Elise Pevoar

Amy Rybak

GSW 1120

24 March 2017

1)     Unethical Confinement

2)     Most people are aware that zoos and aquariums aren’t exactly ethical for the animals that live there.  The problem that will be addressed is that animals in captivity suffer from mental issues.  This has been a recent controversial topic for a certain group of people.  I selected this topic because it relates to my major and could possible relate to where I might be working in the future.  I also like to gain knowledge in my area of work before I begin a career.

3)     My purpose for working on this project would be to gain writing skills and research skills.  Not only am I gaining two great life skills, I’m am also gaining the ability to change the world with the research I have conducted already.  With this paper I hope to change the way people view animals in captivity.  My goal is to help people understand that in some cases zoos can be a good thing, especially when it comes to animal conservation. 

4)     Does keeping animals in captivity cause them stress and mental issues?

Thesis: Captivity causes animals to suffer from stress and other mental issues.

5)     In all the research I conducted, I have found that a common theme in all my sources is that captivity causes the animals stress and mental issues.  In the first article the researchers conducted a study using captive chimps in zoos across the U.S. and UK.  The results showed that all chimps participated in certain activities that were abnormal and would confirm mental issues (Birkett).  The article was written by Lucy Birkett and Nicholas Newton-Fisher.  Lucy Birkett is a researcher at the School of Anthropology and Conservation at University of Kent.  Her main focus of research is in the intelligence and abilities of primates and specializes in suffering.  Nicholas Newton-Fisher is a professor at the University of Kent and teaches behavioral ecology in primates.  He also conducts field work with chimpanzees in Africa.  Blackfish explores the story of Tilikum, a killer whale at SeaWorld.  During his time at Sealand park in Canada he was kept in a very small enclosure (100 ft by 50 ft) during the day and even smaller enclosure at night 20 ft across and 30 ft deep.  When Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld, he was left to swim in circles and was only brought out to perform at the end of shows.  “He comes out every once in a while and performs in shows, but do you know what he does in his shows? He takes a few bows and then goes back into his little jail cell. That’s his life.” (Dean Gomersall, former SeaWorld trainer).  He began showing signs of mental issues before he killed his trainer.  Along with monkeys, killer whales have a strong sense of social being/ behavior (Cowperthwaite).  The film was directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and is considered to be among the highest grossing documentaries.  She has also written and directed real life documentaries for more than ten years.  One of the books lists ways zoos can prevent stress and boredom within enclosures by making it as close to the animal’s natural habitat as possible.  It also gave a great description of what zoos looked like in the past and what they look like in today’s society.  The book was written by Linda Koebner who was an animal welfare advocate for chimpanzees.  Her work has been published in many areas.             

6)     I was planning on conducting an interview with a zookeeper from the Toledo Zoo; however, they declined to participate, so now I will be conducting a survey.  Some of the questions included in the survey will be:

a.      Have you visited a zoo in the last year?

b.     Have you visited different types of zoos? (ex: public zoos like the Toledo zoo or privately owned zoos like The Wilds) If yes please explain your experience.

c.      Did visiting the zoo change your perspective of endangered species?

d.     Did you happen to observe any type of animal behavior that would be considered unhealthy? (ex: pacing, picking at skin/ fur, eating feces)

e.      List one way zoos could be improved to better suit the animals.

7)     I have thought through a couple of different counterarguments for my paper.  One of my proposed solutions would be to release.  However, this is not the best solution for this problem.  Releasing the animals back into the wild could be more detrimental than helpful.  The animals now lack hunting skills because they have been cared for their entire lives.  These animals will eventually die due to starvation (Clover).  Charles Clover is the environmental editor for The Daily Telegraph.  He has served as the editor since 1987.  He also received the British Environment and Media’s National Journalist of the Year award multiple times.  Charles Clover has written and co-written multiple books, some of which have become best sellers.  Not only do these animals have a risk of being killed, but they also may not even have a habitat to live in.  Many habitats have been destroyed for human and agricultural development.  Also, many countries where endangered species live are in war, so these animals have a chance of being killed (Moore).  Richard Moore is a researcher at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain.  His research has been published in journals for Biology and Animal Cognition.  It is because of both of these reasons animals should not be released back into the wild.