Zoos – The Animal Cruelty of Zoos, Roadside Zoos, Petting Zoos, Safari Wildlife Parks and Amusement Parks

When you look into the eyes of animals at the zoo, you often see boredom, sadness, blank stares, broken spirits, frustration and despair. Many animals also exhibit abnormal psychosis or “zoochosis,” where the animal will relentlessly rock back and forth, chew on their skin or limbs, or pull out their fur or feathers. This sad behavior is rampant in zoos, across many species.

Animals in zoos are forced to live their entire lives in captivity—in small unnatural spaces or cages, surrounded by artificial environments, where noises overwhelm and frighten them, where cameras flash relentlessly, where teenagers taunt and tease and throw things at them, and vocal crowds stress them. They are deprived of everything that is natural and instinctual for them—everything they desire in life.

Captured in the Wild and Zoo Breeding Programs

Animals in zoos don’t have a good past. They either started out their journey to a zoo by being captured in the wild—ripped away from their families and shipped long distance into isolation, confinement and captivity in a completely unnatural, foreign environment. Or they are part of a zoo breeding program, where they are born into confinement and captivity like their parents, and are sold and transferred from one zoo to the next, often over and over again. These animals are often shuttled around causing deep anxiety, stress and anguish. Many are highly social animals and they are not allowed to bond with others, or are ripped away from their bonded friends, many and most are isolated and lonely, leading to obsessive psychotic and abnormal behaviors.

Animals are treated as commodities in zoos, where their personal well-being and welfare is not considered or they would not be there. Their sole purpose is to draw crowds and generate revenues and income for the zoo, so they can do more of the same. But this philosophy of capturing from the wild, or breeding into captivity—to confine wild animals for entertainment needs to be reconsidered and changed. Here is more about where zoo animals come from.

Unnatural, Unhealthy Conditions

Animals in the wild will walk long distances and are highly mobile, but in a zoo they are locked and confined inside cages, barns, and small enclosures. They are exposed to weather and climate that is unnatural for their species. Some zoos close in winter months due to extreme temperatures and snow, and then animals are forced inside to live in cramped, isolated, often barren enclosures with no stimulation. The constant confinement causes arthritis in some animals.

Captive animals often lose their minds and develop a psychotic condition called “Zoochosis,” where the animal can resort to injuring themselves (like cutting in humans) by chewing on their own limbs, pulling out their fur or feathers, licking endlessly to comfort themselves, and pacing back and forth relentlessly. This abnormal psychotic behavior is so common in zoos that zoo veterinarians will tranquillize their animals with antidepressants and put anti-psychotic drugs in their food, so they can endure their suffering. Is this what we want? Is this right? Don’t support the zoo animal cruelty.

Zoos - The Animal Cruelty of Zoos, Roadside Zoos, Petting Zoos, Safari Wildlife Parks and Amusement Parks

ROADSIDE ZOOS / TRAVELING ZOOS

These are the worst of the worst form of zoos. And many are illegitimate, incompetent around animals, are underfunded or unfunded so animals are poorly cared for or are starving. The animals experience constant stress and misery in these zoos—they are confined to being kept inside extremely small, often filthy, barren cages or concrete pens or are immobilized on a chain, and live in a completely unnatural environment. They aren’t allowed to exhibit any natural behaviors or express their needs, they lack social interaction with other animals, and lack appropriate and needed stimulation and enrichment. The animals experience irregular feeding and watering schedules, often are given poor quality food, and are subjected to people and crowds yelling and gaping at them.

With constant travel comes constant stress. Animals in these displays and traveling shows spend their entire lives trapped, confined and forced behind bars to entertain the public. But this is not entertainment. These animals experience endless and overwhelming boredom, despair, loneliness and often abuse from the people caring for them. Most of them never receive proper veterinary care or preventative health care, and they get sick, get injured and as a result, die prematurely. This is nothing more than torture, misery, sadness and torment for these animals—for greed and profit. For business. Plus, there is almost zero regulation or enforcement of regulatory and animal welfare codes. Only 100 USDA officers manage 8600 licensees, which means very little, if any, oversight and regulation.

These roadside exhibits are sometimes called “animal sanctuaries,” but they are a far cry from an actual animal sanctuary. The term “sanctuary” used this way is misleading and considered fraudulent advertising to draw unknowing, unwitting people. Instead these businesses breed animals in captivity, and exploit their animals and the public—for money and profit. True animal sanctuaries, that rescue and rehabilitate animals, never ever breed or sell animals. They are purely to provide a needed safe, healthy, natural home for the animal the rest of its natural life. The sanctuary asks nothing of the animal, and would never breed. True animal sanctuaries’ mission has nothing to do with profit—only with animal welfare. Here is more about where zoo animals come from.

Instead of visiting a petting zoo, traveling zoo or large private zoo, watch wildlife or nature documentaries where you actually see and learn about the animals and where they come from and how they live in their natural environment.

DRIVE-THROUGH SAFARI WILDLIFE PARKS

In the U.S., these are often called wildlife parks, game parks, safari parks or drive-through wildlife preserves. What might not be so obvious from the outside, is that many are profitable by breeding and selling wild animals to the pet trade or to other exotic animal dealers, producing yet more suffering and an overpopulation of unwanted animals. Some parks are known for holding surplus animals—out of view. Some parks sell animals on the Internet. One park has bred and sent bears to slaughterhouses, where they have sold bear gall bladders and other body parts to Asia illegally. The park essentially ran a bear “factory farm.” Another wildlife drive-through safari bred and sold tigers, shot them off-site and sold their hides. Some parks sell wild animals for the captive safari hunting businesses that exist in the U.S. Another park forces elephants to perform for visitors.

Many of these parks have sick and suffering animals with untreated injuries and chronic illnesses, but they routinely deny giving them veterinary care in order to cut costs and increase their profits, and money in their own pockets. With sick and dying animals, they often shoot them, instead of euthanizing them, because it’s cheaper. Some facilities are in complete disrepair and keep animals in extremely unhealthy and unsanitary conditions, which the public does not see. Worst of all, there are parks that breed animals in the back and sell the newborns to “captive hunting” businesses mainly located in the southern U.S., with many in Texas.

If you are allowed to hold or pet a baby animal, chances are excellent that they breed exotics and sell them for profit—to canned hunting businesses or exotic dealers, or they quietly dispose of the animal once they mature to an adult age and are too old to pet or manage any longer, adding to more animal misery and suffering.

If you visit one of these businesses, ask if they breed animals, and if so, why and for what use. PETA notes that these “surplus” wild animals end up at auctions, in slaughterhouses, or on hunting ranches,”—it’s all about money, money for the park, money the safari/hunting business– conveniently avoiding any record-keeping that will create a paper trail for oversight, making it so these animals sold on the black market and cannot be tracked.

PETTING ZOOS

Animals used in petting zoos again are notoriously being used for profit, that causes the animals undue stress, inadequate rest periods, lack of water, lack of proper food and nutrition, and forces the animal to live in an unnatural, improper environment where they have to interact with people and children all day. This is completely unnatural, unhealthy and stressful for them. Often these animals can snap due to constant touching and handling, when they don’t want to be petted and handled. They are wild animals and should never be petted or handled. The spread of infection and bacteria from petting wildlife is also quite common. Here is more about where zoo animals come from.

What You Can Do

Don’t Patronize Zoos or Wildlife Safaris or Amusement Parks that have Wild Animals – Boycott them! Share the misery of zoos and safaris with friends and family and ask them not to attend, patronize these establishments, or ever buy a ticket.
Watch Nature Films Instead – Learn about animals by watching wildlife documentaries, where you can observe animals in their natural habitat, unrestricted.
Watch the Film – No Place Like Home, by Freedom For Animals (was CAPS).
Parents Explain to Children Why Zoos and Safaris Can Be Bad Places – Explain why zoos and potentially wildlife safaris are cruel to animals and why you don’t support them.
Take Children to Visit an Animal Sanctuary Instead – Take children to a place where animals are well cared for in a natural setting like an accredited Animal Sanctuary where the sole purpose is the rescue of animals from neglect and cruelty, and is positive place for animals and animal welfare. The best ones are accredited with the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS). Member sanctuaries don’t breed or use animals in commercial activities, and they provide excellent lifetime care.
Support These Organizations – Like the Born Free Foundation and the Freedom For Animals.org, both of which work to raise awareness to the issue of captive animals and help save animals from cruelty.
Track Animal Abuses – When you visit a zoo, track any abuses or substandard conditions where animals are suffering, using this Zoo Check Form. You can either complete it online or download the PDF to fill out, then mail it back to Born Free USA.
File an Animal Alert! – If you see a captive animal suffering in a zoo or in captivity, or performing, take positive action, notify this organization who will address it by filing this form: File A Report.