Ethical Benefits Of Zoos

The Ecological and Ethical Benefits of Zoos and Aquariums For as long as they have been around, zoos have been a place of joy and education. Filled with lions and tigers and bears every kid dreams of growing up to be just like the men and women who take care of these animals. Recently, however, the debate has popped up over whether keeping animals in a zoo is unethical because the animal is not in the wild, and it does not help resolve the extinction crisis happening in the natural homes of the animals. Although there is great controversy about the ethics of keeping animals in zoos, zoos are actually beneficial to the wild because they are a main component in the conservation of endangered plants and animals. Zoos do not tend to be inhumane …show more content…
An example for a successful Reintroduction project would include the reintroduction of the Arabian Oryx. When this species was critically endangered the Phoenix Zoo took the last of this species into captivity and bred them. Once the Oryxes were bred they were set back into the wild near Oman and Jordan and currently have over one thousand in the wild. (time magazine). Thanks to the actions of an AZA accredited zoo, this breed of antelope managed to survive. It cannot be denied that without the actions of the Phoenix Zoo, this species would not be in existence today and it is because of an AZA accredited zoo that these antelopes have not gone extinct. Similar arguments can be made with the Head Start Projects. The Head Start Project is when a zoo will take a newly born animal into captivity and raise them until they reach a specific size. Normally the size would be large enough to survive but not too large that they would not adapt, (Herron). Although there is the chance that many of these animals will not survive once they get back into the wild, it will increase the chances of the species growing doe to the fact that even if only a small percentage of the animals survive it still gives a boost to the …show more content…
If the cognitive needs of the animals are not met they will become lazy and expectant. Therefore AZA accredited zoos use animal enrichment as a form of cognitive stimulation for the animals. Animal enrichment: “conditioning and nutrition to provide the stimulation and environment that will allow for a life, as close as possible, to ‘natural,’” (Gray, An Ethical Defense of Modern Zoos). Examples of enrichment could include hiding the animals meals so it is in a different place everyday or giving them the same food that happens to look different. These practices help stimulate the animal’s mind and recreate a setting in the wild. These methods ensure that the animal will both have their daily dosage of exercise and cognitive stimulation, and because of these methods the animals in a zoo are cared for