Zoos are present all over the world, and have been since 1500 B.C. It is a great place to visit year-round for a fun adventure, seeing and learning about animals that otherwise we would only read about in books or see on TV.
However, like everything else in life, there are pros and cons to zoos. While it is always a fun place to visit, in recent years, people have been questioning whether the good outweighs the bad when it comes to zoos.
Zoos are often viewed as terrible places for animals to live. If zoos did not have any positive outcomes, then they would not have lasted so many centuries, and would not continue existing today. For example, zoos provide many different benefits to the animals that they may otherwise not receive. Some examples of these benefits are proper nutrition and medical care that they may not receive otherwise. In addition, zoos help with animal survival. With all the illegal hunting and killing of animals that happen today, especially of the endangered animals, the zoo offers a safer place to live, and helps the endangered species continue surviving. The zoo can also be a better habitat for some animals who would have a difficult time surviving in the wild due to pollution of their habitat.
Zoos also play a very important role in the realm of education. Zoos allow children and adults to see and study animals up close that they may not have otherwise ever gotten the chance to see in their lives. Scientists are also able to study animals with more ease, allowing them to learn more about the animals, which can be helpful for saving more of the animals.
While zoos offer safety and security for many animals, they can also provide many problems for these animals. Animals are often kept in confined spaces, unlike their natural habitats where they are free to roam. Animals can become agitated, aggressive, and depressed when they do not have the proper amount of living space. Another major issue is that sometimes animals are captured from the wild, then forced to live in the confined space of zoos, which takes a toll on their mental and psychological health. likewise, animals are often born in zoos then later released into the wild, without their natural survival skills needed to live.
The biggest and most common critique people have regarding zoos is that they are merely places for human amusement. People usually go to the zoo for a day of fun, not for a day of educational learning. These animals are being captured and placed into zoos for no reason other than human amusement.
While zoos have a couple of positive outcomes, they also have quite a few negative outcomes. It seems as though there needs to be new updated laws regarding zoos and the protection of the animals that live there. Until then, it seems as though everyone will choose a side a to whether they believe zoos are a positive or a negative place for animals.
