Zoos should absolutely be banned. First of all, what’s the fun of watching sad, very bored animals trapped behind a glass window? They would much rather be in their natural habitat, roaming free, instead of wasting away in a depressing jail, surrounded by threatening human faces. For example, elephants in the wild roam up to 30 miles a day with their families. In a zoo, they do not have access to that ability. Elephants are often limited to small enclosures not suitable for their instincts to herd and explore.

Many individuals say that zoos are a good source of public education and awareness. If zoos are good for those things, then why are we teaching people that it’s acceptable to imprison animals for our own entertainment? This year, a child jumped into the enclosure of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, resulting in the death of the animal. The gorilla’s name was Harambe, and this murder aroused many negative feelings about zoos all around the world. Harambe died at the age of 17, merely half of the average age that Western Lowland Gorillas live in the wild. He could have lived so much longer if it weren’t for a naive decision. People are abusing the education and entertainment available at zoos to the point where they are disrespecting and hurting the animals.

Zoos are not as healthy as the wild for animals. Animal life spans are cut shorter in zoos than compared to their natural habitat. For example, the lifespan of African Elephants in the wild is three times more than one in captivity. Also, out of all of the lion cubs at a zoo, forty percent end up dying.

Some people might say that zoos rescue endangered species and save their species. While this may be true for some animals, this is dangerous because by removing animals from the wild, it puts their species into more of an endangered state because the remaining animals not rescued have a lot more trouble finding mates.

In conclusion, animals are not comfortable, happy, or healthy in zoos, and this is something that needs to change. By keeping animals in the wild, they will thrive in their natural habitats, and do much better by themselves than with our “help”.