Are Zoos Unethical?

[ChristineES]

There is a question that's been going through my mind. I like going to the zoo, looking at all the animals but sometimes I wonder if it is right to have them. Most of the animals have been born and bred there but a lot of the time, animals were captured from their natural habitat for the sole purpose of having people gawking at them.

Are zoos unethical?

 

[Awoon]

Zoos are fun. Humans run the world and we like having fun.

 

[bobhikes]

Animals in protected captivity will mostly liver longer and easier. The only negative could be that they wish to be free or are bored. Maybe they find us as interesting as we find them maybe they don't but its something we will never know.

My vote is no, because we do not know what they think. To be unethical we have to know that it is bad for them and do it anyway.

 

[Jainarayan]

I think, but I'm not sure, the days of capturing wild animals are long gone. Exhibits are only a small part of what zoos actually do. They have breeding and genetics programs to strengthen the gene pools of endangered animals... cheetahs for example, are experiencing a serious genetic bottleneck that is threatening the species. Zoos also participate in exchange programs with each other for the purpose of genetic diversity and species preservations.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Depends on how the zoo is run.

 

[Skwim]

Bad Zoo

Khan Younis Zoo Gaza Strip ​

Good Zoo

wildlife park in New Zealand
​

 

[Wherenextcolumbus]

It depends on the zoo. I would say conservation parks are much better because their aim is to preserve endangered species and release them back into a protected natural habitat.

 

[Comet]

There is a question that's been going through my mind. I like going to the zoo, looking at all the animals but sometimes I wonder if it is right to have them. Most of the animals have been born and bred there but a lot of the time, animals were captured from their natural habitat for the sole purpose of having people gawking at them.

Are zoos unethical?

It is a two-fold problem. (as we live in a dualistic world)

1. Is it ethical to capture animals to view them? Yes and no. Is it good to have a small group to view and educate people about them? YES. Is it good to remove animals from their environment just for our kicks? No... and perhaps yes due to the educational factor above.
2. Is it better to kill off a species or to capture them to undo our wrong doing? The educational factor to save other species is priceless.... Hubris is what condemns us. A two-fold problem. What of the dodo? Had we saved a few in zoos, perhaps they'd still be here. Wolves, buffalo, rhinos, elephants, tigers? We still have them in zoos and have helped to protect them from our HUBRIS in native environments.

I think zoos should be viewed as an educational opportunity to help save and preserve a species. I love zoos and I don't think I'd be offended if an "alien" species took me away to one to save and preserve our species should we destroy ourselves here.... Just a thought.

 

[Idris]

Yes some good zoos are not so bad but (search for lets protect animals .co .uk) china and some other Asian countries have some awful places and I have been to some of them. The worst thing in some of them is not that they feed live stock which is kind of natural but they treat it like a show. The animals get lazy and fat and take ages to kill the poor animal.

And there are actually studies into depression and anxiety in zoos and definitely many animals are not happy. So the more intelligent animals either need lots of stimulation and large spaces or it becomes unethical. Its only really insects that I would say have pretty much no problems in captivity if done right.

 

[Boyd]

There is a question that's been going through my mind. I like going to the zoo, looking at all the animals but sometimes I wonder if it is right to have them. Most of the animals have been born and bred there but a lot of the time, animals were captured from their natural habitat for the sole purpose of having people gawking at them.

Are zoos unethical?

I recently watched a documentary on CNN called "Blackfish." It did not deal with the subject of zoos, but instead with SeaWorld, and in particular, with their treatment of orcas. It was a sad display, and does give a good reason as to why the capturing and displaying of wild animals can be horrible.

At the same time, the breeding programs, as well as other preservation programs does do a great deal of good. This can easily be overturned though if the manner in which the zoo houses the animals is not decent. So it is a very touchy subject.

As a side note, my grandfather once told me about a human zoo he had gone to when he was younger. Clearly, those zoos were unethical.

 

[satyaroop]

you must watch the movie "instinct", I liked it a lot
Instinct (1999) - IMDb

I believe animals are very very sad in zoos, it's a tragedy

 

[satyaroop]

for a tiger to never experience the thrill and senstation of being a hunter, to stalk it's prey, and finally feel the satisfaction after it's hard work has paid off
you cannot recreate the same experiences for an animal in captivity

it's basically robbing them of life experiences
not letting them "shine", not leting them be the most that they can be

ah the stupidity of human beings

 

[Koldo]

for a tiger to never experience the thrill and senstation of being a hunter, to stalk it's prey, and finally feel the satisfaction after it's hard work has paid off
you cannot recreate the same experiences for an animal in captivity

it's basically robbing them of life experiences
not letting them "shine", not leting them be the most that they can be

ah the stupidity of human beings

This is possibly the silliest reason I have ever heard to be against zoos.
There are plenty of good reasons and you chose ... this.

 

[Quagmire]

for a tiger to never experience the thrill and senstation of being a hunter, to stalk it's prey, and finally feel the satisfaction after it's hard work has paid off
you cannot recreate the same experiences for an animal in captivity

it's basically robbing them of life experiences
not letting them "shine", not leting them be the most that they can be

ah the stupidity of human beings

There's actually a lot of truth in this. The suppression or denial of instinctive behaviors does in fact cause psychological and even physiological problems in captive animals.

 

[illykitty]

I've only ever been to a Safari Park. I thought the animals seemed to be well treated, the environment as natural as possible and not stuck in small cages. I think it needs to be bigger though and I don't know if they keep the animals entertained.

I suppose that the best is to have regulations for zoos to be as natural as possible. I wish animals could live in the wild but unfortunately humans are destructive idiots, so good zoos, sanctuaries and reserves are a better alternative.

Also, I hope the US stops allowing wild animals as "pets". The number of idiots that have "pet" tigers annoys me so much... You have no idea!

 

[ChristineES]

I like zoos better now. When I was a child, I used to be heartbroken by the big cats pacing back and forth in a small cage. Nowadays, they try to give them at least some room to move around a bit more. I remember, as a teen, visiting the gorilla house and one silver back just sat there, looking so forlorn (at least to me).

 

[StarryNightshade]

If the animals are well fed, well treated, have enough room to roam and their environment is made to (relatively) look like their natural environment, then I don't really see anything inherently wrong with zoos.

However, I've see enough debates between "pro" and "anti" zoo (and circus) people that I'm overall neutral to the issue. Although I find it slightly humorous that some people will go nuts over zoos, claiming that they trap the animals and that it's cruel to keep them from their natural habitat, but have nothing to say on aquariums.

 

[Badran]

Like others indicated, i think naturally how the zoo is run and why makes a big difference. It could range from being extremely unethical to something that is actually a positive contribution to the environment.

 

[Comet]

for a tiger to never experience the thrill and senstation of being a hunter, to stalk it's prey, and finally feel the satisfaction after it's hard work has paid off
you cannot recreate the same experiences for an animal in captivity

it's basically robbing them of life experiences
not letting them "shine", not leting them be the most that they can be

ah the stupidity of human beings

May I ask you about your feelings on owning a pet then?

 

[Penumbra]

When I was a kid, I loved going to the zoo. I loved the reptile exhibit the best, but also the lions, parrots, gorillas, elephants, and basically everything. They were some of my best memories.

But as I got older, I began viewing most of the stuff I once liked as ethically problematic, including zoos. There are some zoos that seem to give the animals enough space to move, but they still can't fully simulate their natural environment with hunting and such. But they're probably more physically comfortable with longer lives, no threat of starvation, access to veterinary care, etc. Like a human in a cubical farm, basically- comfortable but not exactly right.

Humans don't build zoos for the animals; they build them for humans. That alone almost says enough. When humans want to do things purely for animals, they build conservation parks, where they basically just fence off, protect, and monitor a natural piece of the land. Lions hunt antelopes, the cruel cycle of predator and prey continues, and they're all happy, except for the prey.