What are benefits and limitations of a wildlife park and how can we prevent the limitations?
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Answer:
List of the Advantages of Zoos
1. There are multiple types of zoos to visit around the world.
We have moved away from the traditional zoological park to create habitats that replicate nature to the best of our ability while still maintaining the protective qualities that some animals need. There are still the standard settings where an animal lives in an enclosure or housed in buildings that protect them from humans and vice-versa to create safe viewing experiences.
Safari parks keep animals in larger outdoor enclosures and use moats or fencing instead of cages to keep visitors safe. You would then drive through the facility to come into close contact with the animals.
Roadside zoos are small, for-profit facilities found in rural areas that bring you into close contact with the animals.
Petting zoos feature livestock, farm animals, and other domestic creatures that offer low-risk settings for close encounters.
2. Most animals are not sourced from wild captures.
Before the year 2000, there were still zoos operating on the principle that they could develop exhibits based on the types of animals they could capture. Except for a handful of facilities in southeast Asia, that is no longer the case. Most of the animals that are on display were either injured and could not return to the wild or were born in captivity. When zoos transfer animals, they take appropriate quarantine measures to ensure that an illness does not come into the facility. This trading process eliminates the idea of an open market, so profits are taken out of the equation.
List of the Disadvantages of Zoos
1. When animals are born in captivity, they become dependent on humans.
The reason why most of the animals that are in zoos today are the offspring of captured animals from the generation before is the fact that the descendants are unable to cope in the wild by themselves. Having a successful breeding program can save a species, but it can also create lucrative profit opportunities for the businesses involved.
Unless there are specific, protected areas for the animals, such as the Przewalski’s horses being released into the Chernobyl exclusion zone, most will fail to make the transition. That means the animal has no choice but to stay in the facility for the remainder of their life.
2. There is an ethical question that we must answer.
Most wild animals thrive when they can live in their natural habitat. When we bring them into an enclosure of any type, then it can have a direct and adverse impact on their health. Orcas are an excellent example of this issue. Their lifespan sees a reduction of 70% when they live in captivity.
The best manmade habitats are not a suitable substitution for the ones that animals can find in the wild. Although injured animals can rehabilitate successfully in many situations with the help of a zoo, keeping an animal enclosed for the rest of its life is a challenging ethical question that all of us must answer.