Opinion

Curse of captivity: why zoos should be banned

Animal abuse is rampant on the streets where stray dogs are routinely abused, poisoned and killed

Allia Bukhari October 07, 2020

A life of confinement and profound despondency has become the ultimate reality of zoo animals depriving them of their natural habitats, needs, and freedom. From psychological disorders to poor health and reduced life spans, zoo animals are left at the mercy of incompetent managements, unsuitable living conditions and extreme and unfavourable climates. The imprisonment and isolation animals face only to be exhibited for humans have serious implications. Researchers and activists contend that animals in captivity exhibit unnatural neurotic and stereotypic behaviours, from aggression to stalled maturation, and affirm that zoos are poor imitations of the Earth’s diverse ecosystems, and insufficient substitute for a home, hence stressing the need to release animals into the wild.

Various incidents of animal abuse go unnoticed while those that make it to Twitter create momentary uproar without addressing the long-term underlying problems causing this savagery — the zoos itself.

The recently surfaced video of a brown bear at Karachi Zoo in a miserable state, languishing in heat, stirred a debate on why zoos even exist when they can’t look after animals. The video received much attention on social media with netizens taking the management to task for the mammal’s poor state. The bear was stuck in an enclosure and was visibly disturbed, much in need of a freezing cold environment — far from what Karachi has to offer. This is yet another account of animal suffering in a series of similar incidents.

The case of Kaavan is a horrific reminder of what animals go through in zoos with their freedom snatched and loneliness jeopardising their emotional well-being. Although now given a green light by the Islamabad High Court to be sent to a sanctuary in Cambodia for a better life, Kaavan had been chained in the past by zookeepers and was subjected to neglect and abuse for years, making him “the loneliest elephant in the world”.

The misery doesn’t end there. It seems as though society too needs to be educated. Animal abuse is rampant and a persistent problem on the streets where stray dogs are routinely abused, poisoned and killed. A great chunk of the population considers dogs impure and untouchables, forcefully relocating them from their neighbourhoods and resorting to beating and killing, being complicit in this apathy. A similar conduct is noticeable in zoos where visitors become a source of discomfort to animals and treat them as mere objects of gaze or entertainment without always acknowledging that animals too are worthy of respect and a dignified life.

The role of zoos is becoming a major topic of discussion worldwide with animal rights supporters questioning whether threatened and endangered wildlife is even preserved there or is it just the exotic wild animals kept to attract crowds. The lack of spaces, and a capitalist nature of zoos that treats animals as mere commodities to draw crowds is contradictory to the cause of ensuring their well-being. Furthermore, with technology gaining precedence in almost every field, there are various other ways of creating awareness and gaining knowledge about nature and wildlife than caging and imprisoning animals. The concept of zoos is outdated and doesn’t serve the purpose of conservation.

Supposedly built to “educate” people about animal welfare, zoos hardly enlighten, rather are a source of cheap entertainment at the cost of animals’ miseries and that itself is enough a reason to show they are not a solution, but part of the problem. Caging wildlife and exotic animals for mankind by depriving them of their natural social structures is detrimental in the long run. Nonetheless, the collective mindset that considers animals as inferior beings born to serve mankind is what prompts cruelty in the first place and this thinking needs to be shunned and discouraged — if you truly care about animals.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2020.

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COMMENTS (3)

jonny anders barron im 10 btw | 9 months ago | Reply Zoos should be banned By Jonny I believe zoos should be banned. It has been proven that zoo keeping animals in a cage is damaging animals physically and mentally as illustrated in echociton should zoos be banning pros and cons. Animals in captivity are deprived of many things that are important to them and as a result they become lonely and bored. Many of them suffer from a psychological condition characterized by repetitive and obsessive behaviors including vomiting excessive grooming and self-mutilation. Animal behaviorists see zoo animals suffering from problems not seen in the wild such as clinical depression in clouded leopards and gibbons obsessive-compulsive disorder in brown bears and anxiety in giraffes. The animals experience these issues due to smaller enclosures changes in diet and activities and the introduction of things not seen in the wild such as medical exams and people with cameras. Even keeping animals such as alpacas and llamas in a restricted or caged environment can cause huge distress to them. In fact alpacas and llamas tend to spit more in zoos as they are irritated more frequently there compared to when they are left alone in nature. Also zoos should be ban because Zoos entertain humans at the expense of animals Environmental activists insist that zoos should be banned despite their noble intentions. They argue that zoos are inherently immoral and primarily serve to entertain humans at the expense of animals. In fact zoos exploit animals for the sake of profit generation. Furthermore zoos do not educate the public enough to justify keeping animals captive. In fact even a study widely cited to justify the argument that zoos educate the public stated that there was no overall change in understanding of ecological concepts seen because visitors know a lot about ecology before going to the zoo. On top of that there have been cases where zoos killed baby animals for the sake of controlling the animal population of the zoo. For example in 2014 the Copenhagen Zoo killed a young giraffe and four lions on the grounds of genetic purity and breeding. We should ask ourselves whether the entertainment provided by zoos especially by animal shows and similar activities does really justifies the price that the animals pay for. My last reason for why I think zoos should be banned is because Lack of regulation control in many zoos Another issue with zoos is that there is only insufficient regulation of zoos in many countries. In fact many zoos are free to treat their animals however they want. In some countries animals are even considered as property instead of living organisms that need proper regulatory protection Especially in countries with lax regulations related to zoos animals will be treated poorly and in those countries governments should introduce stricter regulations to protect these animals. Even if there is some form of regulation in place most countries ability to control zoos for animal welfare is extremely limited meaning that zoos can treat animals however they want. Putting aside these opposing views it does remain a sad reality that the welfare of zoo animals varies widely depending on where you are. While many zoos have been working hard to improve their animal enclosures to better fit the needs of captive animals constraints such as limited space and funds can seriously hinder this process. Smaller poorer zoos simply do not have the luxury of hiring well-trained zoological staff or expanding their breeding programs and facilities to maintain the ethos of conservation. A ban of these smaller less well-funded zoos could be seen as a reasonable strategy for reducing harm to wildlife. Discussion questions 1. Should zoos exist If you believe they should consider whether they should remain the same or change. If you believe they should not consider how else to accomplish zoos conservation efforts. 2. Extend the debate to other human-made animal habitats such as safari parks and animal sanctuaries. 3. What other conservation efforts are important to saving wildlife 4.

Ghjk | 1 year ago | Reply at least there s food

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