Imagine you are sitting in your home, minding your own business, when suddenly humans came in and took you from your family and friends. You then were shipped off and placed in a small, confined space at the zoo where you became depressed, lonely and were used for people's entertainment. Most likely you wouldn't be fine with this scenario. This happens everyday to animals in the wild. How do you think the animal's feel? Captivity of animals in zoos has been a debated topic over the last several years. After researching this topic, I now believe that keeping animals in zoo captivity is a cruel and inhumane thing to do for many reasons. The most contentious reasons for why animals should not be kept in captivity are because of the limited space animals have, lack of crucial care, and lack of natural behaviors.
A majority of zoo animals are extremely dangerous creatures because they are wild animals. The definition of zoo is: a place where wild and sometimes domesticated animals are exhibited in captivity. These wild animals raise many safety concerns for humans and for the animals themselves. Wild animals do not receive proper and adequate care in zoos. Many reports of safety concerns at zoos have sprung up over the last few years. There are many accounts of zoo handlers and visitors being killed by these wild animals. October 11, 2013 an aggressive elephant at the Dickerson Park Zoo killed a zookeeper named John P. Bradford. These animals are too violent to keep in confined spaces that are not equivalent to their natural habitat.
This brings me to the next reason why animals should not be held in zoos. The size of space that is given to the animal is a huge concern to animal behaviorist and animal scientist. Animals that are in captivity can develop stereotypical behaviors that are expressed by rocking, pacing, excessive grooming or other similar behaviors. These behaviors are usually repeated many times by the animal.