ENGL 101 FINAL PROJECT MISCHA VAUGHN

The podcast discusses the ethical concerns surrounding zoos and argues that animals should not be kept in captivity. It highlights how zoos deprive animals of their natural behaviors, compromise their mental and physical well-being, and raise ethical concerns about using animals for human entertainment. The limited space and artificial environments in zoos can lead to stress, abnormal behaviors, and genetic degeneration. Captive animals also suffer from mental health issues such as boredom, depression, and anxiety. The negative impacts of human interaction in zoos, driven by the desire for entertainment, disrupt animals' natural routines and lead to heightened anxiety. The podcast acknowledges that some zoos make efforts to prioritize the health and well-being of animals, but the overall negative consequences outweigh the positive effects. Zoos strip away animals' freedom, create physical and mental issues, and raise ethical concerns about their treatment. The discussion concludes that Hi guys, welcome back to my podcast, it's Nisha, and today I have a special guest with me, her name's Hannah. Hey guys. And today we're going to talk about zoos and why animals should not be allowed into them. So yeah, let's just get into it. Zoos have long been considered places of education, conservation, and entertainment. However, there have been some concerns that suggest that the practice of keeping animals in captivity is extremely flawed. Confining animals in zoos is ethically unjustifiable. It strips their ability to have natural behaviors, compromises their mental and physical well-being, and just raises so many ethical concerns about the appropriateness of using living beings for human entertainment. One of the primary reasons animals don't belong in zoos is the severe limitation of their natural behavior. In the wild, animals have large territories to roam, complex social structures, and they engage in activities that are essential for their physical and mental well-being. Captivity deprives them of these fundamental aspects of their lives, leading to stress, frustration, and abnormal behaviors. There's this article that I read called Zoos Are Like Prisons. It was written by the organization ADVA, and they reported that captivity suppresses the natural instinct of wild animals. Animals suffer from permanent frustration because they have no freedom of choice and cannot behave as they would do in the natural environment. As stated, zoos can significantly impact animals' natural behavior in ways that may be detrimental to their well-being. Additionally, animals in zoos are often kept in enclosures much smaller than their natural habitats. This restricted space limits their ability to engage in natural behaviors like roaming, hunting, or foraging. It can even lead to a tendency towards genetic, physical, and behavioral degeneration, as stated from that article. Some of the many ways that captivity affects animals physically and psychologically may include constantly turning in circles, boredom, depression, prolonged stress, the inability to eat, self-harm, aggression, and much more. In summary, the limited space and artificial environments can collectively alter animals' natural behaviors, often resulting in physical and psychological challenges that can affect the animal long-term. Isn't that crazy, Anna? Yeah, I will say that that's pretty upsetting. It's terrible. Animals in captivity often suffer from various mental and physical health issues. The confinement in small enclosures, separation from their natural habitats, and the lack of mental stimulation can lead to boredom, depression, and anxiety. Additionally, captive animals may exhibit stereotypical behaviors such as pacing or self-mutilation due to their distress. I read this other article called The Effect on Zoos on Their Animal Health and Well-Being by Jane Marsh, and she reported that Zookosis is a mental health condition that harms animals in zoo enclosures. It's a psychological disorder that makes animals have repetitive behaviors like barbiting, pacing, and self-harm. It can even lead to the animal's death if the self-harm behaviors result in injury or even eating disorders. Captivity creates an extreme psychological and physical toll on animals and raises many ethical concerns. Many animals in zoos live in unacceptable conditions. No priority is given to the physical and mental well-being of animals, and in many ways zoos are not the solution but part of the problem, as Marsh stated. Overall, zoos can create many physical and psychological and even ethical concerns regarding the animal's well-being. However, there are some positive effects to keep in mind. If I was put in that position, I would definitely go crazy just like a lot of these animals are. Living in a very confined and oppressive lifestyle that just has repetitive tasks and not that many activities or space to roam would definitely make me go crazy, and it's just not the right way to live. To put us on more of a brighter note, Hannah is going to give us some of the great reasons on why zoos are, in fact, beneficial for animals. Alright, so zoos when managed responsibly and with a focus on animal welfare have the potential to have a positive impact on the health and well-being of animals in the zoo's care. I think that it's important to acknowledge that there are efforts made by some zoos to create positive environments that prioritize the physical and mental health of their animals. One example I have, according to the article How Zoos Improve the Lives of Animals, the Children's Nature Retreat Foundation reported that while there are many underfunded and neglectful zoos out there, the good ones positively contribute to the animal's health and well-being. Animals can have a quality of life as high or higher than in the wild. They don't suffer from the stress and threat of predators, the pain of parasites, injury, or illness, and they won't suffer from starvation or drought. Yeah, so although zoos can have those many positive effects, such as immediate medical care and protecting animals from natural predators, reduce natural environmental disasters, as well as being on the endangered species list, the negative outcomes just simply overweigh the positive. Zoos just strip away the animal's freedom. They create life-changing physical and mental issues, and they raise a lot of ethical concerns. One of the major ones is the interaction between animals and humans within the zoo and how it negatively impacts that animal's overall well-being. The interaction between humans and animals in zoos are often driven by the desire for entertainment. The presence of visitors' noise and behaviors may disrupt the animals' natural routines and lead to a heightened anxiety. Some zoos feature shows or demonstrations where animals are trained to perform tricks for the entertainment of visitors. This can lead to animals exhibiting unnatural behaviors due to not engaging in their natural instincts. Another article I read, Animals in Entertainment, by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, reported that orcas in the wild exist in tight-knit family groups, and they can travel over 100 miles in a single day. Captive orcas are kept in small pools for entertainment in which they cannot dive, and they must swim in circles in shallow tanks. Not only are orcas constricted to their natural lifestyle, but many other animals are as well. Animals not only face severe behavioral changes but are often abused and thus treated in the process. Travel, confinement, and being forced to perform tricks deprive wild animals of anything that might satisfy their complex physical, behavioral, and emotional needs. Their lives constitute abuse as stated from that article. Overall, the negative impacts of human interaction in the use of animals for entertainment cannot be ignored. Animals have value just as much as humans do and the right to live free from unnecessary suffering. Zoos, by their very nature, compromise these fundamental rights, and they just raise so many concerns and questions about the morality of keeping animals captive just for amusement. Yeah, now that you bring up those ideas, I think that overall zoos are not the most beneficial. I think they certainly, they can have pros, but I think the cons do sort of outweigh the pros a bit. Yeah, I agree with you. Zoos can be very life-changing for many animals in positive ways, and some of them have great living conditions. However, many do not, and if we look at an animal in the wild and an animal in captivity, there are just so many differences. Whether that be if they're getting the nutrients they need, if they're stimulating their brain, if they're living a solitary life and they're supposed to be intact, there's just a lot of factors that dictate whether or not that living condition is good for that specific animal. In conclusion, the ethical concerns surrounding zoos highlight the fact that animals do not belong in captivity. The loss of natural behavior, mental and physical issues, and the concerns of confinement all contribute to the growing argument that zoos are not a sustainable or humane way to interact with wildlife. The limited space, artificial environments, social disruptions, and constant human interactions in zoos can collectively alter animals' natural behaviors, often resulting in physical and psychological challenges that negatively impact their overall well-being. It is crucial for zoos to address these concerns by prioritizing the physical health of animals. Ethical zoo practices aim to provide a living environment that supports the physical well-being of animals to the greatest extent possible. It was great chatting about this with y'all, but we're going to head out. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast, and we'll see you on the next one. Bye!