Thanks to Mega Friend Jools, Wonderful Husband and I have been hooked on a documentary, ‘The Vietnam War: A film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick”. The documentary stated that President Kennedy had stationed the American army in Vietnam with the idea of ‘saving’ the Vietnamese people from communism. In his mind, he was doing a good thing, but we also know that if he pulled the troops out of Vietnam (and inevitably saved thousands of American lives) then he would have, surprisingly, lost the support of the American people for backing down.
I said to Wonderful Husband, something along the lines of, ‘zoos are like President Kennedy, they’ve made themselves look like they are doing good things for the animals, but actually they are either misinformed or they are simply interested in their own self-gain’. Wonderful Husband responded by rolling his eyes.
You see, countries are now banning circuses from using wild animals (which is great!) However, the animals are not killed in circuses, it is claimed that they are not hurt or mistreated (not that I believe that), and yet nearly 40 countries across the world have banned wild animals in circuses but there is no mention of banning zoos.
So why are zoos ok but circuses are not?
Ah, well that’s because zoos talk about all the conservation work they do. For example, arguably the most famous zoo in England, London Zoo, takes part in, what appears to be, a lot of conservation work. At the top of their conservation webpage is their #OneLess campaign – a great cause designed to make London free of single-use plastic, however I could argue that they didn’t need to make money from captive animals in order to promote this campaign.
To be slightly more blunt, to do good in the world, we do NOT need to
- take wild animals from their natural environment or purposely breed them,
- train animals to perform,
- keep animals in cages.
So zoos, just like President Kennedy, are either misinformed or they are simply interested in their own self-gain.
I sound harsh, right? But guess what the definition of a zoo is:
Definition: A park-like area in which live animals are kept in cages or large enclosures for public exhibition.
For. Public. Exhibition.
Not to do good in the world.
Finally, if your child wants to see the animals then please don’t take them to a zoo. Instead, show them pictures of animals in a book, get them to watch a documentary on YouTube, or even better, go and take them to see the animals in their natural environment, whilst respecting the animal’s space.
Teach your children that animals should be free and that your freedom is taken away regardless of the size of your cage.
Thanks for reading (and boycott zoos) 💚
The Crumby Vegan 
Agree with you
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Mega 💚
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Not totally sure….. I do believe that the best zoos do the best to protect endangered species.
There are howerever disgusting places that cage up animals just to be entertainment, these should be totally banned and certainly boycotted. And as for performing wild animals well……it beggars belief that anyone could enjoy that.
My dog enjoyed learning how to communicate with me, I’m only sorry that I didn’t pursue that more as he enjoyed the mental stimulation. Now he’s deaf, I’m sure he can lip read and read hand signals ( unless he’s psychic, thinking about it he probably is 😄😄 )
Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, as they say.
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It is so important to stay informed and aware so we know what we can do to make a difference.
xo Kam
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Thanks Kam 💚
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I’d say it depends too. The problem is that some animals in their natural environment get hunted by poachers and thus are more likely to become rarer and eventually extinct. Yes, ideally animals SHOULD be in their natural habitat though, but how would we be legally able to stop poachers in other countries or even our own, if the government won’t do anything to protect the animals from being hunted, even if they are endangered?
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You make a really good point Patricia, the only problem I have with this is that we don’t need to have them in cages (or enclosures) and then used for public exhibition. We should deal with the poaching problem (combination of ideas here: https://www.africa-wildlife-detective.com/solutions-to-rhino-poaching.html) and these rhinos should be protected in their own countries in huge conservation parks if necessary. It is definitely not for the benefit of the animals that any zoo would have to bring 1 or 2 rhinos over and stick them in a small enclosure.
Thanks for your interesting comments Patricia, as always 💚
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I have mixed emotions about this. I am totally against animal cruelty. However, I believe that not all zoos are bad. I know some people who work in the zoo and they really do their best to treat those animals as part of their family. For animal viewing, I think it’s better to see something once than to read about it a thousand times.
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Thanks for commenting Karla, you’ve made some interesting points.
First off, if seeing an animal once (in the zoo) is better than reading about it one thousand times, we are then putting our own education or entertainment above the animal’s freedom. I am more than happy to never see an animal (in real life) if it means it can be free – I hope that makes sense 🙂
Also, like I said in the post, people are misinformed. I’m sure the people you know absolutely love and adore their animals (I don’t say anything about the workers in my post as I’m sure these are passionate people). However that still doesn’t mean we should be taking the animals out of their natural environment, no matter how many humans will take care of them in the zoo.
Feel free to respond! Thanks for commenting 💚
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I have to disagree. It’s a blanket statement that doesn’t give space for nuances and unique circumstances. We have passes to our Zoo and love the San Diego zoo. My daughter has learned so much about animals from Zoo programs.
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Can you tell me what those unique circumstances would be please?
I think it’s lovely that your daughter clearly has a passion for animals and of course she loves the zoo. However I would argue that if this passion and education for animals grows later on in life, she will in fact want the animals to be free. Animals are not our objects to take from their natural habitat and place into facilities for human entertainment and consequently monetary gain.
I really appreciate you commenting with your honest opinion 💚
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You make a really good point! I never even considered the fact that most circuses and zoo’s are looking out for their best interest and not the animals. Thank you for your perspective!
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Thank you for your lovely comment Yinka! 💚
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I think we are subject to our own opinions. I do agree that SOME zoos are in for personal gain and profit. However, there are many zoos out there that take in animals rehabilitate them and send them back into the wild if and only if they will thrive in the wild. Then there are the foundations that take in circus animals and other animals that were born into captivity such as Endangered Ark Foundation. If it wasn’t for foundations like these (set up like zoos) these animals would be sent to slaughter. Yes, money is being made off these animals but that is because it takes money to do what they do to feed shelter maintain and take care of the animals, animals that would die in the wild animals that would not thrive in the wild, the animal that otherwise would be killed and tossed aside. So how about instead of saying don’t bring your kids to the zoo we say do your research and bring them to a zoo that provides the best life for these animals as they possibly can the zoos that care and rehabilitate animals the zoos that go above and beyond for animal rights.
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I think it’s mega that you’ve taken the time to write such a lengthy response, Leah – I really appreciate it 🙂
I don’t know of a single zoo that isn’t about putting an animal in a cage. They may do great things like rehabilitate animals that might suffer in the wild, however I don’t know of a single zoo that sets animals free into the wild (because they would lose money)… On the other hand I do know of zoos that feed their surplus animals (after breeding) to their carnivorous animals. What you may be thinking of is a conservation association which is set up to save animals, not to save money. I completely agree, most conservations are mega.
Again, I really appreciate your comment and I love your passion. I think we want the same things for the animals but I want to make it clear that I am talking about zoos 🙂 💚
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