Are Zoos Inhumane Research Paper

Are Zoos Inhumane? “For most of the wild things on Earth, the future must depend on the conscience of mankind” (Dr. Archie Carr). Some people have never considered the effects of keeping animals locked up in small cages their entire lives. Proven with expert opinions, research, and physical evidence, it has been proven that zoos are damaging to the animal's physical and mental state. Keeping animals locked up in zoos is inhumane and should be prevented. One of the most common arguments about keeping animals in zoos is the educational value provided to people by seeing these animals in person. This selfish reasoning permits people to capture and import animals from their natural habitat to zoos where they are routinely being traded, loaned, …show more content…
Many animals who naturally live in large herds or family groups are kept alone or, at most, in pairs. Natural hunting and mating behaviors are virtually eliminated by regulated feeding and breeding regimens. Animals are closely confined, lack privacy, and have little opportunity for mental stimulation or physical exercise. Adam Roberts, senior vice president of the animal protection advocacy group Born Free USA states, “ ...the animals are put in unnatural settings. They're taken out of their biological comfort zone and the way they actually live in the wild and forced into these artificial enclosures on concrete, behind bars." Disorders like phobias, depression and OCD, documented at zoos, don’t appear to have analogues among animals living in the wild. Hargrove, previous senior trainer at Seaworld, states “It would make my life so much easier if I could say that those animals are thriving in captivity, living happy and enriched lives. Unfortunately, after all the years of experience that I had, I saw the psychological and physical trauma that results from captivity.” Witnessing animals personalities decay from being locked up in cages and showing symptoms of stress and psychological dysfunction in