Are zoos prisons for animals?

Animals in zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries, traveling displays, and roadside menageries spend their lives behind bars for human entertainment. The living conditions at these facilities are often dismal, and animals are confined to tiny, filthy, barren enclosures.



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The unwanted adult animals are sometimes sold to “game” farms where hunters pay to kill them; some are killed for their meat and/or hides. Other “surplus” animals may be sold to smaller, more poorly run zoos or, worse, to laboratories for experiments.

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Anything remaining will be cremated, including even the tiniest of animals. “Everything from guppies to elephants is incinerated,” says Neiffer. While burials were once commonplace at zoos, very few bury their animals anymore.

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Zoos and aquariums also often rehabilitate injured animals, and then release them into the wild.

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Today, zoos are meant to entertain and educate the public but have a strong emphasis on scientific research and species conservation. There is a trend toward giving animals more space and recreating natural habitats. Zoos are usually regulated and inspected by the government.

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Zoos follow a fundamental principle: You can't sell or buy the animals. It's unethical and illegal to put a price tag on an elephant's head. But money is really useful — it lets you know who wants something and how much they want it. It lets you get rid of things you don't need and acquire things that you do need.

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Captive animals seldom learn crucial survival skills and often are too habituated to human contact. Lacking a natural fear of humans, they are vulnerable to poachers and ill equipped for life in the wild.

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Many zoos have improved enormously; the better ones being crucial in saving species that would have otherwise gone extinct. Nonetheless, for some people the mere word zoo carries impressions of old zoos, bad zoos, circuses, and theme-park shows that many find distasteful. Good zoos know they must innovate forward.

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Experts agree that zoos will continue to exist for many years to come and even though they may change in design and structure, their mission will remain the same. Says Don Moore, a senior scientist with the AZA: “If we're going to have animals in zoos, we have to do the best we can do for those animals.

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What do zoos do when a large animal dies? They perform a necropsy – which can take all day for an animal as large as an elephant. They offer grief counseling for the staff. The remains are removed from the compound and cremated.

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Zoos don not buy or sell animals, they trade them with other zoos or wildlife organisations. They are no fixed price for acquiring animals, but there may be transportation and legal costs involved.

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Protection Against Extinction Even currently, many species are going extinct across the globe, and many more are facing the threat of extinction. Modern zoos and aquariums help combat these problems. Breeding programs help preserve genetic biodiversity and help reintroduce critically endangered species into the wild.

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