. There are multiple different enrichment for each animal for example they give the sea otters piles of ice in the middle of the summer, they might rub some of the magazine perfumes on like a rock in the bears exhibit. They might freeze up certain fruits and meat in a giant pile of ice for the tigers (this way they have to work for their reward so they exhibit natural behaviors they have in the wild). And they give different types of enrichment to the animals maybe once or twice a week, and depending on the animal maybe every day. But the amount of enrichment out there is endless.

I would also like to address sense I am currently on the topic of enrichment, there was a recent incident at the mn zoo in which there was a bear that found a giant rock at the bottom of a pool and started to play around it with as if it was a toy (which they give to the bears for a type of enrichment). So the bear got curious and picked up the rock and started bashing it against the glass wall (and this was just him playing around and not trying to escape) and caused a crack in the glass that ended up shattering one layer of the glass like a windshield would. But I must also tell you that this glass is 5 layers thick of specially designed bullet proof glass, so the visitors on the other side were perfectly safe and so was the bear. Although both of them were really scared once it happened. The best way how i can give an example of this is how if you have a baseball and were playing with it and accidentally shattered a window and were scared and ran away from the scene.

For any other questions feel free to ask me, because im perfectly willing to answer them if i know of an answer to your question. But I hope all of you that read this have learned something and will hopefully learn how zoo's not old help educated people but also protect the animals both in captivity and in the wild.

[mateogonzalez]

This is one of the videos on D News that got me the most excited, then sad, then excited again and made me remember how much I want go be around and save these animals! Thank You so much☺

[TheJaredtheJaredlong]

My friend works in a zoo, and he tells me the AZA makes it  really hard for zoos to have elephants. AZA accredited zoo's have to undergo periodic accreditation inspections; this usually involves a facilities tour to a  panel of 3 AZA officials, but if you have elephants, then a 4th official who is a certified elephant expert also tours and if he is not satisfied with your elephant facilities then he can single handedly revoke accreditation for the entire zoo until the requirements for elephants are met. Their basic requirements include having a minimum of three elephants, and a certain amount of open acreage per elephant.

[kevgmei]

Did you guys even watch the whole video? Learn to use your sense of logic, rather than hating your own kind for every reason. She said that zoos are used to teach kids about exotic animals they wouldn't otherwise get the chance to see. My local zoo has a wildlife preserve attached to it. The alpacas, goats, and most of the other animals seem quite happy there. Zoos can also be used to save certain species, or inspire people to save them, as Julia said in the video.

[heyitsmike]

This played in my school when I had to write a persuasive essay. This helped me out a lot

[radcaden]

Its sad now this was filmed 5 years ago, and still nothing has changed.

[lindsl]

I just went to the columbus zoo today and live right down the street. I love the animals but some of the enclosures made me and my family feel really sad...some of the animals were just pacing by doors to go out (it was raining so thats why they were probably inside). Others just were too alone and in small areas. I just want the animals to be happy and heathly without being stressed and unsocialized. Jack Hanna is the main supporter of our zoo and I think he helps out a lot, not only financially but culturally. He travels talking about the animals he brings and focuses helping animal and wildlife conservation. Our zoo is usually 1st or 2nd when it comes to best zoo in the nation; we generally tie with San Diego. I just wish we could improve all zoos so they are more natural and are not harmful to the animals. The noise level is way to high for these creature, too. The standards need to be higher on zoo protocols.

[delidanks]

I wouldn't be the person I am today, a conservation biologist, if it wasn't for zoos. Proud to call myself an AZA member for zoos around the country.

[TobyMUFC]

"tell us about your recent zoo experience"
Another fucking it's summer.

[dvceeee]

Zoos are getting more and more innovative to make both visitors and the animals in them feel more free and experience more new things than in the past. Although the harms are many, at least we feel the newness more than before







this video is awesome and gives me a lot of knowledge.

[TohoEggbirb]

Pro: you get to see animals
Con: the animal's sanity is 0

[cannella]

The zoo we went to had a very stressed out polar bear. It was sad to watch him pace back and forth.

[jonesnj]

*I once saw a polar bear in a large zoo in france but even with it's quite big enclourse all it did was swim back and forth, it was once of the saddest things i've ever seen, i would close all types of exibits like that, the ones that help prevent extinction are ok, but big wild animals need to be free and poachers need way more prison time*

[mamiespillane]

Zoos teach people that animals are more like objects than emotional beings. Those of us who actually care about these animals and donate to organizations that strive to protect these animals in the wild, usually do not believe in or go to zoos. Thus, I think the argument that zoos help to conserve wildlife is unsubstantiated. I know for a fact that my students learn more about wildlife conservation by reading books and watching videos than by going on field trips to zoos. By teaching my students the similarities between humans and animals and encouraging them to have empathy for theses beings, I believe they will be far more inclined to support conservation efforts as adults.

[whitewolfcatnoble]

Zoos should raise animals back to heath teach them there natural instincts and release them say yes if agreed

[charliemarcou]

That zoo with the sting rays is right next to my school, and it isn't called the Chicago Zoo, its called the Brookfield Zoo or Chicago Zoological Park

[supersonicrocks]

The first and only time I went to the zoo was when I was visiting my family in Brazil, I was 9 and just about only remembered the lion.

[Juber]

I went to Northwest Trek and Point Defiance Zoo last week, they were both nice but I enjoyed it more when there were less crowds. Northwest Trek is like going and getting a tour of a national wildlife reserve, so that's always cool :3