The Failure of Zoos for Intelligent Species

Zoos provide a glimpse of the wild unbeknownst to Suburbia’s youth, their existence necessary for children to learn to develop globally. While zoos do provide a glimpse into Earth’s various climates and species for children, they also hurt some of nature’s most awe-inspiring species. By looking into the abuse of intelligent species in even the most respectable of zoos, one finds the action must be taken to remove large and sentient creatures currently trapped in zoos.

Unlike other animals confined in zoos, chimpanzees, orca whales, and elephants all display undeniable evidence of extreme intelligence- their ability to identify themselves in a mirror proves they display a concept of self not unlike that of humans. For species as intelligent as these, the tight walls of an exhibit work less as a home and more as concrete barriers removing the animals from natural habitats.

Case one in the argument against confining sentient species into zoos begins with the elephant. The engineers of the animal kingdom, elephants in the wild fashion switches to shoo away flies and chew bark into balls that will plug up water holes, thereby preventing evaporation. Zoos inhibit this natural creativity by strongly limiting the natural resources elephants are accustomed to; no longer are elephants able to fashion makeshift flyswatters or plug up water holes, their only surroundings sand and concrete, water from a pail and a watering hose. The elephant exhibit proves to be even more torturous due to its small size. Accustomed to walking thousands of miles in between water sources, zoo elephants find themselves trapped in a concrete ring small enough for forty tourists to gather round. Because of these massive restrictions on a 15,000 pound creature’s freedom, it’s no wonder that zoo elephants die extremely young and with many psychological disorders. In addition to becoming obese and infertile, many zoo elephants exhibit psychological tics such as sawing and head bobbing. Taking a stand  against the abuse of such large and gentle creatures, many large zoos such as the Bronx Zoo in New York and Ireland have started closing elephant exhibits, a beneficial measure into stopping the failure of putting intelligent species into captivity.

Case two for the debate over whether intelligent animals should remain in zoo stems from the orca whale. Commonly given the misnomer “Killer Whale,” wild orcas have never killed a human. However, orcas in captivity show many stress disorders, becoming extremely aggressive. Thirty-two feet in length, most captive orcas live in tanks no longer than two body lengths, causing them to react in extremely aggressive manners.  This psychotic aggression found in captive orcas does not just affect their relations with one another, with zoo orcas known to bite and ram into one another, it also affects the attitude of the peaceful whale to its trainer. In 2010 a SeaWorld orca pulled his trainer into the water, shook her violently, scalped her, and broke her spine- the second time this particular whale killed his trainer. An animal meant to roam the ocean, killer whales become susceptible to psychosis when held captive in zoos, a strong factor in why these animals should be left to roam in the wild.

While zoos are relatively harmless for small animals who do not need  vast spaces to roam, for large intelligent species such as elephants and orcas, zoos act more as prisons than as homes. Zoo exhibits prove to fail the large animals that need spacious lands and those exhibits should therefore be removed from zoos.