BALANCED REPORT

Language Arts
5thg - Term 2
SHOULD ZOOS BE ABOLISHED?
Visiting the local Zoo is a treasured part of any great childhood and for most
people, it is the first and only experience they will have of being up close
and personal with some of the world’s most beautiful and rarest animals. Yet
in recent years, Zoos have been met with some controversy, with welfare
concerns being highlighted repeatedly by the mainstream media. But are
these isolated cases, or are Zoos inherently bad places for animals to live?

Firstly, when people visit the Zoo, they are not only witnessing living and
breathing animals for entertainment purposes, but also learn a lot of valuable
information too. Modern zoos often provide tours, information points and
actively seek to educate and teach the next generation of children the
importance and value of conservation and biodiversity. Of course, individuals
and children can read about animals and conservation in books, but actively
engaging with animals allows them to truly empathize with their plight.

Additionally, it is a little obvious, but Zoos offer a safe haven for

endangered animals to live and on many occasions thrive. This is of
paramount importance for some of the world’s most threatened animal
species and allows leading experts and researchers to discover their habits,
breeding patterns and as a result learn how humans can help them survive,
breed and therefore increase their dwindling numbers.

On the other hand, many wild animals have evolved to thrive in a certain
environment, habitat, and climate and not suited to the confines and
containment of captivity. Unfortunately, even though Zoos often try their
best to mimic a specific species natural habitat sometimes it has little impact
on their behavior and wellbeing. For example, an Orca in the wild can
survive as long as 100 years, yet in captivity, they typically don’t reach 30
years of age. This illustrates that the Zoo environment does not always
succeed and there are many reasons behind this.
Furthermore, some animals are just not built for Zoos, particularly animal
species with certain behaviors that Zoo’s do not cater for, such as hibernation
and migratory animals. For instance, Elephants are often the biggest
animals within Zoos, and many argue their enclosures are simply too small
and since they have to resist their natural instinct to migrate; this can result
in behavioral issues such as aggression.

Having said that, it is important to note that many Zoos do make an active
effort in the mission to save and conserve species, but many do not. Instead,
they partake in the sale of animals for profit and their bottom line is profit
over animal welfare. Therefore, choose carefully.

Taken from: The Pros and Cons of Zoos Explored

Animal Mentor