i feel what kristen is saying is how i feel as well. the zoo here is free and going there i was able to make a connection with a sweet black bear and i cried i was so happy, got to see my favorite feline, the lion, a pack of african wild dogs play, and witness two polar bears at play. i agree that they should be in sanctuaries, but with some of them being in zoos, like the polar bear who is suffering very badly in the wild, it gives others a chance to appreciate how wonderful they are and they they do not deserve to die. the right thing to do is when taking kids to the zoo, point all of this out so that they understand, that it is not their natural home, but to learn from whta you see at the zoo and make a stand for animal life.

most of us are no where near any sanctuaries, and do not have the opportunity to go to them. you just have to be smart about visiting the zoos and go the the ones that are more supportive of the animal life then those run down zoos. make sure the zoo you pick has a wonderful system to do what they can. it's very hard, i know. at my zoo all of the animals ouside have larger areas, yet the felines inside do not have much room and i get emotional when i see them. but you know what, this is where people can make a stand, send letters to your local zoo saying you believe they need more room, or rehome some of them to sanctuaries if they dont have the room.

i love animals with all of my heart, and because of the zoos, i have been blessed by being looked in the eyes by the most beautiful of animals and it even made me more of an animal advocate. you can also sponsor animals you think need it the most to provide them with better living quarters if you want.

if they weren't there, most of these angels would be hunted down right now or killed because of the environment.

on the other hand, we need more sanctuaries..

"if they weren't there, most of these angels would be hunted down right now or killed because of the environment."

I don't believe this is accurate. The vast majority of animals seen in zoos are not "rescued" from the wild. Captive zoo animals represent a tiny minority of the population, and today a good percentage of the animals you see are captive bred by other zoos. While I think it's great to be concerned about the welfare of these animals in the wild, capturing them and keeping them captive in unsuitable environments is not the solution. Preserves and sanctuaries in these animal's native countries are a better solution, and these facilities are luckily on the rise. 

This brings us to another point; the business of breeding, then selling and trading animals between zoos is common. Make no mistake - it is a business. Zoos are not these amazing places that exist only to educate and save animals. Most of them exist to make a profit. Even those who are truly philanthropic (the National Zoo in DC, for example) have other purposes that come before the welfare of the animals (research, for example). If zoos were indeed for the animals, then they would be sanctuaries, not zoos. 

I think that the way zoos misrepresent themselves as working FOR the animals and no other reason borders on criminal. The breeding programs are a prime example; many programs claim to be breeding endangered animals for release into the wild, and yet almost no zoo-bred animals are ever rehabilitated and returned to the wild. Caretakers claim they would be unable to survive (which may be true), and yet their claimed "reason" for breeding is to be able to revitalize wild populations. In reality, I think we all know the primary reason for captive breeding is for research and profit. 

Is every single zoo in the world a horrific place? Probably not. I know (from hands on experience) that many zoos are finally making attempts to create a natural habitat for their animals and to provide them with some semblance of the life they would have lived outside the zoo. This includes doing things like rotating enclosures, providing prey scents and trails, providing privacy spaces in enclosures. Is it enough? Certainly not, and I maintain that as long as zoos are engaged in the business of turning a profit, the animals' needs and desires will always come dead last. 

I find the mere idea of zoos depressing. I'll be spending this weekend, as you refer to in your final paragraph, comforting my greyhounds during the terror that is hours of professional fireworks (this year on Friday AND Saturday, 1 mile from my houe) and the random amateur attempts that will probably go through till late Sunday evening.

NYU philosophy professor Dale Jamieson has written two well-thought-through essays on zoos, one or both of which appear in his compendium, "Morality's Progress: Essays on Humans, Other Animals, and the Rest of Nature." It's an expensive book, and very academic, but it can be borrowed from a library. He makes many of the points Jen raises and concludes that there is no legitimate place for zoos in a truly humane world.

i will look this book up. as i stated, sadly we do not live in a humane world.

1) these are ANIMALS!  not people! 

2) most people learn by experience, so without the experience of a zoo, how can the average person know about the animal needs? 

3)  zoos need to make the exibits closer to their real life habitat.

FYI, this post has been edited/updated.

There is no information in this blog about conservation.  I think that would make the article a lot stronger and more compelling for people who are open to seeing what a zoo may really be like for animals, and what possible alternatives are available for conservation purposes.  Also, the blog does not address what the animal cruelty is, other than "boredom."  I would be much more likely to send this to friends and family if I felt it could open up someone's eyes who is not as animal-friendly as myself.  However, this article is not a very strong argument against zoos.

Thank you for the article and for opening up dialogue on a very important, controversial and charged subject we should all care about and become informed on.  For more information on the reality faced by big cats in today's world, please visit http://www.BigCatRescue.org -- there are many links to videos, petitions and other ways to become educated and to help animals such as big cats. 

Thanks for the article. No matter how much effort is taken to recreate a natural environment for these animals, in the end they are still on display in a cage. The thought of life in a cage is depressing to me. If you think about it many of us live our lives in artificially created environmental simulations. And some of us put ourselves on display. Who needs a zoo? Just look out your window.

In the age of information, you can view and read about every single animal online.  I stand firmly against animals in confinement, with the exception of animal sanctuaries.  Things are changing and I am very optimistic that we will one day look back and say "What were we thinking?!".  

Zoos, animal research labs, puppy mills, and factory farms are nothing other than a means to make money.  One day we will all live in a world where money is no longer the motive for everything and we will be pleasantly surprised at how beautiful that is for every living creature, including ourselves. 

Stephanie,

As a former producer/director for an animal TV program that helped promote a no-kill animal shelter in the Dallas area I would often have programs dealing with sanctuaries, zoos & environmental issues. I applaud that you foresaw what complaints amy come in being pro-Zoo.

That being said, the issue beyond mankinfd trying to dominate the world and other animals while making a buck off of it doesn't bother me as much as the fact that we, supposedly the smartetst animals on the planet, are destroying the planet and habitats for these animals so we can put another piece of concrete slab on land or ruin the environment for outr greedy needs to make a buck.

I believe that most decent, quality zoos have changed with the times and want to help the animals and their habitats as well as educate the public. Now if the public can only get educated enough that future generations will preserve what hasn't been destroyed.

I think you have taken an admirable impulse to an unrealistic extreme. There's no test that can accurately measure the positive impact of seeing live, exotic, beautiful animals in person. Zoos are our best, however imperfect, ambassadors for animals and the fragile habitat they come from. They may charge a lot of money or they may be free but they don't make much, if any money nor do their employees. They are getting better all the time. They used to keep animals till they died, which didn't take very long, and ship some more out of the wild. They can't get away with that anymore and must breed to survive. But that's a huge accomplishment and always a good indication of well cared for animals. I wonder if you know anything about the psychological process of projection? Animals symbolize something within us, something magical, wonderful, but they are not what they symbolize. They are still animals. For all too many their only hope is captive propagation, mostly in zoos. The entire class of amphibians are plummeting towards extinction. The Africans are eating gorillas and chimps, the tiger, for Christ's sake, is in trouble. Zoos are the average American's primary exposure to such issues. He sees a tiger and there's nothing like it, it has an impact on anyone so lucky as to glimpse such a magnificent beast. It's not a perfect world, would that it were. As it is zoos are on your side, don't bite the hand that's so helpful to the creatures you adore. 

"I think you have taken an admirable impulse to an unrealistic extreme." this is what i was trying to make a point of. this worl has so many issues and we can't even help ourselves right now. i am not "prozoo" i am for sanuaries and for freedom, but we don't have much of a choice in most cases. it's going to take a LOT of funding to make a sanctuarie for every species you would find in zoos. we just have to support the wildlife best we can, and try to keep an open mind.. also, think about it, people who work hard to be able to work with animals hands on, they might not have any other choice but to work for a zoo, but in turn, they are making very little money yet the KNOW if they are there they can lend a hand toward making it a better place for the animals.

"The Africans are eating gorillas and chimps, the tiger, for Christ's sake, is in trouble" since theres a very slim chance there will be enough funds for all of these creatures to have a santuary of their own in the near future, at least in the zoo the species is continuing on. like some wolfs ONLY exist in zoos now, and are slowly moving into sancuaries. these things take time, and a lot of patience. it's not going to happen over night, that why all i am saying is you have to take the bad with the good, and keep pressing for the good.

A few gaps I'd like to fill in... I don't believe people connect with animals in a "zoo"-like environment.  These observation camps are momentary distractions and fleeting "entertainment" - from our lives of boredom...

And in order for zoos to keep our interests - they must continuously find "new" and/or "exotic" attractions for our amusements.  "New" animals are kidnapped from their homes.  Or, already captive animals become breeding machines... And each new batch of babies means the eventual disposal of the last. 

Every spring zoos have a celebration of a "new arrival" - This baby draws in more crowds (and more cash)... Meanwhile, after weaning, rarely does Mom stick around... She's usually sold to a fly-by night road-prison .  Or she might wind up as a "money maker" at a gas station, store, or fair... Always being used as further "entertainment"... or so the public can "interact" & "learn" about her (wild) life.

Her life might also end in the confines of canned hunt.  But the zoo - (and it's patrons) have the myth and the babies; and the exploitation is complete.

Some also defend "conservationist zoos" . Beyond these doors lies mad science, that often breeds freak species of animals and experiment/manipulate on their dna... They create hybrid animals - (new ones to "conserve") - Or they breed species without diversity... Then these animals loose all ability to survive, (without man)... And again, the exploitation is complete.

Although I live less than 30miles from Sea World & Bush Gardens, I gladly refrain from supporting these "animals-for-profit" jails.  Abolitionist sanctuaries is what we should  create and support.  Places that will not only offer refuge for animals saved from this system; but places that will expose the truth regarding the fundamentals of all animal imprisonment... property status.

Saying we need to continue animal exploitation in order to ignite our awareness, is like saying the slave owner needed to own slaves to understand that they should be free.

I know what liberty I want to celebrate. Animals need us to be vocal about emptying cages... not rationalizing reasons to keep them captive.

You know... a few years ago I didn't know the first thing about where I stood regarding "animal rights".  It is only through listening to consistently clear reasoning, from this forum (and others), that allowed my views to be realized.  So honestly, it is I who must thank all of you! 

The animal rights community is an amazing group - I have no doubt in the end... we will win against the oppressors! :)

Article is perfect Stephanie. I would add that zoos serve to legitimize, at least marginally, the eradication of many species, along with the destruction of their habitat. The self serving conservation claim of zoos gives people an assurance of perpetuating the genetics, despite leaving few animals in the wild and developing their homeland for humans. "It's okay; see we got a half dozen of them critters stashed away at this zoo." It makes a mockery of conservation efforts. Zoos are consumers of wildlife, not preservers.

Stephanie, I so appreciate the work that you do. I'm afraid I would cry so hard everyday I couldn't be productive.

I can't stand to go to zoos or circuses, and do what I can to watch the issues on abuse.

One thing I wanted to note about the 4th of July, is that I can't enjoy it worrying about the skunks, squirrels, possums and birds who must be frightened from the loud boom of illegal fire crackers and m-80s.

I even saw a white owl zig zagging thru the air confused and scared. I wish we could REALLY outlaw firecrackers and m-80s, but every year, they are at it again. What can be done?

Most of the value of zoos and aquaria is not seen by the general public, unfortunately. While keeping animals in confinement (usually better conditions than experienced by most human inmates of U.S. prisons) is not ideal, it does provide for understanding their needs and observing their behaviors in a manner that cannot take place in the wild, especially with the current lack of investment in studying wild animals.

Besides providing valuable opportunities for investigation of such things as animals' sensory abilities, or the impact of enrichment activities, zoos and aquaria are also necessary in providing the public with their only real-life (if somewhat constrained) encounters with animals.

How do you advocate against global warming's impact on the polar bear population to someone who has never seen their true magnificence? How do you emotionally link the destruction of habitat to human activities without an animal encounter? Human are prone to anthropomorphizing when they speak about 'suffering', but the only way to turn that into a useful tool is by making it up close and personal; a child is much more likely to avoid buying fur if it has had a chance to see those soft, lovely pelts wrapped around a real, living organism.

As a nurse, with the special opportunity to experience, on an on-going basis, the behind-the-scenes efforts of zoo and aquarium keepers and staff, I often wish that I could get that kind of care and empathy for my human patients. I also see how ignorance and human agendas interfere with attempts to make a better world for all living things.

Yes, we must inform people about global warming... and the magnificence of exotic animals, and their beautiful fur - and their suffering... But -some other way than confining them. 

I don't want to teach compassion and empathy by exploiting. And as I mentioned in my last post, there is immense cruelty in the captive animal industries. 

We are smart.  We have limitless resources and technology available to educate ourselves about our world, without having to cage it for study.

Sorry, I just don't see any rationalization for imprisoning animals.  As Olivia asked: "what is their crime?".