Animals Held in Captivity

1453 Words6 Pages
Holding animals in captivity hurts them in many ways. They are deprived of their freedom because they cannot experience the normal existence of other animals in the wild. Animals should not be held in captivity because of the social, psychological, and environmental effects that it has on them, this can be changed by using the funding for zoos, aquariums, and other captivity environments to make more wildlife reserves where the animals can live wild and free. Holding animals in captivity is just plain out wrong. The captivation of animals has been done for years and along with this captivity has come many horror stories of attacks on humans which resulted in deaths. Animals suffer from adverse effects when they are held in captivity that causes them to act out just as it does to humans. These animals are doing without environmental, psychological, and social enrichment (Roberts, 2008). Some animals kept in captivity suffer from stress and psychological trauma because they have brain structures similar to our own. Animals held in captivity are deprived of their natural habitat and in all reality are being treated inhumanely (Roberts, 2008). Animals are not meant to be held captive in a zoo or aquariums. Roberts listed many examples of what has happened nationwide in the past few years. Some of his examples were: “A zookeeper at the Denver Zoo dies after a jaguar mauls her in the doorway of his exhibit. The jaguar is shot dead,” “A zookeeper at the Sacramento Zoo is attacked by a Sumatran tiger at feeding time,” “A zookeeper at Busch Gardens in Florida has her arm ripped off while she is giving her family a private tour,” and “A lion at the National Zoo kills a woman who manages to enter the lion’s unnatural den,” to list a few (Roberts, 2008). Animals being held in captivity do not have the same types of stimulation as wild animals. By this I mean they
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