Zoos, aquatic parks and other animal enclosures have offered people the opportunity to
get a close encounter with live animals and appreciate the beauty of them. Furthermore, many animal enclosures and zoos have been crucial to reintroducing endangered species back to their native habitat. That being said, what often does not come across our radar is the damage that is inflicted to animals brought from the wild to captivity when not done correctly. To this day thousands of zoos, circuses and aquatic parks force animals in inadequate living environments, causing extreme stress, and physically abuse animals for economic gain.
A common misconception that the general public has is that wild animals can be released from their cage back into the wild and quickly adapt to life there. However, once an animal becomes accustomed to life in confinement, it could take many years, and sometimes even multiple generations for the animals to survive. In Wild Animals in Captivity, a book written by Heini Hediger who is known as the father of zoo biology, he explains different factors contributing to a zoo animal’s inability to adapt to the wild quickly, such as the animal’s insensitivity to the interspecies (Predator-prey relationship etc.), the lack of fear of humans, the lack of understanding of its native habitat, and many more reasons. To release them into the wild, the animals need to be brought into a large enclosure imitating their natural habitat to nurture their social bond, hunting techniques, and their fear of humans. This process can often take three generations, and even then, their adaptation is far from guaranteed. Even with a heart to protect endangered animals, bringing wild animals into unnatural enclosures will only handicap the creature, forcing it to rely on zoo workers for the rest of its pitiful life.
The life of a zoo animal may seem luxurious on the surface, indulging in platters of food everyday, not having to worry about rents or mortgages, and most importantly, no homework. Wild animals, by nature, like to roam free and migrate ad-lib. If you put these animals into a miniature metal box, stress can easily build up and eventually lead to Zoochosis. Zoochosis is a condition that occurs to zoo animals coming from the stress of confinement, which causes them to have repetitive behaviour with no real function: biting itself, or walking in circles, for example. In a study performed by Croation biologists, the teeth of a captive siberian tiger’s skull was analyzed to identify the cause of its teeth’s conditions and possibly its premature death. After close examination, it was concluded that the teeth’s poor condition was due to fence biting, a symptom of zoochosis. The poor tiger is only one of the millions of victims of Zoochosis, and the number will only keep rising unless we do something about it.
On top of the mental torture wild animals experience on a daily basis, animals in the entertainmentment industry are victims of constant physical abuse to train them to perform or to be submissive to humans. Reporter Natasha Daly, travelled to different countries dominated by the animal entertainment industry, namely Thailand and Russia, to investigate how animals are being treated. There, she visited different animal shows and interviewed the workers attending to the animals. “Most tourists who enjoy these encounters don’t know that the adult tigers may be declared, or both…. Or that the Amazonian sloths taken illegally from the jungle often die within weeks of being put in captivity.” She lists off a couple of violent acts inflicted on show animals that go unnoticed by the tourists, who blindly pour money into the industry. Animals are magnificent creatures that are meant to be appreciated by us and taken care of by us; they are not created to be our money generator.
Zoos and other industries alike have been exploiting animals for decades. While we pay money every year to look at and learn about wild animals of genuine curiosity and care, our ignorance has in turn encouraged these zoos to mistreat their animals. As people of this society, we have the responsibility to make sure the attractions we visit properly care for their animals.
Draft:
Zoos, aquatic parks and other animal enclosures have offered people the opportunity to get a close encounter with live animals and appreciate the beauty of them. Furthermore, many animal enclosures and zoos have been crucial to reintroducing endangered species back to their native habitat. That being said, what often does not come under our radar is the damage that is inflicted to animals brought from the wild to captivity when not done correctly. The lack of regulations have allowed many zoos, circuses and aquatic parks to provide inadequate living environments, irresponsibly take animals from their natural habitat, and physically abuse animals for economic gain.
A common misconception that the general public has is that wild animals can be released from their cage back into the wild and quickly adapt to life there. Contrastly, once an animal accustoms to the life in confinement, it could take many years, and sometimes even multiple generations for the animals to survive. In “Wild Animals in Captivity”, a book written by Heini Hediger who is known as the father of zoo biology, he explains different factors contributing to a zoo animal’s inability to adapt to the wild quickly. Such as the animal’s insensitivity to the natural habitat and other animals that live nearby. For example, Captive Lions would not know to hunt antelopes because they have been fed lumps of red meat all their lives. and other herbivores because they To release them into the wild, the animals need to be brought into a large enclosure imitating their natural habitat to nurture their social bond, hunting techniques, and their fear of humans. This process can usually take 3 generations, and even then, their adaptation is far from guaranteed.
The life of a zoo animal may seem luxurious on the surface, indulging in platters of food everyday, not having to worry about rents or mortgages, and most importantly, no homework. Wild Animals, by nature, like roam free and migrate ad-lib. If you put these animals into a miniature metal box, stress can easily build up and eventually lead to Zoochosis. Zoochosis is a condition that occurs to zoo animals coming from the stress of confinement, which causes them to have repetitive behaviour with no real function: biting itself, walking in circles etc. In a study performed by croation biologists onjević, D. ; Bata, I. ; Sindičić, M. ; Njemirovskij, V., the teeth of a captive siberian tiger’s skull was analyzed to identify the cause of its teeth’s conditions and possibly its premature death. After close examination, it was concluded that the teeth’s poor condition was due to fence biting, a symptom of zoochosis.
On top of the mental torture wild animals experience on a daily basis, animals in circusses are victims to constant physical abuse to “train” them to perform or to be submissive to humans. Reporter Natasha Daly, travelled to different countries dominated by the animal entertainment industry, namely Thailand and Russia, to investigate how animals are being treated. There, she visited different animal shows and interviewed the workers attending to the animals. “Most tourists who enjoy these encounters don’t know that the adult tigers may be declared, or both…. Or that the Amazonian sloths taken illegally from the jungle often die within weeks of being put in captivity.” She lists off a couple of violent acts inflicted on show animals that go unnoticed by the tourists, who blindly pour money into the industry
Zoos and other industries alike have been exploiting animals for decades and still remain relatively unchecked. While we pay money every year to look at and learn about wild animals of genuine curiosity and care, our ignorance has in turn encouraged these zoos to mistreat their animals. As people of this society, we have the responsibility to make sure the attractions we visit properly care for its animals.
Links to the paper
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AsBikpfbfQA2Fek4u2nT8TzpkFYy7KjFJS5JywoRNl8/edit?usp=sharing
