Are Zoos still Useful? - Ami

Today I’m going to talk about zoo. Have you ever been to a zoo? Do you like it? If you’re the people who have been there before, you know what it is. There are many kinds of animals taken care of by zookeepers. I like visiting zoo, and it’s interesting for me to see unique animals I can’t usually encounter. For example, there are polar bears, lions, penguins and gorillas in Japan. 

However, some animal activists nowadays say that zoo is no longer useful and should be banned. I mostly agree with this opinion. Because I feel sad when I see lions, giraffes, elephants and other animals, surrounded by exposed concrete walls. Climates in zoo can be completely different for those animals. For example, for polar bears, hot and stuffy Japanese summer weather would be their stressor. Also, there is no freedom for animals. Lions are locked in a small area of “lions’ section” instead of running savannahs  as far as they want. Sometimes there are some individuals which is born in a zoo. They are raised up by human and never ever live in the place they are meant to be. That’s really heartbreaking and a lack of respect animals’ lives. 

Then, why are there still many zoos in the world? Well the biggest and most common reason for the existence is educational purposes. People can learn how other animals habit and the importance of living together with them in harmony. And also, for scientists, zoo is important to study and research about ecology. And then they use their knowledge to maintain endangered species’ existence. In fact, some kinds are protected from extinction by breeding in zoo. 

On the whole, zoo has pros and cons. Nowadays many zoos have been changed. Zookeepers have removed those exposed concrete walls and replaced some vegetations and solids from each animal’s original environments. They says that it’s also important to convey  the atmospheres to the visitors. I think this is a good change. Personally breeding only exotic animals is also much better idea because it's not hard for them to acclimate places in zoo.