Zoos are some of the most enjoyable ways to spend your afternoon. It's a way to entertain a family and give them a delicious and unforgettable evening. Zoos are wonderful places to see interesting and special animals. The word zoo is short for zoological park. So zoos count as your traditional zoos and sanctuaries as well as aquariums. There are approximately more than 10,000 zoos and aquariums worldwide, including 2,400 in the United States. However, few people believe that zoos are not an ideal place for animals to stay. They believe that animals belong in their natural habitat and that captivity decreases the longevity of animals. Zoos are unethical for animals because most animals undergo behavioral changes, zoos do not have adequate space for animals, and most animals in zoos are kept in captivity for profit. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayMost debates about why zoos are unethical come down to the fact that a large group of the population thinks that zoos go against animal rights. . Of course, animals do not have the same natural rights as humans; however, we should think about what is best for them. PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has put on its website "whether they are 'cute,' useful to humans, or an endangered species..." PETA, along with other members of society, believe that animals deserve fair rights. like people. This is because animals are as alive as we are. If animals were treated as if they were humans, it would be understandable why zoos could be likened to the American prison system. For most, this is like comparing apples to oranges; they're two different things that aren't very similar, but when you look at them on a deeper level and not just at face value, the pieces line up. Usually, when inmates are locked up, they are analyzed from a sociological or psychological perspective while the animals attempt to be understood through ethology, the study of animal behavior, and countless studies in zoology. Comparing captive animals to humans is an insult, especially when comparing the nature of animals and their behavior to humans. Before talking about the similarities between zoos and prisons, we should break down the American prison system, where no one wants to go, a place for people excluded from society. Going to jail or prison is a form of punishment that removes an offender from society and locks them in a cell where they are not allowed to reoffend. This gives them the opportunity to remember and reflect on their actions and change their behavior. However, a prison cannot rehabilitate a person because their behavior must be changed on their own. Make prisons more of a place of confinement and punishment rather than a place of rehabilitation. With these elements out of the way, humans can be compared to animals that share close similarities to humans, such as birds, mammals, and other vertebrate animals. Just like humans, these animals belong to the same phylum, chordates, and they all have similar behaviors and senses to their human counterparts. This will make it easier to compare the lifestyles of captives and incarcerated people. All living organisms are adaptive and adapt to the environment in which they live. Psychology shows that when it ismoved to new areas, the body takes time to adapt, which can cause several diseases, Dr. Moran talks about this in his book: “Human Adaptability”. Dr. Moran states that it is common to experience the following conditions: “Researchers have noted that insomnia, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, and irritability are common (“zoochotic behavior”). A similar phenomenon occurs in animals, called “zoochosis,” which is defined as a repetitive, invariant pattern of behavior without an end goal. Which is due to the separation of their habitats, forced idleness, drugs and medical control of fertility. Captivity causes immense psychological damage and a zoochotic animal should not be made fun of, just as a mentally ill human should not be made fun of. Apart from affecting the animals mentally, the zoo also affects the animals physically by not having enough space. No zoo or aquarium can replicate a perfect living environment for animals in captivity. Zoos claim to provide a safe habitat for these animals, but if the shoe were on the other foot, they would see how unfair they are to the animals. If they were placed in a birdcage, would they be as comfortable as they are at home? The average amount of land an ape usually occupies is typically 247 acres, and that type of land is simply not accessible to a zoo. Prison cells, like zoos, don't offer much freedom. The average prison cell size is 12 feet by eight feet and contains two inmates who usually have to share a toilet in one corner of the room. Prisons and zoos lack privacy, but unlike prisons, zoo animals are widely exposed. Due to lack of space, most animals experience frequent muscle contractions and their muscles become rigid, a symptom of zoochosis, because they cannot move as freely in captivity. Did you know that in some places, excess animals are euthanized? The practice of “managerial euthanasia,” in which zoos kill otherwise healthy surplus animals (Browning 486). Management euthanasia is generally performed when it is believed to be in the best interest of surplus animals that must be put down for breeding. Some zoos and aquariums argue that this is necessary for the species to thrive in captivity and not be overpopulated. Management euthanasia became a major ethical debate after 18-month-old Marius the giraffe was killed because "his genes were already sufficiently represented in Europe's zoo giraffe population." There was a huge ethical debate about this because he was euthanized since his “genes” were represented in European zoos; however, his brother was in a zoo in England and this made Marius a "surplus animal". But despite the public outcry, Marius was euthanized, dissected in front of an audience, and his remains were fed to the lions at the zoo (“The Zoo That Killed”). People were furious and several zoo spokespeople spoke of international animal slaughter, but Terry Maple and David Bocian refuted that idea in the journal "Zoo Biology." They stated that promoting animal welfare improves the lives of animals in captivity from good to excellent (Maple and Bocian 365), and that zoos euthanizing animals is the way to achieve this. This reduces the risk of overpopulation and inbreeding which would lead to mutation in the animals' gene pool. Maple and Bocian's controversial paper offends a lot of people, but most people agree with them and think zoos are doing the right thing.better for the animals. Although zoos are unethical for animals because they disrupt an animal's natural behavior and do not provide a sufficient amount of housing space, they are particularly unethical because the majority of animals in captivity are not even in danger. For example, owls, alligators, and black bears are animals commonly found in most zoos in the United States and other countries and are no longer even on the endangered species list. disappearance (Arlington). The two common species of owls in zoos, the Eurasian Eagle Owl and the Milky Eagle Owl, are both solitary nocturnal hunters that are not even on the endangered species list since they have stable populations across the United States. Yet they are still in captivity and on public display year-round. Another animal exhibited all year round in zoos is the famous American alligator, which has not been on the list of endangered animals since 1987; These animals have been safe for 32 years. However, it is common to see them in captivity and traded as endangered. The Louisiana black bear, the animal associated with teddy bears, was removed from the endangered species list on March 10, 2016, but still appears in zoos to this day. The species became threatened due to mass hunting in 1902, when President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, a big-game hunter, was in office and decided to kill a bear in Mississippi. These three animals are among the thousands of animals in captivity. They are not even endangered but are still kept in captivity. Some zoos participate in conservation projects, but even then, most animals resting in the zoo may never be released back into their natural habits. . This is usually because their habitats are destroyed, they are traded to other zoos, born through a breeding program, or they are culled to end overpopulation in zoos. In a National Geographic review, Benjamin Beck, former associate director of biological programs at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., found that in the last century, only 16 of the world's 145 reintroduction programs had actually restored animal populations to the wild. 'wild. Of the 16 animals, most were relocated due to government interference. Whenever zoos bring in endangered species or eggs from the wild, they perform a process called "conservation breeding," which involves breeding a species so that it can be reintroduced into the wild. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums worked together to create a plan known as the Species Survival Plan (SSP), which contains guidelines for animal care and breeding of animals in captivity. The truth is that most breeding programs fail because the animals are in unnatural conditions. environments and forced to mate. Once they start breeding, most zoos exhibit the babies and attract guests to their new attraction. They began to make a profit, which led to more babies being born. Since sometimes baby animals are sought after more (even if space is limited), this creates a "surplus", which requires slaughtering the animals. Now, endangered animals are either traded to another zoo or euthanized in secret so as not to violate SSP guidelines. Copenhagen Zoo, home to Marius the giraffe, also killed four healthy lions (two adults and two cubs) just to make room for a new lion they.