How Do Animals Captive?

All over the world, people visit zoos and circuses. People pay to see creatures of the wild up close and personal. They provide a great learning and bonding experience to families, couples, and friends. When you picture a zoo or circus, you imagine a sunny day filled with beautiful exotic animals and greasy, delicious food, but what are those animals really feeling and thinking behind their facade of fancy performances? Zoos and circuses are beneficial to humans because they create a money making industry and provide entertainment and education, but in what way do the animals benefit? Animals are taken from their natural environment and held captive for us to use as both a money maker and source of amusement. Is fulfilling our curiosity about
The real purpose
Nickerson 1 of zoos and circuses are to make money, therefore the animals are viewed and treated as commodities (Henn). Places such as zoos and circuses that hold animals captive argue that they are preserving endangered species's. They state that they are protecting them and providing them with breeding opportunities that they may not find in the wild due to their limited populations. However, when you look at the animals displayed at zoos and circuses, you will find that they are often exotic or popular animals as opposed to endangered ones. The purpose of displaying these animals is entertainment, not education. This is why more popular animals are primarily chosen over endangered species. For example, you often see elephants, tigers, monkeys, and zebras as opposed to wildabeest's and water buffalo. Supporters of animal captivity also argue that it is beneficial because we are able to easily breed animals, especially ones that are few in numbers and may have trouble finding a mate. The trouble with this is that once these animals are bred, they are raised in captivity as well, leading to constantly higher numbers of captive animals. These excess animals are known as