Harm To Animals In Captivity

There are many different views and perspectives of whether or not animals should be held in captivity. Some people believe there is more good done than harm to animals that live in zoos and unnatural habitats. Living in zoos not only hurts animals and their habitats, but also causes confusion for anybody who visits.

Animals and their habitats should not be disturbed by humans. For example, humans are destroying the homes and habitats of animals. The arcticle, 'The Impact of Animal Protection', says "Throughout history, human activites have changed or destroyed the habitats that animals need to survive". Some of the activites that have caused the loss of animals and their habitiats are cutting down trees for lumber, construction of roads and buildings, and hunting animals for
their fur and other body parts. Pollution has also been a major factor of destoying the places animals live. In El Reno, Oklahoma a lake was polluted by some type of oil or gas, which caused hundreds of fish to die.
In addition, living in zooos has a terminal affect and eventually ruins the lives of animals. "Living in a zoo or protected environment can restrict all of these innate or inborn behaviors," states the article, 'Do Animals Lose in Zoos?'. There are many zoos that have isolated animals in small areas, away from others of their own kind. To see these animals not allowed to choose their own mates, and be active not only hurts the animal, but also humans who actually care about the lliving creature. When animals are held in unnatural habitats their room to roam is limited, as well as their natural diet. Furthermore, visitors do not get the full effect of the animal. The article, 'Do Animals Lose in Zoos?' states that "Seeing majestic animals in a controlled environment creates a sense of amazement and wonder," but it also says that "When animals are not bahaving as they normally would in the wild, visitors are not observing natural behaviors." When animals seen in zoos are doing things constantly and are not shown the way a television shows them, it is an outcome of the damage a zoo has done to the
creature. Polar bears have been seen swimming in circles, lions and tigers have been known to pace forever, and birds have scratched themselves until all their feathers have fallen off. To be kapt from being abused and gone forever, animals should not be held in unnatural habitats and their life in the wild should be left alone.

On the other hand, some people believe animals should be kept and cared for in zoos. "These programs have helped bring several animals back from near extinction over the last 30 years," the article, The Impact of Animal Protection exclaims. There is the fact that animals in zoos live longer, but it is not the natural way of living. Zoos are a mental and physical illness to animals. "Critics of the modern zoo compare the zoo to a prison," says the article, 'Do Animals Lose in Zoos?'. This goes to show how dangerous and life-threatening zoos are to the animals today.

Zoos mentally and physically hurt animals and their way of living. Stop zoos from harming and harassing animals. Believers in keeping animals in the wild can only hope that animals will stop being terrorized by humans.