I have always been an animal lover, and I have pleasant memories of going to the zoo with friends and family. However, on a recent outing with my local Pathfinder group to Zoo Knoxville, I began noticing a disturbing pattern. The edges of animal enclosures were worn down as a result of caged animals listlessly pacing. I started researching the well-being of animals in captivity and was saddened and shocked by what I found.
In 2014, at a zoo in Copenhagen, Denmark, a young male giraffe named Marius was coaxed to the middle of his pen with a piece of bread and shot in the head with a Winchester rifle. He was later dissected in front of a group of children as part of an event called “Animals Inside Out.” Marius was not the only animal dissected in front of a live audience. The event also featured a young lion which had been euthanized earlier and frozen for the event. Marius’ killing spurred a media frenzy and raised questions about the ethical standards of zoos everywhere.
According to a 2021 article in The New York Times by Emma Marris, an environmental writer and author of the book “Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-human World,” most zoos very quietly take part in “culling,” a process in which surplus animals are killed. This is often a result of overbreeding, also a common practice at zoos. Baby animals attract visitors, and visitors bring in money. But baby animals grow up and aren’t as cute or lucrative anymore, and the housing and financial burden increases. A 2017 article in The New Yorker, titled “Killing Animals at the Zoo,” reports that out of 33 zoos asked about their culling process, 79% euthanized animals, and 45% admitted that the culled animals were healthy.
Last Chance for Animals, a nonprofit organization, states that, “While zoos claim to provide conservation, education, and entertainment, their primary goal is to sustain public support in order to increase profits.”
Another appalling issue present in zoos is the mental health of animals. According to In Defense of Animals, zoochosis is a common symptom of captivity and refers to agitated behavior such as pacing, hair pulling, aggressiveness, rocking, bar biting, self-mutilation and more. Animals are known to experience depression and boredom from lack of stimulation. Marris writes that zoos often deal with this by administering psychoactive drugs like Prosac and Celexa. According to The New York Times article, captive elephants endure agonizing zoochosis in their small pens, unable to cover the 50-mile range that elephants in the wild travel daily.
I understand that some zoos are focused on conservation. However, the evidence of unethical and questionable practices at zoos is overwhelming. The question is, “What can be done about it?”
Marris suggests that animals who are not in danger of extinction be released into sanctuaries and refuges, where “facilities are really arranged for the animals, not for people.”
I would have to seriously contemplate my decision to return to a zoo since discovering these disturbing facts. I cannot look into an enclosure and believe that the sentient beings inside these glorified cages are truly content. It is time to stop the exploitation of animals for entertainment. Although our intentions may be innocent, there is a strong chance that we are prolonging the animals’ suffering by supporting these institutions.
