Is It Wrong to Keep Animals Captive in Zoos?

By Maureen Anandhita Murti (Grade 8A)

Zoos have been present since the 1700s. It is used mostly to showcase animals. It is also part of the entertainment industry. Going to zoos has commonly been considered as a very fun activity for almost all ages. In zoos, you can closely observe the animals. It also makes it easier for the animals to be studied, if needed.

Now, the question is whether keeping animals in zoos is a good thing or not. In a lot of cases, it is. Zoos can help conserve animals, especially endangered animals. A very good example of this is what happened in China. Pandas in China were starting to go extinct. And so, they conserved the pandas. Breeding them and taking care of them. Trying to increase the population of pandas and bringing them back to normal. And it worked. Pandas are now no longer going extinct due to conservation. Doing this same system for other endangered animals can be a great help. That way, stabilizing the population can be done easier. In terms of entertainment and observation, seeing the animals in zoos is much safer than seeing them in the wild. Seeing them in zoos can decrease the risk you have to go through. Going to the wild to see them isn’t a good idea as it might not be safe and you will be going through multiple risks.

Yes, there are many reasons why it is good to keep animals in zoos, but there are still multiple reasons why it isn’t. Keeping animals in captive is not natural. Animals are meant to be in an open space, in their own habitats in nature. They have their own space in which they are supposed to be living in. They are not meant to be locked up in cages much smaller than their actual habitat. Realistically, making spaces for the animals that is as big as it should be, would be taking up too much space and isn’t cost effective. Imagine building a whole forest for the animals. Having the spaces too large will also make seeing the animals much harder. Not only that, sometimes the animals are even forced to work for entertainment purposes. Such as doing tricks, putting on shows, and so on. Not all zoos treat their animals correctly. Some will punish the animals if they don’t do as taught/said. Sometimes it goes much too far. As far as hurting the animals.

In conclusion, I believe that it is wrong to keep animals in zoos. Unless it is for a good cause, such as conserving the animals. To me, it is saddening to see animals being put in captivity. We need to stop only thinking about it from our point of view, but also from the animals’ point of view. Yes, it may sound a bit abnormal, but having them captive is simply unfair for them.