zoos should be banned?

Question

i do think that some zoos should be banned but not all zoos should be banned but most of them should i can understand that we are trying to save them but how are we saving them if we have some in small cages.......wtf

Answer 1

Some road-side crap hole, ya shut the thing down. But the majority of the zoos in the day and age are far from the concrete and steel they used to be.

The plus side of zoos greatly out shadows the negative.

Yes the animals might be stuck in captivity but through them they serve as ambadassors for their wild brothers and sisters. It gives the public a chance to connect and learn about things they would have never had the chance to before.

Zoos have also transformed greatly over the years. They are changing from the old concrete and steel pits/cages of the past to wide lush open habitats with live plants, waterfalls, etc. On top of changing the way they house animals they have also changed how they run things. Though zoos are still out to make money (to keep doors open since most are non-profit) they have and still are moving to more of a conservation and education outlook rather than strictly entertainment.

On top of all that, zoos work a great deal in rescue projects with injured wildlife as well as breed and release programs with endangered species. For example sea world and other facilities in FL were being over-run with injured manatees to the point that they had no more room to house them. To help a handful of other zoos built exhibits where the injured/sick manatees could recover before they were released. With breeding there are many zoos who work together with the US govt as well as programs around the world to breed endangered species and release those that are born back out into the wild to help with new healthy blood lines. The California Condor would be extinct today if it was not for such programs.

Zoos also use the animals in their collection to help learn how to better care for those that are in the wild. Back to the manatee example. There is currently a virus floating through the wild manatee popluation that the science world has yet to figure out how it happened and how to stop it from spreading. Zoos are using their captive manatees with the virus to try and find a treatment or cure so that they can help the wild populations and re-release those that were sick.

So do I think animals should be kept in zoos? In this day and age it is a 100% yes. Because of what man has done to this world it is something that is needed. However, it should only be done for the right reasons and under the right conditions.

Answer 2

Current Zoo's in western countries are now becoming far more necessary for many more reasons than arbitarily banning them.. Through the amount of research we have aquired in just the last 30 years and the agencies that protect animal rights their animals "well being" is to the point where no zoo animal is allowed to even suffer as an exhibit and the animals now live full rich and rewarding lives. Zoo's themselves these day strongly acknowledge the benefeits and savings of happy animals. This then gives rise to a double social benefeit, the first is to communicate and make people aware of animals and the plight of many animals in the wild. From this is the living and genetic storage of animal species together with restoring of a species poulation to the wild by internal or breeding programs with other zoos. A case in point is the repopulation of the American Bald Eagle and the Kowalski's Horse of Mongolia from captive breeding programs. There is every reason to believe Zoo's will take on more crucial roles in these programs in the future due to the loss of species from natural or introduced problems. Finally and sadly Zoo's may be the very last repository and protection for endangered animal species. A case in point is particular breeds of Cheetah where it's genetic pool is so small that it's entirely due to Zoo breeding programs and the good health afforded to the animals in captivity and Zoo's maintaining any type of genetic diversity that will stop or slow down extingtion. Again, this problem will only get worse, not better due to poor husbandry and loss of habitat by countries with little interest or no money to do it themselves.

Answer 3

Coyote is right. Zoos play a great role in educating the public and in helping save endangered species. I would like to ask you if you are so concerned about keeping animals out of zoos, what exactly are YOU doing to ensure that they survive in the wild. You can rant and rave all you want about zoos, but do YOU do ANYTHING to resolve the problem? You will probably give me a thumbs down for this answer as most people do not want to hear the truth.

Answer 4

Some of my happiest memories have been at my local zoos, and in my lifetime I have seen the most horrid enclosures transformed into amazing habitats for animals that I would likely never see outside of those zoos. These experiences have been critical in developing my appreciation for wildlife and the need for conservation, and have affected my outlook in ways that nature shows just cannot approach.
I really do not think banning zoos would accomplish anything positive, because you would be taking away the only chance many people have to see some of the world's most amazing animals, and you would be doing little to solve the overall problem of animal cruelty. For every Serval cat kept in a pen too small, 13-15 wild Servals are killed to make one coat. For every Greater Kudu in a zoo without the vast tracts of land they would normally have, more are shot for nothing more than their impressive horns. For every Cheetah without the land to run full speed in a zoo, more are killed every day because they see livestock as an easy food source.
In my mind, the conditions animals face in some zoos are not to be marginalized, but pale in comparison to the horrors these animals can face elsewhere.
I personally work at a 400 acre African wildlife preserve, and can tell you first hand that sometimes animals love to do nothing else than lie in one spot.
Ultimately I think zoos serve a useful purpose, but if you disagree you can always choose not to go.

Answer 5

Our zoo doesn't use cages (though the animals are fenced in). You can't even see the animals most of the time because they wander off to another part of the large area of land that they inhabit in the zoo.

Answer 6

Therefore what you mean is that many zoos should be improved. I agree with you 100%. I went to the Dallas Zoo on Saturday and was appalled at the size of some of the facilites, particularly the lion's cage.

Answer 7

Would you be as interested in animals as you are if you had never been to a zoo?

Would some of the animals you that like be extinct today if it weren't for captive breeding programs at zoos?

Answer 8

Oh for crying out loud!

True, some zoos are better than others. But most I have been to have entire habitats, not cages. Further, in some cases they are the last hope for some endangered species who have lost their natural habitats.

Frankly, I like the idea of setting aside large wildlife areas strictly for the purpose of giving a natural habitat to various species who have lost their homes due to human expansion. How should such areas be funded, you might ask? With such managed populations the harsh reality is that the natural mechanism of predation is kept at bay so the population needs to be thinned with each reproductive cycle to keep the herd healthy. Hunting is a wonderful way to both take in income to pay for the wildlife area as well as keep the population in balance. There are plenty of hunters out there who will (and do) pay thousands to hunt "exotics".

Answer 9

I think that they should be held to higher standards with more investigating and better care. However, I do not think they should be banned. Zoos are very educational and bring a bit of other countries to our country. They really are very important.

Answer 10

i think that zoos are wrong but for the good that they do i dont think that they should be banned because they help animals that are about to be get extinkt( cant spell)