FREEDOM FOR FAUNA
Imagine being taken from your home by strange alien beings, dropped in a bad remake of your room that was open for all these unsightly creatures to watch and ridicule you, and to be fed the same food day after day, trapped in this enclosure with the same humans at all times, but strange humans, not your friends or family. Could you ever be happy? This is what it’s like for the animals imprisoned in zoos. Animals, as well as people, have the right to be free and should not be kept in zoos. A good reason for this is that the animals can never be free again once locked up in a zoo. Also, humans will develop gross misconceptions of wild animals, based on the animals from the zoo. Finally, although the few wealthy zoos try to help, it does not make up for all the harm that the majority of the worlds zoos do. These are all horrible things, the worst of which is that animals can never be free once confined in a zoo.
Animals in zoos are forever stuck in an unnatural synthetic prison, for they stand no chance of survival in the wild after living in zoos. For one, the animals will never learn the necessary social skills needed to work with the other animals of its kind. It’s similar to a child who has been home-schooled their whole lives, then is suddenly dropped in a public school, without the knowledge of cliques and what’s socially acceptable. The animals will also become unafraid of the very human creatures that want to kill and exploit them. Almost like a young child who questions authority and gets punished, only far more sever. Finally the animals will not know how to feed themselves, after relying on a consistent food source for so long, they will be unsure of how to hunt and scavenge for food. Much like someone who is suddenly removed from their home, a place of food and shelter, and dumped in the woods without the ability to find the food they need. As if this is not bad enough, humans will also develop misconceptions of the animals.
Humans will, as is their nature, quickly obtain ideas and thoughts about the wild animals, based on the animals that are in the zoos, animals that act unnaturally. It’s like someone getting their opinion of a person from their relative, for although they are related, they most likely act very differently. Many humans will develop ideas such as thinking it unnecessary to help the wild animals, based on the fact that there are animals in the zoos. They will ignore signs that say “endangered species” and think the breeding programs and everything have left the world with a plethora of these animals, when in truth there is a dearth. Humans will also think that the actions of the zoo animals are something all animals do. In truth, the animals in zoos have adapted to their unnatural surroundings, and do things that most wild animals would never do. This is something similar to basing the actions of a child in a middle school off of the actions of a child in a high school. Not to mention, that humans will think it’s safe to approach animals in the wild, especially if they have been to a petting zoo, for they will think that the wild animals are just as laid back and mild tempered as the animals in the zoo. Approaching wild animals is highly dangerous to the humans, and they will likely get hurt if they do it. While the ideas that people develop from zoos may be horrific, it’s not as bad as how the majority of the world’s zoos hurt the animals.
While there are a few wealthy zoos in the world that are helping animals, they don’t make up for most of the worlds zoos that either have insufficient funding, or are just plain abusive to the animals. For example, as Bob Atkins describes on the photo.net forum, there is a zoo in Forked River New Jersey called Popcorn Park. This zoo takes in abused and abandoned animals, but does not have the funds to take proper care of all the animals. There is also a zoo in Anchorage Alaska, as described by Steve Cook on the same photo.net forum, which is not as good as Popcorn Park. This zoo is extremely abusive, with small cages, and scared animals. Plus, all the Sea Worlds, and places like that, are highly abusive. They make the animals perform tricks and do stunts for entertainment purposes, while thinly disguising it all as “education” (photo.net, Nature Forum: Zoos). While not all zoos belong in the category of abusive, most zoos do. Zoos can be used as a good way for people to see animals, and a way to raise the political will to help save them, but that’s not what they are used for most often. The general populous of zoos are here just for entertainment purposes, and they do no good for the animals. Zoos are a loathsome part of the world that are not acceptable for a truly civilized existence.
All in all zoos will never be able to live up to the high standards of animal kindness. If zoos can not meet the necessary requirements for a good and helpful environment to the animals, they should not exist on this planet. The animals in zoos are forever condemned to dark, pitiful lives in unnatural surroundings, with no freedom. Humans then see these sad pathetic animals and base their thoughts of all animals around the detestable lives of the zoo animals. Finally, the fact that zoos just can’t help the way some want, and others should. Zoos are harrowing prisons that force animals to live abhorrent, appalling, and daunting lives of synthetic composure.
WORKS CITED
Atkins, Bob. “Nature Forum: Zoos” February 17, 1998. Online posting. photo.net. February 11, 2007 <http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00080k&tag=>
Cook, Steve. “Nature Forum: Zoos” February 17, 1998. Online posting. photo.net. February 11, 2007 <http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00080k&tag=>
Community Member
No i was not doing experiments