• Zoo officials call such criticism  unfair,
• Zoos have come a long way since their beginnings in ancient times as diversions  for the rich and powerful.
• critics in the animal-welfare community say reintroduction efforts have been  unsuccessful and that zoos would better serve the cause of wildlife conservation  by devoting more time and resources to helping preserve threatened habitats  around the globe.
• fundamentally immoral because they imprison thousands of helpless animals merely  for the sake of human amusement
• crucial role in awakening the public to wildlife-conservation issues.
• the story of their survival is also the story of how zoos are becoming more than  just collections of exotic animals.
• display of animals as almost secondary to their other missions -- educating the  public on the importance of protecting wildlife and actually helping to preserve  species in the wild
• animals kept in captivity suffer enormous harm -- driving some to the point of  madness.
• most notably the promotion of wildlife conservation
• Despite a few early setbacks, the program eventually succeeded, increasing the  population of wild tamarins by 30 to 40 percent.
• tamarins is one of the few breed-and-release stories with a happy ending.
• reintroduce orangutans and scores of other species have ended in complete  failure, with zoo-bred animals proving unprepared to cope with the rigors of life in  the wild.
• only in the wild can animals learn many of the behaviors that they need to  survive.
• A lot of this isn't instinct, and it's hard to learn in a zoo where everything is  provided for you,” she contends.

• Douglas Meyers, director of California's world-famous San Diego  Zoo, says that many species in the wild have been so decimated that captive  breeding likely is their last hope for long-term survival. He also contends that  reintroducing a species like the tamarin into certain areas can serve as an  anchor to preserve habitat.
• root cause of extinction for many species -- the wanton destruction of their  habitat.
• many animals kept in zoos exhibit strange behavior and suffer terrible stresses  as a result of life in captivity.
• It's irrefutable that many zoos drive animals insane

• Others envision zoos taking advantage of new, breakthrough  technologies to radically change the very essence of exhibits. Some facilities  contemplate using video cameras to allow visitors to see animals during times  they normally can't be observed, such as after they retreat to private areas of  their enclosures to feed their young or to sleep. “This would be great because  it would give the animals more space and privacy while allowing people to still  observe them,” Croke says.

• Others say technology might even allow zoos to dispense with the  display of live animals, at least in part. “I see more and more prospects for  virtual zoos -- using computers and other high-tech equipment to allow us to  observe animals without keeping them in captivity,” says PETA's O'Conner. “For  instance, zoos are already beginning to use sophisticated holographic images of  animals to replace the real thing.”

18 more annotations...

• PETA - zoo insider web site. Will provide examples from advocates sighting that zoos are not beneficial to animals. - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14

• In February 2001, PETA exposed the beating of the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo’s  elephant Chai during her breeding loan to the Dickerson Park Zoo. We learned  from a whistleblower that Chai was beaten for several hours while her keeper  from Woodland Park Zoo did nothing to stop it. Despite denials by Woodland Park  Zoo officials, the USDA investigated the situation, found that Chai had been  mistreated, and charged the Dickerson Park Zoo with causing her “trauma,  behavioral stress, physical harm, and unnecessary discomfort,” in violation of  the federal Animal Welfare Act. Dickerson Park Zoo subsequently paid a $5,000  fine to settle the case.

   

  In May 2005, a whistleblower contacted PETA about a cover-up at the Saint  Louis Zoo, where the public was being blamed for throwing trash into an  enclosure, causing the death of polar bear Churchill. The zoo insider claimed  that the plastic bag found in Churchill’s digestive tract was actually one used  by keepers, and that veterinary care was not provided to the ailing bear until  two weeks after his condition was reported. The USDA opened an investigation  into this incident.

   

  The USDA cited the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois, for failure to  provide adequate shelter after a whistleblower alerted us to the December 2004  death of a camel who had been inadvertently left out overnight.

•  

  Unsuitable habitat (e.g., enclosures that are too small, poorly designed,  unsafe, or not maintained)

   

  • Animal escapes

   

  • Dangerous animal-handling procedures

   

  • Injuries to animals or zoo personnel

   

  • Insufficient or untrained staff

   

  • Improper diet

   

  • Neglect

   

  • Abuse

   

  • Insufficient veterinary care

   

  • Death

   

  
  

   

  Animal Social and Emotional  Well-Being and Enrichment Issues

   

  • Inadequate environmental enrichment

   

  • Incompatible social grouping resulting in injury or death

   

  • Stereotypic/repetitive behavior (i.e., behavioral disturbances, including  pacing, head-bobbing, rocking, swaying, bar-biting, pulling out hair and  feathers, and self-inflicted wounds)

   

  
  

   

  Animal Acquisition and  Disposition

   

  • Importation of wild-caught animals

   

  • Selling, buying, or transferring animals to or from exhibitors, private  collections, circuses, exotic animal auctions, canned hunting facilities, or  zoos not accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association

   

  • Splitting up bonded animals for transfer to other  facilities

  
   

  ---

   
   

  Problems Can Happen Anywhere

   

   Animals suffer from more than neglect in some  zoos. Rose-Tu, an elephant at   the  Oregon Zoo, suffered “176 gashes and cuts” inflicted by a zoo handler  using   a  bullhook. Another elephant, Sissy, was beaten with an ax handle at the El  Paso   Zoo. 

   

   Twiggs and Jeffrey, two giraffes born at the  Cape May County  

• Animals suffer from more than neglect in some zoos. Rose-Tu, an elephant at  the Oregon Zoo, suffered “176 gashes and cuts” inflicted by a zoo handler using  a bullhook. Another elephant, Sissy, was beaten with an ax handle at the El Paso  Zoo.

   

  Twiggs and Jeffrey, two giraffes born at the Cape May County Zoo in New  Jersey, ended up being sold to a traveling circus. The director of the Cape May  County Zoo admitted to seeing the animals’ pitiful living conditions in the  circus but reportedly did not have a problem with it.

   

  A chimpanzee named Edith was born at the Saint Louis Zoo. Just after her  third birthday, she was taken from her family and shuffled around to at least  five different facilities, finally landing at a Texas roadside zoo. During an  undercover investigation at this poorly run zoo, PETA found Edith in a filthy,  barren concrete pit. She was hairless and had been living on rotten produce and  dog food.

   

  Some zoos even sell animals for slaughter. At the Minnesota Zoo, about 130  animals from its petting zoo, including goats, calves, pigs, and sheep, are sold  to an auction house for slaughter each year.

1 more annotation...

• PETA Zoo Insider website (actual site). Will provide examples to represent opponents view points. - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14
• The "whistle blowers" section of the PETA website is a place where people who witness any kind of animal abuse can report it. There are serveral incidents listed that will support the opposing view (Animal rights activists) of my paper. List these items under the section regarding why AA's don't like zoos. - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-21

• The lives of elephants in zoos typically are far shorter than their 70-year  life expectancy. More than half of the 63 elephants who have died at  AZA-accredited facilities since 2000 never even reached the age of  40.
  
  Following is a list of elephants who have died at AZA-accredited zoos  from 2000 to the present (excluding newborns and infants under the age of 2).  

• Elephant deaths at accredited zoos - oposing example of animal life span shortened by being in zoo - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14
• PETA stats regarding number of elephants that have died in captivity since 2000 - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-21

• Opposing (well not so sure which side I'm actually on any more) arguments and examples of what animals suffer in zoos - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14

• proponents of zoos - describes many zoo careers. Info regarding what researcherss and horticultuists do might be supply info for paper - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14

• Example of bad animal behavior due to being locked up in a zoo - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14

• Tons of info in this book.
  
  Good info for proponents side regarding advances in animal conservations chapts 9,10 - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14
• See page 141 - couldn't highlight - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-14

• Facts about tamarin - description and location. - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-15

• Reports on deaths, injuries and violations at the Holge Zoo in UT. Article give examples of the types of problems and neglect that occur in captivity - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-21

• Back in September 2005, four chimpanzees made a break for freedom from a  depressing roadside zoo called Zoo  Nebraska after workers at the zoo failed to lock the animals' cage properly.  Ultimately, three of the chimpanzees—Reuben, Jimmy Joe, and Tyler (who had been  discarded by the entertainment industry once he got too big and strong to  reliably perform in TV and movies)—were shot and killed by police. You can view  a police video of the escape here.

• Example of road side zoo neglect and violations. - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-21

• Roadside Zoo Busted on Wildlife-Trafficking Charges

   

  On June 20, Kevin and Brendan Casey, two members of the family that owns and  operates Bear Country USA, a drive-through zoo in Rapid City, South Dakota,  pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally selling bear gallbladders. The Bear  Country USA corporation also pleaded guilty to illegally buying and transporting  two grizzly bears. Additional evidence in this case, which was part of a U.S.  Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) investigation, revealed that between 1999 and  2001, Brendan Casey negotiated the sale of approximately $26,699 worth of bear  body parts, including 44 bear paws, 254.5 ounces of bear gallbladder, and 12  pounds of bear meat. The sources of all these bear body parts were the  animals at Bear Country USA! The Caseys were killing bears at the park  and profiting from the harvested body parts.

   

  The situation at Bear Country USA is horrific, but it's not a surprise.  Facilities that breed animals for public display are not acting in the best  interests of the animals and typically exploit them in other ways as well.  Unfortunately, there is a big black market for bears, tigers, and other native  and nonnative wildlife. Many of these animals are actually worth more dead than  alive. Organs and other body parts are sold for use in traditional Chinese  medicine, and hides and heads are mounted and sold to collectors. It’s a nasty  business.

• PETA - example of road side zoo killing bears and harvesting body parts and organs for profit. - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-21

• Article talks about Lincoln park zoo being investigated for criminal negligence following string of deaths. - Sherry Stanley on 2009-02-22