Going to the zoo has been a fun family getaway for several decades now. On average, 175 million Americans visit zoos every year, and 16 billion dollars are contributed to zoos and aquariums annually. The zoo is known as a place to save endangered animals and educate visitors about animals that can be found all around the world. But in reality, the zoo is a place where animals are removed from their natural habitat, placed into cages, and used as entertainment as a source of income. Although many people would argue that zoos do a good job at protecting animals, zoos should be banned around the world because animals are mistreated, zoos are not an effective way to help endangered species, and zoos are not a good source of education about wildlife. …show more content…
People say this because when animals are in zoos, they are protected from the harmful obstacles in the wild. “Zoos save endangered species by bringing them into a safe environment, where they are protected from poachers, habitat loss, starvation, and predators” (Lin). While this seems to be a reasonable argument, it is not because zoos actually further endanger species. “Removing individuals from the wild will further endanger the wild population because the remaining individuals will be less genetically diverse and will have more difficulty finding mates” (Lin). Because some animals of a species are removed from the wild and some animals of the same species are being left behind, the animals that are left are dying out due to the difficulty of finding mates. The article “Animal Rights Uncompromised: Zoos” by PETA states, “Returning captive-bred animals to the wild is, in most cases, impossible because animals who are reared in zoos are denied the opportunity to learn survival skill, can transmit diseases to their wild counterparts, and often have no natural habitat left to return to because of human encroachment” (“Animal Rights”). The animals that are taken from their natural environments are not able to be returned because they are not able to perform basic survival skills in the zoo. “Their salvation lies in protecting habitats, not in creating animal prisons” (“Animal Rights”). Because of the negative effects of removing animals from their natural environments, it is important that people focus on protecting animals’ habitats. The money spent on zoos could be spent on habitat-preservation projects which would be a much more effective way of helping endangered species. While many people believe that zoos are a good way to help animals in need, zoos are not effective in this way because of the negative effects of removing animals from their natural