Recently in class we were given the task to write a Persuasive piece of writing. Our writing was about whether we think that 'Zoos are cruel and should be banned' and whether we agree with the statement or not. Here is my writing...
I strongly believe that Zoos are cruel and should be banned! Yes, Zoos are fun experiences. We get to learn about beautiful, exotic animals that most of us don’t often get to see. We also get to hang out with friends and family, but it isn’t like that for the animals. When animals are taken away from their natural environmental habitats to be taken to a Zoo, when they get released back in the wild, they can’t survive without rehabilitation.
My first reason, animals enclosures are very small, too small. Just think, it’s like being trapped in quarantine for the rest of your life. Zoos know that animal enclosures are too small and some Zoos have tried to make land bigger. For example places like the Werribee Zoo, in Australia have a part called the ‘Open Range’ which is a bigger 32km enclosure where African animals like Giraffes, Elephants and Zebras can roam. However, according to BBC, between 3,000 to 5,000 animals are killed in European zoos every year. Zoos in India and China couldn’t feed their animals over lockdown, meaning they had to be shot. Are all of these animals killed because there isn’t enough space for them, or not enough food?
My next reason is that Zoos aren’t safe for humans. Some of the animals can be unhappy, causing them to lash out, hurt or even kill people! For example, in 2016, a 3 year old climbed over a fence into an endangered Gorillas enclosure. In the end the workers had to shoot the Gorilla to save the kid, this wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have Zoos. Some animal enclosures aren’t surrounded by very high fences either meaning people could climb into their enclosures or feed them food from the other side of the fence.
My third reason is that animals don’t get to live in their natural environments or with their natural herds. Animals might be safe from predators in the wild however they live unhappy and lonely lives in a zoo. Elephants are normally used to living in big herds, where in a Zoo there are only 1 or 2. When Elephants aren’t in their herds it makes them feel quite threatened and under stress. To help animals being put under stress, Zoos could minimize the amount of people allowed to enter the Zoo and raise the price of entering Zoos. Less people could help reduce the stress animals have because there isn’t as many people banging on glass, and the noise. Animals are also able to hunt and catch their own prey in the wild; zoo animals instead are given a carcass to chew on. In my opinion, Zoos should let animals like Lions, have live food in their enclosures.
Next, a lot of Zoos have a section where animals perform tricks. Seals for example are taught how to balance a ball on their noses, meaning that they could get hurt in the process. Animals are supposed to be in the wild, not doing tricks or trapped in a small enclosure. At the end of the day it doesn’t achieve anything for the animal, it only archives entertainment purposes and money for the Zoo.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that Zoos should be banned! Despite the fact that Zoos try their best to make the animals feel at home in captivity, I believe that animals
That is my writing, I hope you enjoyed and feedback is welcome anytime!
