Animals In Captivity Research Paper
However, it is quite the opposite, and living in captivity can cause stress and severe emotional damage.
A prime example of the effects captivity has on animals, is the shocking facts regarding elephants. Quite surprisingly, it has been proven that elephants in zoos fare much more poorly than those that live in the wild. It is the common belief that life in zoos is much safer due to the fact that food is provided and there are no predators, whereas animals in the wild have to fend for themselves. However for elephants this couldn’t be further from the truth (Sohn 1). Studies have shown that elephants that are living in captivity have a life expectancy that is much less than those living in the wild. It is believed that this is possibly due …show more content…
In reality, viewing animals in captivity has little to no educational value for bystanders. Many zoos and aquariums will often alter the condition of their animals to make it easier to handle them. For example, they may clip a bird’s wings to prevent flight, place aquatic animals in poor water, or place normally social animals in complete isolation. On top of this, severe anxiety causes animals to demonstrate unnatural behaviors. Since they no longer act in a way that is true to their natural species, bystander’s can’t learn about the actual animal. Based on the fact that most zoo goers barely do more than glimpse at an exhibit the public can’t gain any new knowledge or appreciation for the animals. Sometimes a plaque is left giving information about the animal, but it only gives basic information such as diet and species. It has been proven through research and observation that the public doesn’t want to learn about the animals and simply uses them for their own entertainment rather than education. This is crucial because it shows that although zoos claim their main purpose is education, this is far from the truth. In reality, zoos provide little information for the public, and the public simply wants to use zoos and aquariums for leisure. A study was conducted where a curator from the National Zoo followed more than 700 zoo visitors over the course of five summers. He stated that, “it didn’t matter what was on display… people were treating the exhibits like wallpaper.” (Zoos
A prime example of the effects captivity has on animals, is the shocking facts regarding elephants. Quite surprisingly, it has been proven that elephants in zoos fare much more poorly than those that live in the wild. It is the common belief that life in zoos is much safer due to the fact that food is provided and there are no predators, whereas animals in the wild have to fend for themselves. However for elephants this couldn’t be further from the truth (Sohn 1). Studies have shown that elephants that are living in captivity have a life expectancy that is much less than those living in the wild. It is believed that this is possibly due …show more content…
In reality, viewing animals in captivity has little to no educational value for bystanders. Many zoos and aquariums will often alter the condition of their animals to make it easier to handle them. For example, they may clip a bird’s wings to prevent flight, place aquatic animals in poor water, or place normally social animals in complete isolation. On top of this, severe anxiety causes animals to demonstrate unnatural behaviors. Since they no longer act in a way that is true to their natural species, bystander’s can’t learn about the actual animal. Based on the fact that most zoo goers barely do more than glimpse at an exhibit the public can’t gain any new knowledge or appreciation for the animals. Sometimes a plaque is left giving information about the animal, but it only gives basic information such as diet and species. It has been proven through research and observation that the public doesn’t want to learn about the animals and simply uses them for their own entertainment rather than education. This is crucial because it shows that although zoos claim their main purpose is education, this is far from the truth. In reality, zoos provide little information for the public, and the public simply wants to use zoos and aquariums for leisure. A study was conducted where a curator from the National Zoo followed more than 700 zoo visitors over the course of five summers. He stated that, “it didn’t matter what was on display… people were treating the exhibits like wallpaper.” (Zoos