# Morality of Zoos **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 2, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-of-zoos/205150 "2003-10-02T16:13:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-of-zoos/205150/21 "2003-10-05T13:50:33Z")
I wonder, though, at the extent to which zoos do educate people regarding wild animals. Yes, they’ve all got those signs and programs, and some of the better ones have volunteers or even veterinarians hanging around to answer questions. But so often we see the public abusing the animals in the exhibits. It’s almost as if the fact that the animals are under human control diminishes them, to the point where the public feels free to mock, feed, touch, and harass the poor beasts. They use it as an opportunity to exert dominance. Not as a moment for respect. I’ve seen this at some of the best zoos in the U.S. - Indianapolis (had to get some staffers to retrieve the bananas & fruit some yahoo threw onto the monkey island), Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., Chicago. Rarely can we spend a whole day at the zoo without seeing bad behavior on the part of human beings. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-of-zoos/205150/22 "2003-10-05T14:11:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by fessie \* > \*\* Rarely can we spend a whole day at the zoo without seeing bad behavior on the part of human beings. \*\* I agree. Some people seem to see a sign that reads, “Do Not Tap On Glass” as an invitation to do so. Every once in a while, you’ll see a news report of a tourist who was injured when they tried to pet the wild animals, like to story of Binky the Polar Bear, who took a chunk out of a woman who climbed two fences in order to stick her arm in the cage. It’s really hard to feel any sympathy for these people. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-of-zoos/205150/23 "2003-10-05T14:30:18Z")
From Nick Park’s Creature Comforts: _Animals in the circus have to sit on boxes and balls, but animals in the zoo, they don’t have to do anything. They can do their own thing, like drinking and eating._ and \*Here you have everything sorted out–double glazing, your heating and everything, but you don’t have space! \* See it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-of-zoos/205150/24 "2003-10-05T15:05:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\*I can understand the need to preserve endangered species, but what about animals which aren’t endangered, like polar bears? > > On a documentary, I saw a polar bear stretch himself out on the ice in the middle of a blizzard. The commentator said that polar bears are so well insulated, that they can over heat even in freezing temperatures. > > I immediately thought of a polar bear I once saw in a zoo. It was a hot day, so hot that I, a hairless, low-fat human, was swealtering. How did that poor bear feel? > > To me, keeping a polar bear in anything but a refrigerated pen is cruel. \*\* The polar bears that have been residents in the Anchorage zoo were orphaned by hunters. Most of the animals in this zoo were found injured or orphaned. Now, most naturalists or scientists would probably successfully resist the urge to “save” an animal from the wild, since it’s all part of the balance of nature. Everyone else assumes that the animal needs saving, or that it’s the “humane” thing to do. So the animals then become the problem of Fish and Game, who can either put them down or give them to the zoo. Many injured moose are destroyed every year, but orphaned animals end up in the zoo. Returning many of these animals to their habitats once they are dependent on humans is crueler than not saving them in the first place. There is also a Raptor Center here that rehabilitates injured eagles and the like for release back into the wild. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-of-zoos/205150/25 "2003-10-07T14:48:50Z")
**MixieArmadillo** , the last thread I started on animal rights was mired in debate over whether or not animals are truly suffering in zoos. Which, is why I specifically started this thread with this statement: > [@](#): > > Setting aside concerns about validity of the study for a moment to address the broader question; if in fact these animals are suffering is it moral to keep them in zoos anyway? Also, since you read far enough into that thread to learn that I support the raising of cattle for beef or leather, but apparently not far enough to read my rationale for that stance I’ll repost it for you as well. > [@](#): > > What’s being done to the animals isn’t as important to me as why its being done. Killing animals for food, clothing, or medical advancement is acceptable to me. Abusing animals for entertainment purposes is not. BTW, given that \*\* Dr.One-L\*\* makes a living from animal captivity I wouldn’t exactly call her an unbiased expert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/morality-of-zoos/205150.md?page=1)