Think about what entertainment looks like to you. For some it may be watching a movie, going on a drive, reading a book, writing, eating, or playing sports. For some people it may be a trip to the zoo, where they can walk around and point at locked up animals. Zoos are known for imprisoning animals by stripping them away from their natural habitat at a young age and putting them in compact living spaces.
The main goal of zoos is, believe it or not, to attract more people. The new features, additions and renovations, fun places to eat, gift shops, and cool shows are all results of zoo funds. Rather than using those funds to improve the enclosure conditions of the animals or spreading more information and facts about the animals themselves, the focus is on satisfying the visitors.
Schools take us on zoo field trips as a way to educate us. Speaking from my personal experience, I have been to at least 5 zoo field trips during the course of my education, and have learned nothing new about the animals that I didn’t already learn before. Like my classmates, I just walked cage to cage and made observations on the way the animals looked like, as the information cards in the corner barely had a few sentences. Just think about this: signs that talk about how an animal acts in its natural habitat.. posted next to a zoo cage where the animal looks at you with eyes of despair.
Animals raised in zoos are also more likely to be depressed or deal with psychological issues. Being raised in captivity and solitary confinement leads to depression and loss of pleasure since they cannot fully meet their needs and interests. Zoochosis, the typical behavior of animals held in captivity, is a very common occurrence throughout zoo animals. Laurel Braitman’s Animal Madness captures an in-depth perspective on the mental health of animals, a very rarely discussed topic. It has made many realize how animals do also deal with mental health issues from being locked up in solitary confinement, and how some of these animals are even drugged as an attempt to suppress those feelings.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to learn about animals. It’s just that zoos are not the right way to do so. It is important to make sure the priority is on keeping the animals comfortable rather than pampering the visitors.
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