Should Animals be Kept inZoos?
Many people feel that it’s dangerous tohold wild animals in captivity. The tiger attack on Christmas day at San Francisco Zoo has raised many concerns about this issue this includes the Siberian tiger attack in 2006. JackHannah,afamous animal expert,hosts a T.V. show on PBS about animals. His opinion is “that if you cross a barrier in a NASCAR race and you get on the track you might get hurt” just like you can with animals.
Manybelieve that keeping wild animals is very stressful. Some studies have shown that reintroducing animals into the wild doesn’t always have a positive effect. These animals have a higher mortality rate becausethey are lacking the skillsthey need to survive in the wild, such as being able to catch food. If they were born in captivity,then they are used to their food being thrown into the habitat for each meal. In the wild they actually have to hunt for their food.
Adam Roberts, the vice president of an animal protection group, says that caged wild animals can pose danger to humans and other animals. He also says that caging wild animals doesn’t have any educational value.His point is that wild animals are meant to be free.Captivity could aggravate them and cause them to attack, which could result in physical injury to the person or more importantly the animal.
There are also some beneficial points in keeping animals in captivity. It helps increase endangered animal’s populationnumbers.They can do captive breeding or tag animals to monitor their progress and see how they are responding to the tag and then release them again. In captivity, animals can also get medical treatment for diseases or injuries that could be fatal if not treated.
