As a little child, one of the memorable thing was to visit a zoo and staring the animals curiously, was one of the most fascinating thing to do... But! As we grew older and became mature, we started analysing things practically and felt emotions of animals. First of all, how should we define a zoo with its clear and actual meaning? A zoo is a facility in which animals are housed within enclosures, kept in captivity, cared for and displayed to the public.
Let us discuss first about what are negative aspects of zoos?
• Animals are made to live in captivity in a fixed space with restrictions so they have limited space to live. And this is the thing 'animal lovers' argue about, that who has given the right to control the lives of these innocent creatures. It is the most tragic thing when thought about deeply.
• Zoos alter the natural behaviour of animals maybe in the way of taking away their natural habitat, setting boundaries for them, excluding them from being in their natural food chain. Animals suffer permanent frustration because they have no freedom of choice and cannot behave as they would do in their natural environment. This leads to a tendency towards their genetic, physical and behavioural degeneration.
• While visiting zoos, we all have at least once noticed the highly repetitive, invariant, functionless behaviour like hair pulling, tongue flicking, bobbing ,swaying head-bobbing, bar-biting, over-grooming or excessive licking. This is 'Zoochosis' , which is a form of psychosis that develops in animals held captive in zoos, it is mental anguish made visible by abnormal behavior, and it’s a common indicator of poor welfare, under-stimulation and stress.
• In zoos, animals are bred but the reality is that only those animals are bred which are easy to breed in captivity and these captive-bred population are by definition only suited to live in captivity! So, even if we think to free them in the wild after some period of time, there are very less chance of their survival and they are trapped to live in restricted space and boundaries forever.
• Zoos only maintains the animal populations that are visually interesting for the public. There are still a lot of species of animals which can kept in the zoos and cared for in a well manner but this point is just neglected as the public visiting the zoo will not be curious to know about them.
Are any good things about the existence of zoos? Is it good that zoos should exist?
Zoos serve an important purpose also beyond the frivolous entertainment and are vital for the future of the animal kingdom! And maybe this will make you rethink the cursed viewpoint of zoos we discussed above.
• Zoos are considered as a way of conservation of animals.... Let me explain how it is thought in such a way that a species of animal protected in captivity provides a reservoir population against a population crash or extinction in the wild.
Zoos primarily deal with three aspects of conservation – practice, advocacy and research. 'Conservation practice' entails captive breeding, species reintroduction programs, Species survival plans and the use of zoo revenue for conservation programs in the wild. 'Conservation advocacy' includes public engagement, promoting awareness, advocating stewardship, and fundraising events and schemes. 'Conservation research' is conducted on wildlife biology, population dynamics, animal behaviour, health and welfare and there are also publications generated by zoos on animal care and captivity.
• Zoos are also a brilliant space for demonstration of scientific research on animals, their activities and getting knowledge about them in an ultimately close way. The Zoo’s research scientists are always collecting data to better understand the animals, monitor the effects of changes to their routines, and make recommendations for improving their care.
• Many zoos around the world maintain frozen banks to store/ preserve genetic material that is sperm and eggs that can be used in the future to produce offsprings.
So, this ensures a secured future generation if something mishappens in their natural habitat of the wild.
• Accredited zoos frequently partner with other organizations, including government agencies, to protect endangered species and their environments. Zoos are an essential part of the recovery program for many endangered species listed under the Endangered Species Act. So in this way, Zoos care for animals whose habitats are in danger and who do not stand a chance without us, zoos keep them until they can be reintegrated back in the wild and when their habitats are stabilized.
However, the dominating reason of existence of zoos in today's world is to put animals on display because people like watching them. This is a thing we need to improve. Zoos need to create their mission to provide care and conserve these innocent creatures.Then, instead of zoos we should aim to have sanctuaries for animals. We need to close down all the urban zoos, that have inadequate space and insufficient facilities to provide the required conditions of freedom to the animals.
We need to focus on opening wildlife sanctuaries in their native environment providing them the same space as in the wild ,unbeatable facilities and do not permit people to come gawk at them, yell at them, mock them and take pictures for their entertainment purpose. The ways of these sanctuaries should only be opened for research and educational purposes with strict rules and regulations. This is the change we should should desire for!
