Un-Cage the Truth: Zoos

Zoo (n) – an establishment that maintains a collection of wild animals, typically in a park or gardens, for study, conservation, or display to the public.

“…For study, conservation, or display to the public”… I guarantee that anyone who reads that will only focus on the ‘display to the public’ part and start going on a rant about how all zoos are cages and awful to animals and harm more than protect, blah blah blah. I hate to break it to all the animal advocates out there that are anti-zoos, but not all zoos are harmful and neglectful to their animals.

It’s understandable that with all the negativity about zoos and their animals dying displayed on the news, it is hard not to think zoos are bad. Thankfully, I’m here to clear some of those things up.

First off, let me start off by saying that not all zoos are horrible to their animals. Definitely am not saying that every zoo has great intentions and only think in the best interest of their animals because that would be a lie. There are absolutely zoos that only have the animals to benefit themselves and do not properly care for their animals. On the opposite spectrum though, there are plenty of zoos that are only in the best interest of the animals. Many zoos only take animals that are injured, abandoned, were once pets or part of the species survival plan.

A common misconception is that zoos just decide to pluck animals right out of the wild – that’s not the case usually. If they do take animals from the wild it is for survival and conservation reasons, not publicity. With the environment’s current decision and the loss of species increasing rapidly, it is important now more than ever to preserve what we have. Many zoos such as the San Diego Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Brookfield Zoo and many others are AZA accredited, which means that they follow the AZA standards that a zoo should uphold. AZA stands for Association of Zoos & Aquariums and they have certain protocol and standards for each zoo to maintain in order to be known as an accredited and respected zoo.

Secondly, a lot of the negative news put out on social media is all for publicity. Sometimes it is not even true information, it is just misinformed news platforms trying to create a fuss, debate, or controversy. They often don’t highlight the facts and ideas that zoos are helping breed and maintain certain species populations. They only highlight the newest cute animal and then try to keep up-to-date on the new animal’s progress but are often fed incorrect information.

(Eurasian lynx/Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium – Brittany Thomas)

Being an animal science major, I am very biased when it comes to topics like this. At the same time, I am also very intune to what is happening and the truth of the situation. I understand and accept that not all zoos and aquariums are fully animal friendly and do more harm than good but that isn’t the only option. There are many zoos, refuges, aquariums and parks that are trying to HELP the animals and create a comfortable living environment for them.

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