Am I mad to strongly believe that any animal in any sort of cage in cruel?

Question

People have always thought me so weird because I believe any animal in any sort of enclosure is cruel.

Especially birds in cages because they have wings to fly don't they?

I believe zoos are totally out of order. I can't stand the idea of people going to a zoo to stare at animals. They should be free in the wild, away from any human interference.

I do understand the importance of endangered species but that is because of hunting etc.

They should aim to put a stop to that first rather than going round capturing animlas and locking them up for other peoples pleasure.

Does anyone else agree?

Something just trying to keep something alive isn't right or enough to give the animal a good quality of life. I still believe any enclosure is cruel- WHATEVER the reasons are.

Sometimes just trying to keep something alive isn't right or enough to give the animal a good quality of life. I still believe any enclosure is cruel- WHATEVER the reasons are.

Answer 1

I HATE zoos. Come on : we trap animals and lock them up to display them like art objects? How inhumane!!!!
I'm 100% with you!! :)
I swear never to take my sons and daughters to the zoo, and I did swear to do so years before today !!!

Answer 2

You're definitely not mad, because a large portion of zoos keep animals in cruel conditions and exploit them purely for financial gain. However, there are many non-profit zoos that genuinely have the animal's best interests at heart, such as the Bronx Zoo in New York, which is one of the five zoos run by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

They use the captive animals in zoos as ambassador species which educate the public and inspire a desire to protect their wild counterparts. It's sad that they are needed, when a few hundred years ago everything seen in zoos could have been easily seen in the wild, but deforestation and urban development is destroying those chances. Animal Planet and Discovery Channel can only do so much to inspire action amongst the public. It is an undeniable truth that personal experiences with wildlife are more stirring than seeing them on television.

Having both visited reputable zoos and gone on a safari in Africa, I will say that NOTHING compares to the absolute wonder that can come from seeing an animal in the wild, and if zoos generate money and the will to preserve the few remaining wild creatures on our planet, then I think they are a necessary evil. It should also be noted that across the world people are making sincere efforts to make zoo environments as close to the natural world as possible.

The majority of zoos, at least the ones in big cities that are AZA certified, treat their animals with amazing care. They provide behavioral enrichment items to the animals that allow them to mimic behavior they do in the wild and work very hard to keep their minds active and entertained. No zoo is perfect, but it is much less likely that you'll see an animal pacing back and forth in stress and boredom than it was twenty or thirty years ago. Small, concrete cages are becoming something of the past, and when visitors see animals in lush environments that are similar to the wild, I'm sure that they are much more compelled to make sure that animals actually have real wilderness in the future.

Most zoos have lots of captions with information on deforestation, pollution, poaching etc. around their exhibits, as well as places for additional donations. The Wildlife Conservation Society, along with having informative zoos that are as comfortable for the animals as possible, also does a lot of field research all over the world with animals. I'm sure other zoos that I am less familiar with are doing similar things.

No, zoos aren't the greatest things, and it is sad to see animals enclosed in small spaces, but from an objective standpoint, if they conduct themselves properly they can do a lot of good.

Answer 3

My opinion...

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 4

I agree with you partly!! I dont like birds in cages, like you, they have wings and should fly. As for Zoos in some cases some of the animals are so endangered that the only way to keep the species going is to breed in captivity. Zoos are a lot better now than when I was a child, I think they have realised animals need space to roam and more importantly hide from prying eyes if need be.

You are not mad to believe what you do but Zoos dont go round capturing animals for peoples pleasure any more, that is why they have breading programmes.

Answer 5

I think this is wrong too, EXCEPT for the fact that most of these animals would have been poached in the wild. We keep them in zoos for them to recover and breed, which is much more challenging to do in the wild. For example, my local zoo's grown cheeta cubs were resently released into a park in africa, and 2 of the 4 were killed after a week! We r trying to protect these animals from a far crueler fate.

I do however, not tolerate endangered species being kept as pets in homes (like sun bears in India, or crocodiles in New York). They grow up, and when they r not cute anymore, the owners release them into the wild, and the animals die because they dont know the first thing about their native habitat cuz they were locked in a cage untill then.

Answer 6

You should read this great book: Thought to Exist in the Wild: Awakening from the Nightmare of Zoos. It will solidify your feelings about zoo's. It is a collaboration between award-winning writer Derrick Jensen and acclaimed photographer Karen Tweedy-Holmes. The book is a deeply moving exploration of what zoos are and what they mean, both to the animals inside the cages and to the animals—humans—watching them. The lyrical yet biting prose combines with the beautiful and heartrending photographs to provide an unforgettable portrait not only of life on the inside but of our relationship to the wild.

Jensen explores how we perceive; the relationship between zoos and pornography; the real lessons taught by zoos; the relationship between sensory deprivation, insanity, and the living conditions of modern humans; wild animals you can see in a McDonald’s parking lot; the relationship between sea lions and the cold wind that blows over the ocean.

One of Jensen’s gifts, as readers of his other works already know, is to bring all of these seemingly unrelated topics together, combining them with his often poignant, often humorous, often startling personal stories, and forming them into a deeply moving, even life-changing whole. Add to the stunning photographs, and readers of this devastating, mind expanding, and ultimately healing book will never again be able to see animals in the zoo, or themselves, the same as they did before.

Answer 7

Sadly is us humans that need to be put in cages.

Sometimes keeping an animal in an enclosure (as most zoos now do) is the only way of stopping it being killed off entirely.

There will always be hunters(dont forget we were all hunters once) so its probably better for the species

Its also interesting to note that 95% of all species that have ever existed have become extinct...its not always our fault though!

Answer 8

I tend to agree, but not to the extent that you say.

And specifically for two reasons :

1. I believe that seeing animals in zoos helps educate kids about them. We'd have less biology students if we hasd no contact with wild animals (after all, we can't all afford to go on safari in Kenya)

2. In terms of endangered species, zoos really do help. Species aren't endangered just by hunting as you say, but also because of the way we interfere with their environnements. Many species have been brought back from the brink thanks to zoos and they need money to do it.

I do agree that many zoos are just cruel. These are the zoos that have been around for many years. However, there are some really good zoos out there (I was lucky enough to go to San Diego and the zoo there is just amazing)

Answer 9

No, you're not mad - you simply empathise. And, yes, I do agree with you, because nothing was born to be enclosed by bars, no matter how well disguised those bars may be. That's why wrongdoers in human society are sent to prison; the removal of their freedom is a punishment. (I wonder why the animals are being punished). Some would argue that if they're born into captivity, they know no different life, but the instinct of freedom must be within those animals and birds and it seems a crime to rob them of their God given right. (I'm not including the endangered species that are born into a human environment with the idea of controlled release into their natural habitat; this is working WITH nature).

Answer 10

I don't believe all caging of animals is cruel, birds in cages possibly but zoos do a lot for animals, they used to be there for people to go and look at but now they do a lot for conservation they set up breeding programs and take them out of harms way so that numbers of an endangered animal might be built up again.

Answer 11

Zoo's do an important role in the conservation and protection of endangered animals. Without Zoo's many would have now been extinct. Many zoo's have breading programs and release animals back into the wild helping to save them from extinction.