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Jessica Duran
5/6/2015
Opinion Piece
Teach
Zoos Arent Really all That Bad
The history of zoos is an interesting one. When zoos started they werent really what we
would call a zoo today. They were just a collection of exotic animals that the wealthy would
obtain and show them off to show how wealthy they were (zoo, n.d.). They later evolved to
where people wanted to actually observe how animals behave but in their own environment, and
therefore enclosures were created (zoo, n.d.). Today zoos try to educate and try to spread the
word about conservation methods. Although people still oppose zoos and claim that they do not
really do anything meaningful and only exist to gain a profit. This paper will try to argue that
zoos today are not really a place to frown upon and will speak to those who are cold heartily
against the use of zoos, such as animal activists.
One reason why some people oppose zoos is because they claim that zoos today do not
allow their animals to live in an environment the way they would live in the wild and will create
unhealthy conditions for them. Nicholas School (1994), a reporter from The Independent
Newspaper located in Britain, wrote about a survey on animal behaviors of some mammals that
were in zoos located around England and Whales. This survey found that some animals such as
bears, big cats, and elephants were exhibiting hypnotic behavior (p. 1). To clarify, this behavior
is when the animal paces and swings their heads back and forth. Schoon continues to state that
zoos arent meeting the necessary expectations for animals they are taking care of. This may
have been true back in 1994, but today we are constantly hearing about and witnessing the

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changes that happen in zoos to help improve their animals health and safety. Now the question is
what is meant by changes?
In contrast, Jeffery Cohn (2006) a science writer mentions, Research projects [are]
developing ways to reduce humanelephant conflicts (p. 1). What Cohn is speaking about is the
conflict of the number of elephants that exist in the wild and how zoos do actually try to help
improve conflicts. Cohn continues to speak about how elephants that are held captive do not have the
necessary space needed for such a big animal. Although he also mentions how zoos are trying to help
their animals such as taking the elephants for a walk (p. 1). If zoos of today are trying to improve
themselves and making efforts for conservation and so on, then why are people still trying to get rid
of zoos? Why do zoos still exist? Zoos are now being seen as necessary for the conservation efforts
of animals. We hear that more and more animals are becoming endangered and it is mostly because
of human activity. Zoos are helpful in that, where do most people like to take their children on a
beautiful day. Many times they choose zoos. People want to go to zoos and even though they might
just want to go to see what types of exotic animals zoos might have, they could still leave the zoo
with important information they might hear from a presentation held at a zoo. Cohen mentions that
zoos are spending money to help with research projects to help animals, but another thing that zoos
are doing is having education programs. We can experience this educational experience at our own
zoo we have here in El Paso. They speak about issues that occur in the wild and ways we can do to
help those issues. There can always be improvement, but if zoos are trying to improve on the wealth
of animals and trying to create awareness of these animals, then they shouldnt close them.
Similarly, Donahue and Erik (2006) associate professors at Saginaw Valley State University
state that zoos wanted to limit the number of animals taken from the wild. (p. 77). What they are
trying to say here is clear. Zoos today want to support the protection of animals and therefore mean
no harm towards the animals. They continue to talk about how zoos are trying to change their designs

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to better suit the animals and are trying to improve the negative views of zoos. Again I ask, if zoos
are trying to improve and help create awareness, why want to close them? What are they trying to do
to improve themselves and how are their conservation efforts helping? I must admit, sometimes zoo
enclosures are at times quite small for animals. But today they are trying to improve that, as Donahue
and Erik mention on their design changes. Also concerning animal behavior, zoos are now
implementing enrichments for animals so that they can try to act as they would in the wild and keep
their mind busy. Again I encourage you to attend our zoo and ask about the types of enrichment we
do for our animals. Also, our own zoo has a veterinary clinic on grounds that are solely there for the
care of the animals. If zoos are finding new ways to care better for their animals, then zoos should
still be given a chance to continue improving without people trying to close them down.
One thing that our zoo tries to inform people about is palm oil. Palm creates an oil that can be
used in anything like our food even our shampoo products. Areas in the forest are stripped to plant
these Palms and this ruins the homes of animals living there as well as the native plant species.
Blahnik (n.d.) wrote online under Stanfords website that, The Congo is faced with poverty,

disease, and the lack of a stable sociopolitical system. (p. 1). He continues on talking about the
issue of deforestation and the economy of the Congo and Amazon where deforestation is a big
concern. He mentions that the Congo, as well as other developing countries, faces issues where
needing to cut down forest to help their economy is necessary. Deforestation affects animals that
live in those forest and therefore animals become endangered. When they become endangered,
people try to find solutions to keep those species alive, hence zoos. Now the problem now is
some animals that are born and live in zoos most of their lives cannot be released back into the
wild. Therefore zoos are also necessary to keep those animals alive and create awareness about
what is happening outside of our home country. Is the solution we need is to get rid of zoos or to
face the problem of issues such as deforestation that affects animals?

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Overall, zoos are very important for awareness and is probably why zoos exist today. We do
have some policies to protect animals becoming endangered, but we still continue to hear of more
and more extant or existing animals that are becoming endangered. Deforestation is one cause that
we constantly hear about, but completely stopping deforestation is not the solution either. The reason
this issue is still happening is because people need to eat and help feed their families. What we need
to do is help those developing countries create better jobs or find different ways to help their
economy because we all depend on the forests and the life in them. To give a brief image, Orangutans
are affected by this issue of deforestation and dont have a place to live in. If they dont have a place
to live then how can they keep on surviving and care for their offspring. Similarly a man who goes to
work every day to cut down trees does so but does not get paid enough to feed his family, and
therefore needs to continue cutting down trees.

References

Blahnik, T. (n.d.). Deforestation And the Lumber Industry. Retrieved from

http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/children/hindustry.html
Cohn, J.P., (September 2006). BioScience. Do Elephants Belong in Zoos?, 56, pp. 714-71
Donahue, J., Trump, E. (2006). Politics of Zoos: Exotic Animals and Their Protectors. DeKalb,
IL: Northern Illinois University Press.
Schoon, N. (1994, March 22). Animals in zoos 'being driven mad by captivity': Survey finds
widespread evidence of hypnotic, repetitive type of behavior caused by confinement. The
Independent.
Zoo. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2015, from
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/zoo/?ar_a=1