Opinion piece

Animal Cruelty in Zoos

So many animals are stuck zoos all over the world when they should be free to roam around in the wild and I know that there are problems in zoos that are not suitable for animals. 

African elephants that live in the wild their whole life live 3 times longer than those that are kept in zoos and Asian elephants working in timber camps live longer than the ones born in a zoo. That is a defining number of how much longer wild African and Asian elephants live than the ones that live in zoos.

We do not have the right to capture, confine and breed wild animals even if they are endangered. Just because they are becoming endangered doesn't make it okay to take their species to try to make them breed in the zoo.

I understand that zoos are important to teach kids and adults about the animals in the world and that is important but animals should not be treated the way they are in zoos. You could easily research the animal or have a center where people can go and learn about animals.

If an animal is very close to extinction I understand breeding them but you need to release them after breeding because they won’t live as long and rarely does the breeding help endangered survive.

Of the 1,370 species involved in a survival plan by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, only 1.4 percent of the species were likely to be reintroduced to the wild after the captive breeding they had in zoos.

Animals are put in zoos to be able to live without harm and are safe within their cage but animals are on the earth to live in the wild and live freely and do what they are on the earth for.

All animals suffer from the habitats they are limited in because of the limitation of space for them to go and they are given anxiety due to that fact.

Their freedom is limited because a zoo is like a prison for animals who long to free in their own habitat as said by the People for the Ethical treatment of Animals.

Their habitats cannot be duplicated as much as zoos try they will never be the same size or environment as their natural habitats.

The cost of a zoo is more expensive that conservation. According to Wildlife New Zealand Zoo Watch Website, the average cost for a Black Rhino in captivity is about $16,000 while the cost of protecting a wild habitat for one rhino would be around $1,000 per year.

People do love the zoo and it is fun to see all the animals and they are card for and fed but it isn’t fun for the animals. They want to get out of there in that enclosed space and be free.

Something to fix this is decrease the number of zoos in the world and let the animals be free in the wild.  Instead of funding money to make zoos, people could be funding money to preserve habitats that are becoming less efficient.

This would let the animals be free in the world and even though there are predators that kill, that is a part of life and how it works in wildlife. We should not remove them from their habitat and let them live the life and have the freedom they are meant to have.