By Alleen Erchoff-Costet
It’s a hot summer day and you and your family decide to visit the aquarium. You see a variety of different aquatic animals such as turtles, fish, lobster, and more. You come across a shark held in a very small tank, with no room for it to swim around in. You think to yourself, “well that isn’t fair.” A large animal like a shark should have a larger tank to swim around in. Animals that are held in captivity are often overlooked or people never realize how poorly they can be treated, even if it’s just the smallest things. People may make the excuse that animals are violent creatures, that they try to hurt people. The animals are scared. They are being taken from their homes and put in cages while they have no idea what is going on. In this article, I will talk about the mistreatment of animals not just in aquariums, but in zoos too.
You may wonder, in what kinds of facilities are animals held captive, and how did they get there? There are many places where animals can be held captive, such as zoos, aquariums, marine parks, circuses, scientific research labs, rehabilitation centers, and private homes. These animals may be captured from the wild or born in captivity. In the U.S., animals can be legally taken into captivity for scientific research or public display, or illegally, as seen with SeaWorld’s orcas in the 1960s and ‘70s. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) provides guidelines for animal care, but membership is optional for all captive organizations. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA) are prominent animal welfare regulatory organizations in the U.S. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) protects zoo animals and the Marine Mammal Protection Act limits marine mammal imports. The Animal Plant and Health Inspection Services (APHIS) inspects captive facilities. However, there is a lack of large-scale, quantitative research on animal mistreatment in captivity.
Animals in captivity in small tanks or enclosures are forced to either sit all day or perform for the public for profit. This takes animals away from their homes or natural habitats. Animals experience early death because of neglect or not living in their from their natural environment. There are captive release programs which tend to be slightly effective. Captive release programs involve breeding animals in controlled environments, like zoos and then releasing them back into their natural habitats. The goal is to restart populations that have been lost. These programs can be effective in preventing extinction and stabilizing wild populations, but success is not guaranteed and requires ongoing management. This type of captivity isn’t harmful compared to keeping an exotic animal as a pet. Captivity is considered mistreatment for wild animals due to its restrictive conditions, forced interaction with other species. These conditions can be further worsened by the facility’s conditions and the mismatch between the captive situation and the animal’s adaptations.
Wild animals can suffer mistreatment through forced breeding programs, which can be uncomfortable for both the mother and infant. Feeding and training practices in captivity can also cause boredom and psychological distress for animals adapted to hunting. In some facilities, animals are fed frozen fish, leading to chronic dehydration. Animals trained to perform for visitors are not fed according to a healthy schedule or when hungry, and are often subjected to harmful methods like electric shocks, loud noises, and threats to capture.
The situation has improved significantly in recent years, but mistreatment remains a significant issue. Zoos have shifted from crowded, natural habitats to more natural-looking ones, but entertainment continues to drive the captivity industry. As of 2019, there were 1.5-3 times more tigers in captivity in the U.S. than in the wild. Public attention to animal mistreatment in the 2010s led to policy changes, such as SeaWorld’s 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which prompted the company to modify its orca shows and end its captive breeding program. Despite these improvements, severe mistreatment continues to plague captive animals worldwide and in the U.S.
Alleen Erchoff-Costet is a Spring Grove High School student, one of 15 area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 26th year.
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