By JULIET PEREZ
Staff Writer
For years now animals have been used for human entertainment. To some extent, this is not a bad thing, when the animals are not being harmed or being taken away from their natural habitat. However, at a certain point, this “entertainment” is no longer safe and rather known as exploitation. Exploitation can be defined as “using someone or something unfairly in order to benefit from their work”. This is common at places such as the zoo, aquariums, and circuses. A way to help is to stop going to these parks as a whole, although that may take time. People might argue that amusement parks are ways for children to get educated about animals, but that bluntly is not true, a study conducted by Conservation Biology estimated that less than 12 percent of students had a positive take-away from zoo trips. If someone wanted to get educated about wild animals there are way better ways to do so such as rescue shelters and sanctuaries where the animals are treated better and people get a better understanding of them.
Several different diseases, both physical and mental, threaten the life of any captive animal. Depression, Anxiety, infections, bone fractures, prevention of flight, and starvation are among the dangers that captive animals face. In zoos, animals are limited to so much. They live in inadequate habitats and natural resources are taken away from them, resources that they could have access to in the wild. Animals such as lions, elephants, tigers, and giraffes are known as “charismatic megafauna”, these animals attract the most visitors and so zoos tend to showcase them the most. However, these animals need to live in the right conditions in order to function properly, not to mention these animals are essential to the food chain. According to National Geographic, Zoochosis is a neurological disorder that is characterized by symptoms of anxiety and depression in zoo animals, nearly 80% of captive-held animals experience this. Oftentimes zoo animals are given antidepressants, tranquilizers, and antipsychotic medications to try and alleviate the behavioral issues seen in the animals. The animals are frustrated and upset all the time. Behavior in captive animals can include repetitive functionless behavior, such as repetitive pacing, swaying, head-bobbing, bar-biting, over-grooming, or excessive licking. It is not just these animals’ living conditions that are concerning but also how they are stolen from the wild. It is so common for babies to be taken away from the wild and then have to watch their mothers get shot in front of them, not to mention that a lot of the babies die on the way to the market. Zoos also take part in breeding animals, this is extremely harmful to the animals because it often results in surplus animals that are not needed. These animals are sold to collectors and hunters who kill drugged animals and stuff them like trophies. Humans are pushing so many species to extinction and are responsible for more than 60% of the animal population, the planet is going into its 6th mass extinction which is harmful to humans as well.
The zoo is no place for wild animals and we know that.