The Zoo Industry: Who are the Animals?

We find ourselves in a period of reflection. One in which we reevaluate many of our values and attempt to change them for the good. Over the course of our history, we have made many mistakes and corrected them.

Like Bram Stoker once said: “We learn from failure, not success”

However, when a failure affects a living species, we need to put our ego away and accept our wrongdoings, not only accept but also find a solution. There is no use of saying sorry if we do not manifest that sorrow.

Over ten thousand years ago, humans began domesticating wild animals and environments. These animals were sometimes used as tools (horses, cows, pigs) that allowed our evolution. Some of them are necessary and thrive under our control.

But it is our greed that cripples our image.

We are not superior to nature, neither equal. Nature is a power much stronger than we’ll ever be. Nevertheless, we believe to be the controllers of mother nature.

In a modern time where mental health is a focal point, it surprises me that we limit that concern to our own race despite having clear and obvious hints that our actions are affecting the physical and emotional state of the animals in our surroundings.

“Humanity’s true moral test, its fundamental test… consists of its attitude towards those at its mercy : animals.” — Milan Kundera

We have confused two terms : Responsibility and Ownership.

Our species has grown to be very powerful, we can achieve many things once deemed impossible and we can now fix many things once deemed unfixable. It is a beautiful responsibility which we have achieved, we are responsible for our surroundings.

But we tend to think that just because we are responsible that means we own our surroundings and by owning our surroundings that includes the living beings inside them.

Wilderness is one of the most beautiful things on our planet. The constant function of animals and the roles they bring towards our world manifest a time in which humans were once present, back when we were scavengers.

There are not many things that can equal the beauty of wildlife and we, humans, are obsessed with beauty.

So we grew to believe that we can remove these animals from their endless natural habitat and place them into an artificial world where they are dependent on us for resources. In a world where they are transformed from a living being into just a being.

Zoos and Aquariums around the world currently contain around 1 million captive animals, in 10 000 zoos across the globe. (PETPEDIA)

Those zoos generate an average of 600 million annual visitors. The BBC claim the number to be bigger, 10% of the global population are claimed to visit zoos over the course of a year.

We believe that it is our right to view these animals, to rob them of their homes and put them in a glass ball for our own satisfaction. Once again, we are profiting from the demise of a living being, a cruel act that we have performed for thousands of years, an act we once did with our own people.

There was once a time where there was human zoo’s. Where you would find individuals from all different cultures and races in cages, robbed from their freedom. People would pay to be able to see people they never saw before. However, thankfully, this crude reality was long abolished. But not forgotten.

The first modern zoo was created in 1828 in London.

But just to emphasize, animals were in captivity long before that. Once used by kings to boast their power.

However, in those modern zoos, animal welfare was far from the priority. The animals were often put in boxes and their emotional state was ignored as they were seen as ‘responding in a reflexive manner’.

The zoo industry since then has boomed, with most people having already visited some sort of zoo in their lifetime. The zoo and aquarium industry is now worth over 2.7 billion dollars.

Nowadays people tend to defend the use of zoos and aquariums through their opportunity to provide an educational opportunity towards the human population. We can learn the impacts of these animals towards the ecosystem, their vast, complex cultures, and the manner in which their lives function.

Learning about animals truly is one of the most fascinating opportunities, children all have their favorite species, and we attempt to study the wildlife with much precision. But this cannot be used as an excuse for robbing these animals for our own pleasure and as children have their favorite animals, they also have their favorite dinosaurs. A being extinct for over 65 million years which we have never had a proper idea of how they look, only depictions through fossilization.

The same way we are intrigued about dinosaurs, we can be intrigued about animals. It is not our right to rob these animals from their homes but that does not mean we cannot continue learning about them.

What is really worrying is that, according to a study, the average person spends 30 seconds to 2 minutes per enclosure and a fraction of those people actually read the infographics.

What is the use of claiming educational purposes if it is not appreciated?

But I can’t base my callout over nameless studies. So, let’s look at another point of view which zoos and aquariums use to their defense.

Animal Conservation

This is a beautiful idea, one which we should really develop to the fullest. But true beauty is represented by the soul not the body.

So, let’s delve into the details of this alluring concept.

Certain zoos possess conservation programs with the goal of increasing and protecting endangered species. Due to climate change, many of these species are under risk and we have recognized our responsibility to maintain the existence of particular animals.

But it is a very complicated thing to do. There are many factors that go into play.

The idea of conservation programs is to replace the missing numbers in the wild with the animals in these programs. But there is a very big difference between the ‘conservation life’ and wildlife.

If we look at it from a human point of view: A city boy unleashed into rural life will struggle to function, as a rural boy will struggle to function in city life. Each having their own type of difficulty.

In the animal world this is seen as cognitive complexity, it is defined by how long animals stay with their mothers until they are prepared to handle their own responsibilities. Each animal possesses a different duration.

Orcas can stay with their mothers up until the age of 13 before they are ready, Gorillas can stay up to 2 to 4 years with their mothers, female elephants remain in their native pack their whole lives whilst males tend to leave their mothers between the age of 9 to 13.

This makes it very complicated for us to properly prepare these animals to go to the wild as we cannot afford to give each of these animals the time they need.

However, certain species have been successfully reintegrated into the wild. The California Condors demand a little over 100 days of motherly care to be unleashed into the unforgiving wildlife.

It remains a raw concept that needs much more work and investment, only 12% of revenue goes towards conservation funding (BBC)

If they want to use this idea as their template for the reasoning behind having a zoo, much more investment and progress is needed.

According to Emma Mariss, an environmental writer, out of 8700 species present in zoos worldwide only 117 of them possess reintroduction programs…. Out of 10 000 worldwide zoos.

It is shameful to hear so many zookeepers and zoo owners talk about these programs fondly but keep a tight hand towards the investment. They remind me of the middle age priests who preached falsities to generate an income based on false promises.

When are we going to begin learning from our past? How long are we going to allow sinners to blind us with fake virtues?

A focal point of these programs is that most of the present animals are endangered and need to be bred so they can increase the population to a stable number. These are known as Breeding Programs that are overseen by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums alongside the Aquariums Animal Exchange.

The way this works is that they move animals across the country or globe once they identify a genetically suitable mate.

The problem with this is that many of the endangered species come from very close-knit social backgrounds. Animals such as Gorillas and Elephants, like us, regard family contact as necessary and their separation can heavily disturb these animals.

Animals have been here for an incredibly long time and their mistreatment is not something we can overlook.

Fight for what you believe in and keep your focuses broad. I am not fighting right now, I wish I could do much more.

Now that I have gotten the elephant out of the room, let’s put the focus back where it matters.

Breeding Programs

The separation of these animals lead to many psychological problems.

In a book written by Laurel Braitment, Animal Madness, that focuses on animal’s state of minds in unnatural habitats, we discover the story of a Gorilla named ‘Tom’

Tom was moved hundreds of miles away after a suitable mate was identified. Once arriving at the new zoo, Tom suffered abuse from the other Gorilla’s and lost a third of his body weight during his stay.

He was then sent back home and nurtured back to health. Once he was healthy, he was again sent out for breeding.

And we thought that we are smart enough to learn from our mistakes.

Zookeepers later on went to visit Tom at his new zoo and once Tom recognized them, he came running and kept sobbing next to them.

What is also surprising is during this event, spectators complained about the zookeepers ‘hogging’ the clearly unstable Gorilla.

Tom represents the adversity that many of the animals present in these breeding programs face. It is not properly run. But once again, it is an extremely complicated affair and sometimes, for endangered species, it can be seen as a sacrifice.

“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering” — Friedrich Nietzsche

However, the problem is that many of the bred animals are moved around due to an oversaturation of a specific species in a zoo. The Milwaukee zoo’s website claims this “helps to keep their collection fresh and exciting” (SLATE)

So once again we find a very interesting program once again potentially being misused.

This state of mind which Tom found himself is regarded as ‘Zoochosis’ coming from the mental sickness ‘psychosis’.

Zoochosis is defined as: “Abnormal animal behavior caused by time in captivity.” (Wiktionary.org)

The symptoms can vary. There are:

- Stereotypic behaviors which include pacing, bar biting, circling, and repetitive actions.

- Trichotillomania, which is the condition of hair pulling, there are also certain cases of self-injury.

- Regurgitation and Reingestion which is when an animal constantly vomits and eats that vomits just to repeat that all over again.

According to Animals Make Us Human by Catherine Johnson, these behaviors are rarely seen in the wild.

These are some extremely worrying symptoms caused by desperation, stress, loneliness, and insanity.

We are literally putting these animals through hell for our own pleasure and the methods which we use to try to help them are dysfunctional. It is an extremely complicated situation.

I read in an article from SLATE about this polar bear named Gus who was kept at the central park zoo in the mid 1990’s. For a period of time Gus would swim figure eights for long periods of time, sometimes up until 12 hours. He also stalked the children in his underground enclosure leading to zookeepers having to take more strict measures.

Gus was named the ‘Bipolar bear’, good pun not going to lie. But a horrible story.

He was given a dose of Prozac, an antidepressant, along with 25 000 dollars’ worth of behavioral therapy.

Polar bears have a million times less space in zoos than in the wild (Freedom for Animals) and Braitman once said “It’s impossible to replicate even a slim fraction of the kind of life a polar bear has in the wild.”

This is the case with many other animals who suffer from disorders caused by captivity. There is another solution for this other than drugs which are Enrichment Programs.

Yes, a whole lot of bullshit programs to fix our own wrongdoings.

Enrichment Programs offer toys, puzzles or additions to enclosures. It can end up being a rather expensive fix and one which apparently works only 53% of the time, almost equivalent to a coin flip. (ANIMAL MADNESS)

And zoos are not going to invest in a coin flip, they want a certainty because they need their profit and that is what pharmaceuticals offer. They are a lot cheaper and effective and surprisingly common in the zoo and aquarium world.

Whilst investigating this subject for his article, a journalist for Slate approached the American Zoo Association and the Smithsonian Zoo for an interview regarding the subject, both declined.

And why?

Money.

In 2010, the animal pharmaceutical industry made 6 billion dollars in sales in the U.S alone. (SLATE) The animal health care industry is worth around 40 billion in 2021 (GrandViewResearch) and is expecting a growth rate of 10% per year. A growth rate equivalent to almost twice the value of the zoo and aquarium industry.

I began by saying we are blinded by beauty, but there is one power that blinds us more than anything: Money.

The true reason behind the maintaining of such a cruel system is that there are certain people making ridiculous profits.

Like many other aspects of life, the zoo and aquarium industry is ruled over by dark powers that hide their true intentions through a beautiful image: Education and Conservation.

This illusion has led to the maltreatment and abuse of many animals. Animals who we, as a society, have grown to believe belong to us.

The cause of this text is not to protest or boycott. It is for people to understand and feel responsible about their actions. Now that you have read this, hopefully whenever you go to a zoo or an animal enclosure you neglect the beautiful words evangelized by these missionaries.

But I will not end this text here. There is one thing that I need to call out before the last ‘i’ is dotted.

Circuses

There is no beauty in ridicule.

We have struck against the use of wildlife in circuses and the numbers have become a lot smaller. But there it remains in function.

In France, Germany, Spain, Australia, and USA there are no nationwide bans. Certain states, areas, counties and regions have implemented restrictions or bans against the use of animals in circuses however it is not enough.

In a world where animals are trained through fear and violence, we can only expect instability.

Elephants are trained with billhooks, Lions and tigers are beaten and confined until submission. (Animal Defenders International) Those very animals used in circuses spend 75% to 90% of their lifetime in cages.

Those cages are their home, their dormitory and their bathroom. They are forced to eat and sleep around their own defecation. This is not healthy.

There are around 8000 facilities to inspect annually, however there are only 100 inspectors. (Naturee) Which means there are 80 facilities per inspector. Which gives each inspector 4 days per inspection throughout the year.

They need to travel, meticulously inspect the cages, training facilities, dietary situation, etc. in 4 days…

I do not find that possible. Unless these inspectors are some of the most selfless, hardest, dedicated workers who possess no family, social or personal life.

In between 2008–2013 these following incidents were recorded:

- A tiger was encountered in a male bathroom belonging to a circus in Salina, Kansas.

- A camel crossed 4 lanes of traffic after the transportation vehicles belonging to the Cole Brothers Circus.

- A zebra escaped his cage and ran into the city leading to a 40-minute chase. The same Zebra was euthanized 2 weeks later. In the same circus ‘company known as the Wringling Brothers, an angered beaten elephant escaped preparation and broke through the main door putting 100 spectators at risk. Thankfully no one was hurt.

- In April 2010, A handler was kicked and killed by an elephant. The circus in charge was known as the ‘Hamid Circus’

- In November 2009, An elephant which escaped the Family Fun Circus cage it was held in, ran into traffic and was struck by an SUV.

- 15 children and 1 adult were injured during a failed elephant ride.

These are just a few of the incidents which I found in a very short timeframe (2008–2013). There are quite a few bear and big cat attacks that go around on social media. I actually began writing this again because I just saw one of those videos.

I want to write texts based off psychological elements in many areas of our world, I even managed to include psychological elements regarding this topic, but for this text my goal was not to write something that will possibly allow my future career path to flourish.

I chose to write about zoos, aquariums, and circuses because I do not agree with the way we are allowing these industries to function.

I love animals, nature and wildlife in general and I know there are billions of people that share this love with me. I do not expect much to happen from this text, and I will not ask much. The only thing that I will demand is that you open your eyes.

My goal is to grow wealthy enough to visit these animals in their own worlds, not bring them into ours. I dream of watching a pod of Orcas travel through the sea, witnessing lions rule the savanna and observe an eagle pierce through the sky.

All in their own habitat, all in their own consciousness.

If that day never comes, I will not force my dream upon these beings. I will remain grateful for sharing the land with such creatures

Thank you very much for reading up to this point, I genuinely appreciate whoever took the time to listen to my opinions or views. I would appreciate any feedback, positive or negative and I would love to know what views you have regarding this topic.

There is not a much better way to end a text than with a quote, so here is the finale.

“I fear animals regard man as a creature of their own kind which has in highly dangerous fashion lost its healthy animal reason — as the mad animal, as the laughing animal, as the weeping animal, as the unhappy animal.”

Friedrich Nietzsche