The debate over whether keeping animals in places such as animal parks, zoos, and similar facilities brings benefits or drawbacks is often discussed. There are reasonable arguments on both sides, which I will elaborate below.
Firstly, the opponents of zoos highlight the unnatural behavior caused by zoos. The limited environment of animal parks weakens essential natural abilities in animals, including their hunting instincts and the capacity to flee from danger. The absence of predators causes animals to lose the need to develop defense mechanisms. Consequently, animals lose the opportunity to practice their hunting skills because they have been provided food by the keeper. In addition, critics of zoos’ programs argue that the restricted environment of captivity can also cause mental disorders in animals because zoos contribute to limiting animal social interactions. For instance, a report from World Animal Protection explains that zoos which include human-animal interactions can make animals very stressful by being bombarded by the sounds, smells and appearances of swaths of humans
On the other hand, supporters of zoos argue that keeping animals in zoos can conserve animals because zoos’ facilities provide a safe place to prevent them from starvation, poachers, predators, habitat loss, illegal trafficking, and habitat destruction. A notable success story is that of the Arabian Oryx, which was hunted to extinction in the wild. However, through conservation efforts in zoos, the species was brought back from the brink of extinction. Furthermore, another positive impact of zoos on society is that there are many crucial research topics conducted by zoos such as infectious diseases, epidemiology, and comparative medicine, which can help people understand how to protect at-risk animals.
In summary, I believe that zoos provide advantages to both animals and society as they are successful in conserving animals and educating people about zoos’ issues. This is provided that the problem of unnatural behavior and mental disorder can be effectively solved by innovative programs.