Zoos

I believe it is unethical to keep the number of animals we currently keep locked up, as well as it is unethical to keep the animals in the size of confinement that we currently do. I believe zoos are great for the education of animals for younger kids. With that being said, much of the information that is taught in zoos can be taught similarly through pictures and videos. Zoos are very beneficial for the scientific information that is learned from the ability to closely monitor and study animals that are not as easily accessible in their natural habitat. Because of the scientific and educational benefits, I believe zoos should and will continue. However, I believe a change should be made to the regulations regarding the total number of Zoos. Currently we live in a world where almost all cities have at least one Zoo, and in my opinion this is far beyond overkill.

Below is a map of the major zoos in the United States followed by a map with the major zoos in Europe, as you can see many of the zoos are in an pointlessly close vicinity to each other. These are the two most populated areas for zoos worldwide and most of the other areas around the world have a much more limited number of zoos but none the less, these pictures show a overwhelming number of zoos extremely close to each other.

In my perfect world there would be a limited number of zoos with highly advanced facilities, making sure all animals are in an area of confinement as similar to their natural habitat as possible.  In my opinion there are far too many total zoos (far too many total animals kept in captivity). In my “perfect world”, I would implement a solution for limiting the number of animals kept in captivity, and create a maximum total number of zoo’s per country. Larger countries (geographically, not population) could have a maximum of three zoos, and smaller countries would have a maximum of two zoos. The zoos would be strategically placed, so all citizens are within reasonable travel distance of one zoo. By having a maximum number of zoos, the total number of animals kept in captivity would be greatly decreased. By having just two or tree facilities in each country; we could greater invest into creating a perfect habitat for the animals kept captive as well as have a much greater variety of animals at each individual location. The space each animal is living in would also be increased due to the greater investment into fewer facilities. Travel would be required to visit Zoos for some people, but just like many other things in our world (Disneyland or Seaworld for example), those who are most interested would take the time and money go and visit these state of the art facilities.