Unpopular Opinion: What About the Animals?
This article, although it sounds negative, does not wish to degrade zoos or criticize the ones who
created these establishments. The following article you are about to read is just a mere train of thought
that hopes to make people rethink about how the animals feel about being caged in a domesticated kind of life.
While most visitors in the zoo enjoyed their time documenting their stay at the zoo, I couldn’t help but feel
sad as I watched the animals in their cages. If there was one thing that I saw in all of their eyes, it was
sadness. They have all been deprived of the freedom they used to have. What could be sadder is some
of those animals may never have known what freedom was. Think about this, every species has its own
natural habitat. However, with the event of them being in an artificial habitat, these species eventually
degrade and become domesticated.
The very moment that the animals are uprooted from the place they once called home, there will be
inevitable changes in their body and behaviour as well. Due to the sudden change of their surroundings,
the animals then become drastically dependent on their keepers called humans, because they have no
choice should they want to survive. The environment may seem “fit” for them, but it nullifies their abilities
to a certain extent. For example, wild animals or predators to be exact can lose their natural ability for
hunting. Since they no longer have food, they’ll need to rely on the ones who feed them. On the
“brighter” side, these animals would no longer need to hunt for food is served before them.
However, as time passes, these animals, tigers for example, lose the ability to hunt and fend for
themselves should they be released into the wild once again. These felines would no longer be animals
that could evolve in the wild, but domestic wildcats. All of this brought by forcibly placing them in a cage
called their “home”.
On the other hand, it is an inevitable truth that zoos exist for the people to be able to observe and marvel
at the animals’ uniqueness. In addition, zoos can also be a venue for interactive learning, for it provides
various information about each animal that lives there and allows the learners to see the animals live and
in action. Furthermore, such places like these allow us to safely interact with various species in environment.
Lastly, this is a place where families and friends can create memories and capture them through photo,
because it is through the smiles and laughter they have shared that their bonds grow stronger as they
walk through the zoo and see the different animals God had created.
FRAVIHANGSO 