The Negative Effects Of Captivity On Elephants

Zoos have been around since the beginnings of civilizations. Animals were kept in tight empty cages as a symbol of wealth and power. French philosopher, Rene Descartes, brought forth the popular idea that animals do not have sentience because they are machines who lack a mind and consciousness. This reasoning enabled cruelty to be imposed on caged animals. As time goes on, people are becoming more educated on the capacity of animals. Which leads to the realization of the underlying sadism in zoos. The number of animal protection groups are progressively increasing in order to advocate the rights of the animals. The more research that is done, the more the negative effects of captivity is apparent. Which is why it is clear that animals should
Sadly, however, the same attributes that make elephants such amazing animals has created a negative effect for them. Due to the fact that humans have taken advantage of the intelligence of these gentle giants. It is common practice to beat and shock elephants while forcing them to do tricks. Putting unnatural stress on the body of the elephants while they are forced to do pointless tasks like handstands or balancing on a stool. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus made a lot of money with their elephant performers. After over a century of these elephant shows, they have finally decided to put an end to them. A decision likely due to the fact they have realized people are becoming aware to the awful conditions the elephants were kept in. These are struggles only captive elephants have to endure. In the wild elephants have no natural predators to worry about, meaning they get to live a long peaceful life. Its important to realize that it is not only elephants receiving foul treatment, as well as that these conditions are not limited to the circus. Marine parks have gotten away with similar treatment with their dolphins. Keeping them in poor conditions and forcing them to perform unnatural
For example, primates have been shown to use tools. Passing down the information of each tool by generation. Cetaceans, such as orcas, are well known for each pod to have their own type of culture. Each pod having a different preference for food, different hunting techniques, and even different dialects in their vocalizations. In the wild, the distinction within all these cultures thrive. In captivity problems arise due to the fact, zoos are not equipped, nor properly educated to deal with these animal cultures. Many times animals will be removed from the wild and thrown into an exhibit with other animals each from their own cultures. This causes an increase of stress on the animals that would not happen in the wild. For instance, orcas have been described to be “xenophobic” because of their extreme dislike for outsiders of their pod . However, in places like Seaworld, it is often seen to mix and match different orcas into the same tank. Which will cause continual acts of aggression between them. It has been shown that animals in captivity may exhibit strange behaviors, for no apparent reason, which do not happen in their natural habitat. For example repetitive pacing has been commonly shown, but not limited to, in big cats. Animals, such as lions and tigers, have been documented to enter a trance like state and continuously pace their enclosure for almost 50 percent of their