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Zoos

There are believed to be around 500 zoos in the UK alone and perhaps 10,000 worldwide, although accurate numbers are not kept. Conditions vary greatly, with the worst being nothing more than concrete prisons holding very distressed animals. The better zoos make an effort to re-create a natural environment, even though this is never completely possible.

Zoos say
Zoos attract thousands of visitors every year, allowing people to see animals that they would otherwise never encounter. A few lucky people may get to go on safari, but even then they will only see animals from a distance and possibly just for a brief moment. Also, a trip to the zoo costs a lot less than taking the whole family on safari. Of course, there are wildlife programmes on television, but they do not allow you to see the animals in person. A visit to the zoo educates and entertains people about wild animals.

Many zoos have breeding programmes to try to help endangered species. No one wants to see the panda or the tiger become extinct, and zoos offer hope for the future survival of these animals. Breeding programmes are not cheap, and collecting admission fees from visitors is the best way to fund them. Researchers may also use zoos to study animal health.

Animals can be closely monitored in a zoo, where any illness, injury or infection can be treated by a vet. Wild animals don't have this luxury. There is also no threat of starvation or predation in a well-run zoo. Animals in zoos could not be safer, and they have their every need met.

Opponents say
When people visit zoos, they are not seeing wild animals, but captive animals whose families still live in the wild. The conditions are artificial and do not allow animals to behave in a manner that is natural to them. For example, cheetahs cannot run at full speed and primates cannot gather fruit from high up in the forest canopy as they would in their real homes. The truth is that these animals' natural habitats can never be re-created, no matter how hard a zoo tries. And many do not try hard at all.

Most animals housed in zoos are not endangered. In fact, in 2007, the Born Free Foundation researched the largest zoos with charitable status and found that less than 25 per cent of taxa (species and subspecies) held in British zoos are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as threatened with extinction in the wild. It is likely that smaller or privately-owned zoos perform even worse in this respect.

Animals in zoos are not free to express their natural instincts, whether that means roaming hundreds of miles, breeding with the mate of their choice or killing their own prey. They are disturbed by spectators every minute of the day, and there is increasing evidence that this can have negative effects on them. Animals suffer many psychological problems because of their captivity and may display stereotypic behaviour such as repetitive pacing, bar-licking, rocking and head-bobbing.

If zoos are such luxurious places for animals, with every danger spared them, why is the lifespan of captive elephants, for example, less than that of their wild counterparts? Frustration, boredom, loneliness and unnatural conditions all play a part in their misery and consequent premature death.

Zoos are businesses. They may buy, sell and breed animals. When they buy them, they are not always concerned about where they come from or the cruelty that they have endured along the way. When they transfer animals, it may be to another zoo with atrocious conditions, to an animal dealer, for taxidermy or to a laboratory where the animals will be experimented on.

For further information, please visit the Born Free Foundation at www.bornfree.org.uk or any zoo's website.

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