PROBLEMS FACING ZOOS
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Introduction
Several zoos have justified keeping wild animals in captivity because such encasing can contribute to wildlife conservation. Because zoos are structurally conservative institutions, the problems facing zoos usually affect animals’ general welfare. Problems facing zoos lie in aspects such as genetic bottlenecking, wildlife trafficking, physical pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Zoos usually accord visitors an opportunity to see animals up close and making people learn to appreciate wildlife and protect animals. Seeing animals enclosed in an artificial environment out of their natural context is useful in educating visitors about wildlife. However, the problems facing zoos affect how the animals behave in captivity and provides an inaccurate perception of the species. This paper will explore the problems facing zoos in the world and recommend the solutions to such problems.
Welfare Problems
Zoos are an environment in which the animals are not in their natural environment. The nature of the environment may affect the behavior of animals and cause lameness in animals. For example, a controlled environment in a zoo may result in high mortality in animals such as polar bears (Wolfensohn et al., 2018). Animals such as polar bears thrive in cold and icy environments that cannot be provided in a zoo. Animals in zoos live in compromised environments that make them evolve physically and mentally. Such evolutions may affect their ability to reproduce, resulting in species extinction. Animals that adapt to zoos’ conditions may exhibit particular behaviors that may negatively impact them. The main reason for setting up zoos is usually to avail wildlife for education and entertainment purposes. The conditions in zoos are, therefore, different from natural environments. In some zoos, wildlife may not experience sunshine, which may affect their growth. Birds are also not able to fly in controlled zoos. Welfare problems are a problem facing zoos and are derived from the fact that captivity cannot remove wildlife’s inherent needs and instincts (Wolfensohn et al., 2018). Animals in zoos pay high prices to entertain and educate visitors. Animals in zoos may not possess the desired characteristics because of the deviant behaviors animals in encased conditions may exhibit.
Welfare problems also relate to substandard care and food that are provided in zoos. In most cases, zoos cannot accord animals the same kind of food and treatment that they would get in natural conditions. The conditions in the zoo may make the animals live in misery and other related challenges. Animals living in zoos suffer from boredom, isolation, and abuse and cannot be used for intended educational purposes. Zoos are a form of captivity that may make the animals display signs of depression and anxiety. Animal welfare is a concern because of the existence of the belief that zoos may be unethical. The belief is derived from the fact that the artificial environment may be cruel to the animals and, as a result, weaken them. Some zoos usually do not have enough space; thus, the wildlife may be unhappy. Zoos keep animals that are taken from different places around the world. There is thus the need for the animals in zoos to adjust to the different seasons and climate. According to Frost (2011), a controlled environment can characterize animals by repetitive and obsessive behaviors. The strange behaviors include rocking, pacing, swaying, bar-biting, and self-mutilation. In zoos, the animals are usually not accorded with enough mental exercises that may affect their functionality. Therefore, welfare problems in zoos is a problem because it does not accord wildlife ideal wildlife experience.
Negative Public Perception
There has been a rise in the number of zoo critics who often argue with passion that zoos have made little efforts in conserving wildlife. Such arguments always result in negative perceptions among members of the public. According to critics, zoos serve to reinforce and teach destructive ways of relating to wildlife among the public. Zoos may be considered to provide visitors with a negative sense of natural order where the primary role of animals is to provide human beings with pleasure and entertainment. The public may view zoos has shifted from conservationism to environmental rhetoric that may be regarded as disingenuous and self-serving. The central discourse of zoos is the conservationist discourse and the purpose of keeping animals in a controlled environment (Prideaux, 2016). However, critics have argued that zoo animals are endangered and threatened in zoos in the same way they are threatened in the wild. The conservation programs that are the reason zoos are set up have not involved a successful reintroduction program. Therefore, contemporary zoos used as conservation centers cannot withstand the scrutiny of wildlife protection. The public may view zoos as lacking the ability to sustain the wild population because of the focus on animal-based conservation. The purpose of zoos maybe to conserve wildlife, but this is not the course in most zoos because of the ongoing destruction of wildlife in zoos (Prideaux, 2016). Therefore, the public may view zoos as destructive and alter their perception that zoos protect endangered species. Also, the fact that zoos protect endangered species may create a sense of complacency among zoo attendants that may be dangerous in protecting wildlife.
The conservation argument for setting up zoos has been wildly criticized as not being genuine. Such criticism is derived from conservationists’ emphasis on environmental discourses and movement and less emphasis on managing and controlling habitats and animals. The approach to protecting the environment where zoos are set-up can affect the relationship the animals have with humans. In some cases, the animals may show signs of distress due to ecology-related issues. The public may favor an ecocentric-informed approach of conserving zoos that is usually not the case in most zoos (Prideaux, 2016). In an ecocentric-informed approach, wildlife in zoos is forced to thrive in artificial habitats. Such artificial habitats may be exploitative, and the species are conserved for only human use. Therefore, public perception is a problem because it counteracts the reasons zoos are established.
Physical Pollution and Animal Visitor Interaction
Physical pollution relates to problems associated with animal-visitors interaction (AVIs). AVIs may negatively impact the welfare of animals if the necessary protocols are not observed. The interaction may present a problem to the zoos because the visitors may have ill intentions while visiting the zoo (De Mori et al., 2019). For example, a visitor may poison the wildlife under the pretense of feeding to settle scores or other personal reasons. The problems relating to AVIs often require zoos to put strict conditions that may not be popular for visitors to protect the wildlife.
Physical pollution takes the form of noise that takes place unpredictably and may negatively affect wildlife in a zoo. The zoo environment, if left unmanaged, may have negative impacts on the wildlife’s overall wellbeing (Jakob-Hoff et al., 2019). Physical pollution may take the form of sound pollution where the wildlife in the zoos are routinely subjected to noises from visitors, traffic, and ground maintenance. The noise may sometimes be intense, thus eliciting stress response in some wildlife. Exposure to intense sound makes the wildlife undergo biological processes that make them respond to the sound as a potential threat (Frost, 2011). However, prolonged exposure to such intense sounds may induce in the wildlife a state of chronic stress that may have negative effects on immune status, reproduction, and growth. Physical pollution, therefore a problem facing zoos because it affects the welfare of the wildlife present.
Substantial biological diversity is useful in keeping the ecosystem healthy and stronger. Even though some species are being discovered, the rate of extinction of other species is very high. Loss of biodiversity means that zoos will not be able to encase particular species of wildlife. Loss of biodiversity is a problem for zoos because their attractiveness is derived from the possession of diverse wildlife (Frost, 2011). For example, a zoo that mainly keeps lions or such other common wildlife will be less attractive compared to a zoo that keeps a variety of wildlife. Habitat destruction is a cause of diversity loss that makes zoos not have several species of wildlife because of their extinction. Habitat destruction can be in the form of overpopulation, global warming, and deforestation, and the wildlife is usually forced to move away from their natural habitat.
Human Interference
Human interference in zoos may take the form of wildlife trafficking where the animals are kept to legalize poaching. Wildlife trafficking is a threat to global security and a conservation concern among various zoos worldwide. The poaching of managed species in zoos and related products has risen to become an international concern because it depletes the availability of wildlife. Zoos are the most affected by wildlife traffickers because they are regarded as safe places where every species of wildlife can be found (Wyatt, 2013). Zoos can be directly linked to wildlife trafficking because of the bad intentions of the operators. Zoos involve the encasing of wildlife that has been involved in wildlife trade and hunting. Even though the original intention of setting up zoos was to be a natural place where members of the public can view wildlife, wildlife brokers and hunters have used a legal means of illegal trade. For example, hunters may illegally traffic wildlife from national reserves for storage in zoos. Zoos are usually legal markets where most animal hunters and traders sell the wildlife they have acquired illegally. The loophole in the law that allows zoo owners or operators to exchange wildlife with oversees zoos has created a platform where wildlife trafficking thrives (Wyatt, 2013). Wildlife trafficking has made several zoos to be faced with severe litigations and sometimes even closure by the government. The increased demand for wildlife and their parts has put several zoos at risk because wild animals are easily available in zoos. Wildlife trafficking is a problem facing zoos because it results in security concerns as the zoo operators try to protect the wildlife while animal hunters attack them. Wildlife trafficking is a human threat zoos have had to deal with.
Conclusion
The problems facing zoos lie in the inability of zoos to operate efficiently and in the manner intended by the zoo managers. Zoos are often characterized by limited size, unavailability of some species, and ineffective zoo managers. Apart from wildlife trafficking and negative perception, problems affecting zoos relate to genetic bottlenecking, which occurs because several zoos subject the encased wildlife to several scientific tests. The impact of genetic bottlenecking is to reduce the size of a given species population. It reduces the genetic diversity of a given species because only a fraction of the population may survive. The alteration in the genetics of wildlife in zoos may also take the form of diseases, fire, and floods because the wildlife is living in an encased environment. Problems facing wildlife in zoos, whether natural or artificial, are problems to zoos because the design of zoos is to protect endangered species from becoming extinct instead of limiting the growth of some species. Wildlife trafficking is a threat to zoo security and may also affect the behavior of wild animals. Human interference and animal-visitor interaction are problems in zoos because they make animals behave differently from how they react when in natural conditions.
References
De Mori, B., Ferrante, L., Florio, D., Macchi, E., Pollastri, I. and Normando, S., 2019. A protocol for the ethical assessment of wild animal–Visitor interactions (AVIP) evaluating animal welfare, education, and conservation outcomes. Animals, 9(8), p.487. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani9080487
Frost, Warwick, ed. Zoos and tourism: Conservation, education, entertainment?. Vol. 46. Channel View Publications, 2011.
Jakob-Hoff, R., Kingan, M., Fenemore, C., Schmid, G., Cockrem, J.F., Crackle, A., Van Bemmel, E., Connor, R. and Descovich, K., 2019. The potential impact of construction noise on selected zoo animals. Animals, 9(8), p.504.
Prideaux, M., 2016. Zoos Are The Problem, Not The Solution To Animal Conservation. [Online] openDemocracy.
Salas, M., and X. Manteca. “Visitor effect on zoo animals.” Behavior 167: 65-73. Retrieved From: https://www.zawec.org/en/fact-sheets/111-visitor-effect-on-zoo-animals
Wolfensohn, S., Shotton, J., Bowley, H., Davies, S., Thompson, S., and Justice, W.S., 2018. Assessment of welfare in zoo animals: Towards optimum quality of life. Animals, 8(7), p.110, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani8070110
Wyatt, T., 2013. Wildlife trafficking: A deconstruction of the crime, the victims, and the offenders. Springer.