Essay - Controversy Over Zoos Introduction Most People Have Fond Memories of...

Controversy over Zoos

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Most people have fond memories of going to the zoo as children ***** see the animals. Younger ***** probably remember clean places with no barred cages and some attempt at a natural setting for the animals. Older people will ***** row on row ***** small ***** with metal bars where animals had little to do except ***** pace back and forth all day. Most would agree that the newer zoos, using moats rather than bars, ***** providing naturalized enclosures, are preferable. However, ***** animal activists believe that even these ***** ***** inherently cruel and inhumane. Zoos are caught in the middle, believing that ********** facilities help educate people about the dangers of letting animals go extinct, about the encroachment ***** civilizations on natural habitats, and ***** efforts that can be made to make sure that very rare ***** survive in captivity ***** if they become ***** in the wild. At ***** same time ***** know that no zoo is a natural habitat, and ***** because the animals never learned ***** fend for themselves and have had much too much in the way of human contact, they could not release their animals into the wild if ***** wanted to.

Zoos, then, have the choice, of gradu*****y going out ***** business as *****ir animals die but are ***** replaced, or of finding more humane ***** natural ***** to house their *****, while doing whatever they can ***** ensure that species will survive in the wild.

The move of zoos to be more and ***** proactive in ***** efforts ***** preserve natural ********** for animals is demonstrated by what used to be known ***** ***** Bronx Zoo, a world-renowned facility. In February ***** 1993 they added the words "wildlife conservation park" to their name. The addition reflects ***** desire to help preserve animals ***** their natural habitats (Sunquist, 1995).

ZOO HISTORY

It could be argued that zoos have a lot to *****nswer for. Zoos began around 2500 B. C., when humans first captured wild ***** ***** put on display. As Europe ***** its systematic exploration of the rest of ***** world, explorers brought back un***** animals to be added ***** privately-owned menageries. Europeans had ***** seen such animals as sloths and anteaters, and were f*****cinated (Sunquist, *****). *****, zoos weren't exclusive to Europe. When ********** explored Mexico he found that Montezuma had a zoo that included not only animals such as jaguars and pum*****, but even some *****: dwarfs and hunchbacks (Sunquist, 1995).

*****se first zoos were privately owned, ***** in 1765 Vienna, Austria, opened a public zoo, plac*****g the animal cages in a garden-like sett*****g (Sunquist, *****). However, it wasn't until well ***** the 1800 that zoos spread widely. They became particularly popular during the Victorian era. While the public delighted in see*****g the exotic *****, ***** ***** maintaining the zoos knew next to nothing about diet, social needs, or habitat ***** ***** animals they kept. ***** didn't worry ***** breeding; if they needed more *****, they simply