Why are zoos important? As a volunteer at a zoo, I have heard many people ask that. I have also seen many articles on why people think that zoos are evil and should be destroyed. In this article, I hope to cover both sides of the argument and also talk about my personal opinion on zoos.

To start off, I will address some issues that I have seen in other articles. One thing that I commonly see is people saying that zoos capture their animals from the wild, kidnapping them from their habitat and family. While that may have been true 50 years ago, it is no longer true. Now, zoos around the world have enough animals to not need to collect any from the wild. Also in many cases, because zoos did that, species like the Panamanian Golden Frog and the 31 other species of animals classified as Extinct in the Wild would be completely extinct.

Another common thing to see is people claiming that animals have spaces so small for their behind the scenes enclosures that they can barely move and that their keeper's torture them. If you think that you could not be more wrong. I have seen the behind the scenes enclosures for the animals at the zoo that I volunteer at, and they have ample space, especially considering that they are only in there at night or if it is unsafe for them to be outside. As for the claims that keepers mistreat the animals that they care for is something that most keepers would be horrified and furious to hear. Even just talking to a keeper about the animals that they take care of, you can see their eyes light up since they really do care about their animals and want to educate people about them.

Now I will address the other side of the argument. I will admit there are some bad zoos. Many zoos also have a history with mistreating animals and keeping them in enclosures that are way to small and don't even begin to try and emulate the animal's native habitat. Most of the description that I just said would accurately show what a 1950's zoo was like. They were sad and disgusting places for both the animals and the people who visited the zoo. Luckily everything changed for zoos. They started to make bigger habitats for the animals that were as close to the original habitat as you could get without going there. 

Animals in zoos today are actually better off than their wild counterparts in some ways. For instance, today zoos have a veterinary staff always on site, and all animals receive routine check-ups to monitor their health. Animals in zoos are able to receive treatment for illnesses that would kill them in the wild, and for many species, they have a longer lifespan in zoos because they have no predators, ample food, and receive great care from their keepers.

Now I am going to talk about my opinion on zoos. I fully support zoos and love the work that many of them are doing. Without zoos, the world would be so much different. Because of zoos, we have learned so much about animals and their behaviour. Many of the foremost researchers in zoological fields come from zoos along with much of what we know about animal intelligence. So to anyone reading this, please support zoos and the amazing work that they do.