Argumentative Essay Example on Zoos

People have always found pleasure in watching and observing how (foreign) animals behave. From seeing how they move to watching them interact with one another. That is why zoos have been very popular in the history of humankind. But in our modern world they do not really have a purpose anymore.

To begin with, you do not need to see the animal in person to learn something about it. You can find a picture or a video of a certain animal just by typing its name in a search bar – you can get any information that you are interested in within seconds meaning that there is no need in visiting a zoo.

Secondly, animals, in general, are usually hiding from noise and people. Keeping an animal in a small cage so that it cannot retreat and forcing it to always stay visible, making walls of the cage out of glass so the visitors can see animals up close is cruel.

Furthermore, the argument of saying that zoos are good because you can see how the animal behaves in nature is untrue, as most of them are imprisoned alone, sick and depressed so there is no real behavior to be seen.

Lastly, it is not very ethical to keep animals in captivity. And the excuse saying that they were born in the zoo is not a good one as they should not have been born in the zoo at all. The animals should have been left in the wild in the first place. 

To sum up, going for a Saturday trip to a zoo and watching the animals kept in cages, so we satisfy our need for the unusual is a selfish thing to do, as we can get the knowledge elsewhere. From my point of view and using the arguments stated above zoos do not have a purpose anymore.