Zoos are not beneficial – 9th grade 1st class 윤서현

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am Seoheon from the negative side. Today we are debating
the resolution ‘Zoos are beneficial’. We define zoos as an establishment which maintains a
collection of wild animals, typically in a park or gardens, for study, conservation, or display
to the public. We have limited this debate to the entire world. We have three reasons to
support this resolution: Animals’ mental distress, unenlightening experiences, and
generation of aggression in animals.

Our First point is the mental distress of animals. Since animals are kept in closed spaces and
constantly watched and observed by visitors, they feel extreme stress. In 2014, due to the
sudden stress caused by dramatically increased visitors, Delhi zoo animals began to have
abnormal babies. In the article ‘Chronic captivity stress in wild animals is highly species-
specific’(2019), while the physical needs of animals are met in captivity, the conditions of
confinement and exposure to humans can result in physiological stress.

Our second point is unenlightening experiences. Would children be able to learn about living
creatures when all animals they see are distressed and restrained? According to NGO PETA
latino (2014), 59% of the children that paid a visit to a zoo didn’t pick up any educational
benefits for their minds, ascending to 66% when not accompanied with a tour guide.
Additionally, most of them had negative effects on their perception and comprehension of
animals.

Our Final point is the generation of aggression in animals. Since animals are kept captive in
an environment far from their original habitat, they become aggressive due to stress.
According to One Green Planet (2015), although there aren’t any casualties of humans by
wild orcas, more than 100 aggressive behaviors of orcas took place in a zoo.

We have talked about animals’ mental distress, unenlightening experiences for children, and
the generation of aggression in animals. For these reasons, we have clearly shown zoos are
not beneficial. Thank you for listening.