Are Zoos Internment Camps for Animals?
Natasha Welch
AP English
Mrs.Meyer
2 February 2014
Are Zoos Internment Camps for Animals?
Majority of people are familiar with the popular animation movie, Madagascar. The plot includes four spoiled zoo animals that escape to the wild and quickly find out that it’s not what they expected. Now this movie has quite the comedic take on a much bigger issue: whether the zoo is an internment camp for animals that should be shut down or not. Zoos are seen as a tourist attraction while the animals are used for the entertainment. Honestly ponder this question: who didn’t want to go to the zoo as a child and see Bobo the famous seal do silly yet entertaining tricks? The concept of the zoo takes away animal’s natural instincts to live in the wild; however, it is understandable if an animal or a certain species that’s close to extinction is taken in by zoo care. Therefore, zoos are an internment camp for those animals that are capable of taking care of their selves in the wild and aren’t for those that are in need of care and close to extinction.
Regardless of how much effort is put into recreating an animal’s specific habitat, it will never be the same. Orcas for example, would have to swim the circumference of SeaWorld’s main pool 1,900 times in ONE day to replicate the 100 miles they swim everyday in the vast oceans (“8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at SeaWorld”). Due to such a small habitat, orcas are forced to live and perform next to other whales either equal if not bigger than them. This results in anxiety and tension between the orcas which causes them to fight. A factor such as fighting can lead to early, unexpected deaths in parks and zoos.
Animals die prematurely in zoos. African elephants in the wild live more than three times as long as those kept in zoos. Even Asian elephants working in timber camps live longer than those born in zoos (“10 Facts about Zoos”). Animals were created to live in the wild so, naturally when born into a zoo their natural
AP English
Mrs.Meyer
2 February 2014
Are Zoos Internment Camps for Animals?
Majority of people are familiar with the popular animation movie, Madagascar. The plot includes four spoiled zoo animals that escape to the wild and quickly find out that it’s not what they expected. Now this movie has quite the comedic take on a much bigger issue: whether the zoo is an internment camp for animals that should be shut down or not. Zoos are seen as a tourist attraction while the animals are used for the entertainment. Honestly ponder this question: who didn’t want to go to the zoo as a child and see Bobo the famous seal do silly yet entertaining tricks? The concept of the zoo takes away animal’s natural instincts to live in the wild; however, it is understandable if an animal or a certain species that’s close to extinction is taken in by zoo care. Therefore, zoos are an internment camp for those animals that are capable of taking care of their selves in the wild and aren’t for those that are in need of care and close to extinction.
Regardless of how much effort is put into recreating an animal’s specific habitat, it will never be the same. Orcas for example, would have to swim the circumference of SeaWorld’s main pool 1,900 times in ONE day to replicate the 100 miles they swim everyday in the vast oceans (“8 Reasons Orcas Don’t Belong at SeaWorld”). Due to such a small habitat, orcas are forced to live and perform next to other whales either equal if not bigger than them. This results in anxiety and tension between the orcas which causes them to fight. A factor such as fighting can lead to early, unexpected deaths in parks and zoos.
Animals die prematurely in zoos. African elephants in the wild live more than three times as long as those kept in zoos. Even Asian elephants working in timber camps live longer than those born in zoos (“10 Facts about Zoos”). Animals were created to live in the wild so, naturally when born into a zoo their natural