animals in the zoo

Ответ от Simas Pocius[гуру]
Zoos are an unsuitable environment for wild animals and should, therefore, be abolished. Firstly, zoo animals are kept in a very confined area compared with their vast natural habitat. Secondly, breeding programmes are far less successful than zoos claim. Thirdly, zoo animals are exposed to many diseases and other dangers.
Zoo animals are usually kept in very cramped enclosures and do not behave like their wild counterparts. Polar bears, for example, are given about 10 metres of walking space whereas in their Arctic home they roam for many hundreds of kilometres. Similarly, primates, big cats and birds are often confined in cages where they lack exercise and stimulation. Many animals develop unnatural habits such as pacing back and forth or swaying from side to side.
Supporters of zoos argue that they help to conserve endangered species, but in fact they are not very good at this. Even the world famous panda breeding programme has been very costly and unsuccessful. Also, zoo life does not prepare animals for the challenges of life in the wild. For example, two rare lynxes released into the wild in Colorado died from starvation even though the area was full of hares, which are a lynx’s natural prey.
The zoo is an unnatural environment that exposes animals to numerous dangers. Diseases often spread between species that would never live together naturally. For example, many Asian elephants have died in US zoos after catching herpes from African elephants. Furthermore, zoo animals are often exposed to chemicals, solvents and other toxic substances. Finally, it is common for visitors to tease and provoke caged animals.
In conclusion, therefore, it is not true to say that zoos are educational or that they help to protect endangered species. In reality, they only teach us how wild animals behave when they are confined in small spaces. Breeding programmes provide zoos with good publicity, but in fact most of them are failures. Finally, zoo animals are probably more at risk of dying from disease or poisoning than their wild counterparts. It is time that we abolished these cruel institutions!
И, к примеру, противоположное мнение - Я люблю зоопарк.
I'm not going to say that animals should be kept in zoos, but in this date and time, I believe it to be totally acceptable. I love zoo's and seeing all of the awsome animals that are there; some of my fondest meories came from zoos. I think the argument that animals should be in the wild is irrelevant, especially in a society that condones jails. Animals are mostly safe in zoos, just like people in jails. Why should animals have to learn to live in the wild if humans don't? What is acceptable in the wild is not acceptable in modern society; modern society has no place for animals or wild, wild animals are not going to be allowed to gallop down Main St. So we take their lands, but we provide a hassle free lifestyle for them and allow them to breed and continue to exist. Also, we have not taken all of the animals and locked them up, only some of them, and most of them get to live in communities with other animals of their species (better treatment then many prisons-especially those run like Guantanamo.) Enough rambling, you have to decide for yourself what you think.