Once you check in, you can never leave..... Sounds like Hotel California???
 |
| courtesy: Self |
"No, its not the famous Hotel California.... Such luxurious imprisonment is the norm for animals in zoos across the world." This is how starts the second paragraph... Sheena speaks on how the natural habitats are simulated to make the animals feel comfortable but she expresses that the animals experience numerous complications.
"The zebras live constantly under the sword of Damocles, smelling the lions in the nearby Great Cats exhibit everyday and finding themselves unable to escape. In fact, the animals have no ways of even knowing whether the food that has magically appeared each day thus far will appear again tomorrow, and no power to provide for themselves. In short, zoo life is utterly incompatible with an animal’s most deeply ingrained survival instincts."
 |
| source: Whitaker's World of Facts |
“In spite of the dedication of their human caretakers, animals in zoos may feel caught in a death trap because they exert minimal control over their own lives”.
This leads them to attempt escape. She discusses incidents of Bruno, the orangutan in Los Angeles
"These and other countless stories reveal that the need for control is a powerful motivator, even when it can lead to harm. This isn’t only because exercising control feels good, but because being unable to do so is naturally unpleasant and stressful."
How does the body react to stress???
"Under duress, the endocrine system produces stress hormones such as adrenaline that prepare the body for dealing with immediate danger. We’ve all felt the fight-or-flight response in a dangerous situation or when stressed, frustrated, or panicked. Only when the crisis has passed does the body resume normal function."
While such responses can enhance survival for short-term situations, continuous and unending source of stress and when it can't be fled or fought, leads to constant state of heightened alert. This can induce a weakened immune system, ulcers, and even heart problems.
 |
| Source: Whitaker's World of Facts |
"Mentally, this stress can cause a variety of repetitive and sometimes self-destructive behaviors known as stereotypies, the animal equivalent of wringing one's hands or biting one's lip, which are considered a sign of depression or anxiety by most biologists."
Due to these physically and psychologically harmful effects, captivity can often result in lower life expectancies despite objectively improved living conditions. Life span reduction, fewer birth rates and high infant mortality rates are other deleterious effects.
Conclusion:
 |
| Source: Google image. Link: news.xinhuanet.com/.../ |
For all the material comforts zoos provide and all their attempts to replicate animals' natural habitats as closely as possible, even the most sophisticated zoos cannot match the level of stimulation and exercise of natural instincts that animals experience in the wild. To an helpless animal, he cannot see past his confinement:
"It seems to him there are/a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world."
Whether the bars are real or metaphorical, when one has no control, it is as if nothing exists beyond the pain of this loss.
P.S:
To know where this article started please read my first post on the same subject.
