Zoos are premises for the captivity of animals, with the intention of studying these animals and displaying them to the public. I take this topic into consideration in depth, because animal rights are something that we cannot just simply ignore.

     Nowadays, the number of zoos is increasing and developing. For years, there have been two sides to the purpose of zoos as a whole, whether we should keep them for the sake of humans or whether animal rights are more important. I used to love going to the zoo, especially to have the opportunity to feed and pet them.

     However, I realized that we cannot allow animals to be trapped in a small cage and exposed to humans in such unnatural settings. Therefore, for the following three reasons that animals are supposed to be in the wilderness, they are certainly not a piece of entertainment for humans to see and enjoy, and that it devalues animal rights, I proudly stand against keeping animals in zoos. 

     To begin with, they are supposed to be living in the wilderness. This is where animals roam free in the wild, and where they fulfill all of their needs. However, some zookeepers argued that zoos can save endangered animals. For instance, they claimed that for a type of ferret known to be extinct, they brought back its number from 18 to 800 known globally. Regardless of this, we seem to be forgetting the fact that humans are usually the cause of endangered animals in the first place. An example of this would be the orangutans. Thousands of humans are killing the baby's mother in order to sell their babies as pets.

     Research shows that baby orangutans have to train with their mother for seven years just to learn how to live in the jungle. Without its mother, the orangutan would never learn how to live in the wilderness, and learning in an actual, real-life jungle is much different from humans training them rarely in zoos. Animals are supposed to hunt and prey in their natural habitat. It's true that zoos can provide training systems to help monkeys on how to climb, for instance, but if and when they are released into the wild, there is no chance that the animals are going to survive.

     This is because they don't have what it takes to live and survive in the wild, which ironically, is a place they belong. Moreover, larger animals evidently need more space to roam free. Instead, all they are granted is a small cage that is not big enough for them to run freely. In addition, animals tend to move in packs or family groups in the wild. This is how they form relationships with one another and protect their young when in danger. However, the system is easily broken when they are living in zoos, where they may be separated from each other, based on human decisions. Zoos do not serve as an appropriate habitat for animals. They are certainly not right for the free independence and well-being of these wild animals. 

     Moreover, animals should not be seen as a source of entertainment for people. Take dolphin swim shows as an example. This show is where a dolphin swims through hoops in front of a large crowd, about 100 or so people. In some cases, dolphins are forced to take a picture of themselves and humans, the majority of them a child. But before people put on the swim entertainment show, the trainer would train the dolphin for hours a day over a course of weeks and months.  Undoubtedly, this is what causes stress to the dolphins. Only after successfully carrying out the performance, they are rewarded with fish.  Moreover, there were some other cases in 2010 where a trainer put on an orca whale show.

     This particular show was about the trainer ordering the orca to move to the direction the trainer wanted it to move to. More than 400 people were coming to the show, but there was a tragic incident that occured. Because the killer whale was so stressed due to its forced training, it drowned the trainer and the trainer ended up dying.

     The national government had claimed that "while modern zoos are trying to recreate the natural wildlife for animals, zoos in Korea still do more of an entertainment display of animals rather than providing them with their basic needs, proper care, protection, and security." This shows that the main purpose of zoos is to display entertainment for human visitors. The well-being of animals should never be sacrificed for human entertainment purposes. 

     Last but not least, zoos highly devalue the importance of animal rights. Studies have shown that 75% of animals in zoos around the world have been abused. There have been numerous cases in zoos where animals received maltreatment. Animals are often forced against their will to train and perform in front of humans.

     In the process of preparation, they are hit and even punished if it isn't done correctly to human satisfaction. When visitors go to zoos, they usually pay a certain amount of money on admission tickets to experience taking care of, petting, and feeding the animals as part of the zoo programs. However, animals are oftentimes offended by being treated like that. In fact, as recent information has come to light, research shows that several animals lost their fur because of stress in their time in zoos. Zoos don't consider the trauma of separating the animals from their families and communities either.

     It is understandably painful to watch a family member being captured and taken away by a stranger. This is exactly what animals experience when they are taken to zoos. This is an unethical action by humans that no one deserves, including these wild animals. According to animalquality.org, animals who would prefer living alone are forced in close contact with other types of animals.

     "Some animals are confined next to their predators, and some are held in crammed, barren environments where they are constantly bullied by cagemates." This is inhumane and immoral, which is why over the last few years, a number of animal rights activist groups have been working hard to stop agencies from selling tickets to zoos, aquariums, and marine parks. The violation of individual animal rights, even in the efforts to fight off extinction, cannot be justified. 

     We are all individual beings, and we should all have the right to choose to live the life we want to live. If we consider the animals' perspective, they are being dragged into small and crowded prisons when they were living just fine in the wilderness. We are well aware that our time in the world is limited and valuable, but so do the animals.

     Humans shouldn't be the ones to force animals away from the proper life that animals rightfully deserve. If we keep forcing animals to be kept in cages, we are going to blow out the animal's candles permanently. I provided three powerful reasons, that animal's natural habitat is the wilderness, they should not be viewed as a piece of entertainment, and last but not least, it strongly devalues animal rights. Having zoos as a whole resulted in many conflicts, and it is time we put an end to it. Stop going to zoos.