Zoos Should Be Abolished Set 11 (330 words)
Text written by Angela Weeks and Photos licenced to SPELD SA
Special words
artificial, people, species, research, bygones,
protection
I strongly oppose the existence of zoos and think that they should be
abolished.
How can anyone, seeing a wild animal holed up, often on its own, in a
cage, doubt that zoos are cruel? These animals have been robbed of
their freedom and imprisoned for life.
It is argued that zoos are educational because they allow the visitor to
see animals they wouldn’t otherwise see.
But what value is there in seeing a locked up animal in an artificial
environment?
It provides the onlooker with no sense of the life the animal would lead
in its native habitat, how it finds or catches food or looks after its
young. This is not educational.
The animal’s day is one of boredom, where everything around it is
artificial: artificial ponds, artificial trees, and food served up by zoo
keepers.
Furthermore, many animals that would normally be part of a group are
kept separated, with males frequently kept away from females, unless
it is the mating season or a partner is shipped in from another zoo.
