It has been argued by a majority of people that zoos can exert an adverse effect on animals’ lives because of savage actions. By means of contrast, opponents oppose that they can play a vital role in protection of rare species. I wholeheartedly agree with the latter view.
On the one hand, numerous people assume that zoos are not a suitable place for keeping animals because of artificial circumstances. They believe that wild animals such as big cats (tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs) need to live in the nature and follow their intrinsic behaviors such as hunting, roaming in leafy areas or meadows, running away their predators, and so on. Thereby, when they are protected in zoos, the sedentary lifestyle in these places can put their health at jeopardy. For example, in some developing countries such as Iran, zoos have poor facilities such as the low quality of carnivorous diet, small area for roaming, the limitation of breeding, and so forth to keep wild or rare species; consequently, some species such as Persian lion put on the verge of extinction after transferring to a central zoo located in Tehran.
On the other hand, zoos or sanctuaries which are known special areas for protection of wild animals are appropriate places to conserve endangered animals such as polar bears and pandas that are threatened by poachers because of their fur. Thus, with the help of natural conservationists and veterinarians in these places, rare species can be survival and the rate of lifespan dramatically increase. For instance, in recent years in China, government officials have made a decision to increase the number of pandas with the help of sanctuaries designed especially for them. Moreover, because of human activities in recent decades, the situation of Earth has completely changed, leading to some disasters such as climate change, global warming, drought, and so on, resulting in the fact that most of the species have lost their territories. Hence, with the help of zoos, not only can their territories be simulated but also the probability of extinction can decline.
In the light of these facts, although some people assume that zoos can have a detrimental impact on the life of animals, from my perspective, rare species which are threatened by illegal hunters or some natural disasters need to have a suitable place for living. Thus, these places can play a crucial role in this regard.