Are our zoos cruel to wild animals?

Zoos contain animals which are caged. Hence it is evident that zoos are cruel to wild animals. These animals have been moved from their true home to a caged habitat and in these caged habitats they get teased by people who come to watch them and get disturbed. Their natural instincts are disturbed (I am not sure about the grammar in this sentence) when they are confined to an enclosure. Their ability to move freely is prevented. Another reason as to why zoos are cruel is because they have specific timings for feeding the animals whereas animals in the wild eat, sleep, drink water etc. as and when they want to. In some cases, a cage is seen to contain more than 2 animals. This again is bad as the animals have a tendency to fight for space - especially in the case of carnivores - and this may result in deadly injuries to the animals. There is also the problem of lack of space to move about the cage.

Another problem faced by these animals is that, people who come to the zoos to see animals don’t just stop with seeing. They tend to feed the animals items like chips, popcorn etc. A typical example of this would be the Guindy Zoo.

One should learn from the Africans how to treat animals. They have what they call as game reserves (game reserves are more popularly known as sanctuaries in India). Here, the people get to see the animals in the wild, in their natural habitat and there is this happy feeling we get when we see them in their homes as compared to animals in zoos. Although India has a number of wildlife sanctuaries, the problem of poaching still exists. Villagers in remote areas of states where the sanctuaries are situated set up protective measures some of which are harmful for animals. The forest department of that state should take efforts in teaching these villagers on how to protect themselves without harming the animals.

I would like to conclude by saying that zoos should be closed and the animals in these zoos should be released into the wild, their true home.