Pros And Cons Of Animal Captivity

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We all know that a life in a cage is no life at all, but have you ever really put any thought into the life of an animal in captivity? The animals that dwell in zoos suffer from all sorts of problems, ranging from the obvious insufficient space to the behind doors culling of over populated animal exhibits. Animals that are captured and placed in exhibits at zoos are living in conditions that are up to one million times smaller than their natural habitats. Imagine being confined to your bathroom for the rest of your life! What a terrible thought. Albeit some zoos might be larger and fairly more accommodating, those animals will never experience the freedom they would in the wild. Not only are the enclosures more diminutive, but with no naturally occurring wildlife or events …show more content…
One of the quandries that comes with captivity is psychological and behavioral problems. Just as humans can develop pyschosis when locked away, animals do as well. Lions develop repetitive and compulsive behavior, such as licking and self harm. Many lions that are kept captive and have been monitored spending almost half of their time pacing their enclosure. Their fur becomes patchy and falls out due to the stress, most likely from being abruptly pulled from their natural habitat. These actions are symptoms of animal depression and zoos often times are known to drug their animals with anti-depression pills or tranquilizers. The Humboldt Zoo is well known for administering anti-depression pills to it's penguins. The penguins suffered psychological trauma after someone broke into their enclosure, chasing them around and tormenting the poor creatures. They were unable to properly breed for some time after the event. It is dejecting in itself to think that zoos are making money basically off the conspicuous psychological torture of animals to turn a