What Is Wrong With The World - Animals kept in captivity

Okay so I was reading the Metro on my (ninety minute long - just saying) train journey to school today, when I came across the daily 'In Focus' section. Today it was about animals and their zoo environment.

I personally think it's wrong to part animals from their natural environments just to be shoved into tiny cages and gawped at by humans. And the Metro article just backed up my opinions.


"The two-year-old giraffe, Marius, was killed to avoid inbreeding - there were already enough giraffes with similar genes in European zoos. His death - he was shot in the head with a bolt gun. Despite offers to provide a new home for him, the Danish zoo went ahead and euthanized the animal. Not only did it stand by its decision, Copenhagen Zoo used Marius's carcass to perform a public post-mortem examination. His remains were cut up in front of an audience containing many children before he was fed to the zoo's lions."

I personally think that this is a horrible thing to do. Even though an online petition to save Marius generated almost 30,000 signatures, the zoo blatantly refused to change their minds or accept any offers (despite the fact that one person actually offered £400,000). 


I completely disagree with the keeping of animals in zoos because, really, there is no benefit. The only thing they show is depressed animals, and children don't learn anything about how the animals would be naturally. Because, naturally, lions don't pace back and forth, and polar bears don't walk around in circles over and over again.

Copenhagan Zoo also murdered a lioness and her four cubs because they shared "genetic defects caused by inbreeding." Now don't get me wrong, I'm not an animal rights extremist like the nutters at Peta, but even so I don't think it is right to just casually kill animals like that, let alone whole families. But then again, I don't even like people killing spiders, so I'm probably not the best unbiased person to write this post.




Even so, it's pretty sick to keep an animal in captivity and deprive them of their normal needs like hunting, raising their cubs naturally, and most of all having the freedom to roam about.

Am I right?

8 comments:

  1. I totally agree with what you're saying here! It's horrible that the animals were killed for no reason and the zoo ignored the other zoos' offers to take them :'(

    Animals are always happier in their natural habitats, however, the zoo near my city is a very high quality zoo where each animal is given plenty of space, food, and exercise. Obviously they could never live in the wild again, but in some cases, the only animals left of a certain breed are bred in zoos because their natural homes are being destroyed or they are at risk for being hunted and are nearly extinct.
    The whole issue is terribly sad!

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    1. I agree with what you're saying about the fact that their natural homes are being destroyed and that is sometimes why they're put in zoos, but I just really dislike it when they're put in there purely for entertainment purposes.

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  2. this story actually made me cry, but I think that it's great that you've posted something that unveils some of the cruelty that is being inflicted upon animals that are being held captive

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    1. Really? I'm glad you feel so strongly about this issue.

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  3. I agree with everything you said... people can be so cruel :( I saw in the newspaper the other day there was a zoo in Denmark, and one of their giraffes had an urge to mate with her cousin so they killed her and threw into lion's cage IN FRONT OF CHILDREN WHO WERE VISITING. (Shakespeare was right. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark" indeed...)

    Also, I have to say this: I feel your pain for long school trips. Takes my 60 minutes to get to my school (30 min. bus and 30 min. train). There's another girl in my class who travels for two and a half hours every day...

    Great post <3 :)

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    1. Thanks!
      And I think that it really is horrible to do that, especially in front of children.
      Also, how does she travel for two and a half hours?! I don't think I could ever do that..

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  4. UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! I typed a long ass comment last night but my Internet must've failed so it didn't post. :(

    Anyway, I sad that I've heard they killed off a young giraffe in Denmark in front of children and threw its flesh into lion's cage. Disgusting. What's wrong with the world, seriously?

    I agree with everything you said by the way. Amazing post, thanks for sharing! xx

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    1. Yes,it did post - all comments go through moderation though.
      Thanks for the second comment anyhow!

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