ARGUMENTS FOR

By bringing people and animals together, zoos educate the public and foster an appreciation of the animals. This exposure and education motivates people to protect the animals.

Zoos save endangered species by bringing them into a safe environment, where they are protected from poachers, habitat loss, starvation and predators.  I am sure most of you have heard about the Tasmanian Devils? If you have not, they are the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world, and the only place they are found in the wild is Tasmania, in Australia. They have been listed as an endangered species since 2008. Anyway, many zoos in Australia are helping breed and protect the Tasmanian Devils, they achieve this by containing several Tasmanian devils and breeding them so if they become extinct in the wild, they will be able to restore the population. This is a great example of the good of keeping animals in captivity.

A good zoo provides an enriched habitat in which the animals are never bored, are well cared-for, and have plenty of space.

Seeing an animal in person is a much more personal and more memorable experience than seeing that animal in a nature documentary.

You can't just chuck these animals away and expect them to survive by their selves. If animals were in the wild they would have to take risks to have food and a tiger might attack but in zoos nothing like that would happen. Animals have their own special needs in every kind most people think they live cages but that is not true. 

ARGUMENTS AGAINST

Wild animals belong in the wild. Most wild animals require specific habitats and diets, and even the best zoos will find it near impossible to replicate the conditions of the wild. For example, elephants roam in large groups, often forming strong familial bonds, and prefer vast and complex environments, covering as much as 80km a day. Unfortunately, elephants kept in captivity are separated from their herds, and there are inevitably problems in providing elephants with enough space.

Animals in captivity suffer from stress. This stress is believed to be caused by the presence of the public, lack of freedom, and inadequate living conditions.  Once animals are taken from the wild and are brought in to zoos, they never go back. Animals must stay there forever, until they die. They don't get to play with their mates and family. They never get the love and company of their fellow species. Just put yourself into an animal's perspective. Imagine you are an animal and were taken from your family. You never get to see them again, and you are forced to entertain humans to their amusement. You suffer from confinement, boredom, and

stress. It is bad for animals to be kept in zoos, and it is wrong of people not to get the point that captivity is harmful.

Another problem is privacy, because the animals are living in habitats that are often extremely smaller than they are used to, the animal cannot enjoy much needed privacy. This can cause depression and obsessive behavior in the animals.

Baby animals bring in visitors and money, but this incentive to breed new baby animals leads to overpopulation. Some zoos just kill their surplus animal, for example when the Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark killed Marius the giraffe on February 9, 2014, the public outrage was instantaneous and worldwide. Marius was dissected in front of a public audience, including children, and then fed to the zoo's lions. The furor had barely cooled down when, on March 24, 2014, the same zoo killed four healthy lions, including some who had feasted on Marius' remains. Unfortunately, animals born at zoos do not always get to live their lives out fully.

As reflection: zoos teach us a false sense of our place in the natural order. The means of confinement mark a difference between humans and animals. They are there at our pleasure, to be used for our purposes.