The Truth Behind Zoos
Imagine being taken from your home, placed in a cage alone and scared. Your only purpose would be to entertain all those unfamiliar faces in the crowd, fed when you do tricks, and starved when you disobey. Losing your sanity and not having a voice to express your troubles and fears. Alone with nothing but an empty cage. Well, that is what your average zoo animal feels like on a daily basis and more. I remember going to the zoo when I was little and being so perfectly oblivious to the fact that the animals behind that glass wall were not where they belonged, they look okay but is it really healthy for a cheetah that is the fastest animal in the world to be in an exhibit smaller than my house? Or how about the biggest mammal in the world, the elephant, kept in an exhibit that you can walk around in a minute? I do not believe animals should be caged for the entertainment of others. I am going to explain how animals suffer and how zoos care more about money than they do about animals.
Animals Suffer
It is no surprise that millions of people go to zoos to look at these beautiful animals; who would not want to see African animals only an hour away from their homes? The only other place people can see zoo animals are on the television. But seeing an animal face to face is a whole different experience that nothing can replicate. I personally have even gone to the zoo multiple times, but every time I go I leave the zoo just a little bit more confused and distraught. I notice things that just do not seem right. For example, I went to the Miami Zoo last summer, super excited since I have not been in a zoo for years, and what I saw was troubling. I remember seeing this koala in an exhibit smaller than a public bathroom with three branches and completely alone. Instantly I put myself in the animal's shoes and thought to myself, "What if someone took me from my home and put me in this small cage for strangers to stare at and take pictures of?" I know I personally would not see a point in living. There was a deer in one zoo that repeatedly would run full force into the bar cages until ultimately it killed itself. Most of these animals are so mentally distraught that it does make them suicidal.
(Fig. 1 Polar bear in Kansas City Zoo) (Fig. 2 Polar Bear in natural habitat) No matter how big zoos try to make their exhibits or paint their walls to mimic the wild or how many branches they place around it will never compare to the wild where they are supposed to be. Captive animals. org states that tigers and lions have around 18, 000 times less space in zoos than they would in the wild. Polar bears have one million times less space. In Fig. 1 you can see how small the polar bear's exhibit is compared to the miles and miles of natural habitat in Fig. 2. Even if they let the polar bear out into the entire zoo, it still would not be enough space, there is no exhibit big enough to ever hold these animals. Big or small, the wild can go...
