Jenna Huffstetler

Mrs. Hofmann
English 1102-057
4/01/2014
Draft 1
What is the relationship between animal rights activists and the conditions of animal
domestication in zoos?
As a child, I went to the zoo with my best friend, Kelsea Smart, from second grade in
2002. I remember making a day out of it with her family as we walked slowly passed the
bamboo trees while my friends mom pushed my friends little brother in a stroller. We looked at
the exotic animals in their wildlife environments in the zoo and did not even realize the animals
were domesticated or the views of the animals being in zoo.
Domestication is in definition to tame (an animal), especially by generations of
breeding, to live in close association with human beings as a pet or work animal and usually
creating a dependency so that the animal loses its ability to live in the wild (Dictionary.com).
By reading this definition, domestication has been seen from having pets like cats and dogs to
using cattle and horses for transportation to taming animals in the circus. Domestication actually
started with dogs about 14,000 years ago, but scientists believe that it may have started earlier
and evidence has not been found yet to prove those beliefs (Lear).
In the wide range of animals, domestication has been known as a way to spread diseases.
Farm animals are the perfect example because they have put many to risk such as cows with TB,
pigs with influenza, and horses with rhinoviruses; pets are also a way to spread parasites through
their fur to humans (Lear). Aside from this downside, domesticated animals play a vital role in
mankinds history and have remained shaping our culture.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is an animal rights activist
organization that is pro-animal rights and anti-domestication specifically within zoos. PETA
believes that zoos cause too much cramped areas and cages prevent the animals to withhold their
basic needs along with the restriction of natural behavior of wildlife animals such as running,
scavenging, selecting a partner, etc. (PETA). Before jumping to conclusions, not all zoos are the
same and can be put to blame. Zoos vary in many ways such as quality; this means that zoos vary
in species preservation, in education, in research, and in having both well-kept and unwell-kept
exhibits for the visitors (DeGrazia). There are four major purposes of zoos and three of them -
entertainment, scientific research, education are largely human centered (DeGrazia). All three
purposes are solely for our needs and our desire to learn where scientific research can improve
mankinds ability to care the animals in our own environments. Recently, some zoo advocates
have argued that zoos should educate each visitor about the conservation and species
preservation so it will benefit animals and inspire activism while some zoo advocates believe that
identifying species preservation is the main goal for zoos although only small budgets are made
toward this cause (DeGrazia). One might wonder if the goal of species preservation justifies
further capture from the wild and if humans should even keep animals in the zoo. The two
questionable sides of species preservation is how captivity frequently causes death but captivity
can also increase genetic diversity for the endangered species (DeGrazia). An explanation on
why animals should not be in zoos is not because animals are full of diseases, not well fed or
comfortable, but because most zoos do not fulfill the adequate needs that the animals should
have for survival in the wildlife aspect such as adequate portions and ample space for exercise
(DeGrazia). Because all zoos are not on the same level, there are some zoo facilities that have
already met these needs whereas some have planned to improve to reach those standards.
Aside from the pros and cons of zoos, the thought of how an animal can be fit for such
measures of domestication can come to mind. Evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond identified
six things that an animal must meet in order to be domesticated; these six things that an animal
must have is a: flexible diet, reasonably fast growth rate, ability to breed in captivity, pleasant
disposition, temperament that makes it unlikely to panic, and a modifiable social hierarchy
(Lear). With these qualities in mind, the elephant is the perfect example why such a creature
could be domesticated in a zoo habitat due to the fact that they meet all of the criteria needed for
an animal to be able to survive under domestication. Elephants flexible diet consists of grasses,
leaves, roots, and grown crops like bananas and sugarcane which most of these are readily
available depending on the location (Defenders of Wildlife). Since adult elephants can eat up to
300-400 pounds a day, this shows that they constantly grow which means they have a reasonably
fast growth rate (Defenders of Wildlife). Elephants were known to have been used for warfare
during captivity many centuries ago which shows that they were still able to breed in captivity.
Mating season occurs during the rainy season and it takes about 22 months to birth their capacity
of one calf; even though captivity involves hard times, it was still possible to breed (Defenders of
Wildlife). As for having a pleasant disposition and a temperament that makes it unlikely to panic,
elephants are known to be the largest animal and is closest to human regarding intelligence
because they have characteristics that are hard to even find in man; these qualities include
justice, respect, loyalty, having memories that span many years and that they display signs of
grief, joy, anger, and play (Kalof, Defenders of Wildlife). Even though elephants were used for
warfare, those experiences may have given them the qualities that are so rare compared to other
animals. The lesson that we can learn about this kind of domestication is that the importance of
animals is written and told that humans ironically dont think of their capacities to where one
solely bases off their superiority (Kalof).
[Insert interview with zookeeper eventually]
[Insert paragraphs about zoo politics and the legislations of activists versus zoo improvements]
Although there are many views toward zoo domestication, there have been more valid
reasons why zoo animals should not be domesticated due to losing their wildlife abilities that
they were created for. Legislations have been passed for both domestication of animals and in
zoo improvements to be allowed to keep animals under their protection. Zoo domestications and
animal rights activists tie hand in hand with each other but there are valid reasons to take one
side rather than the other. Since evidence is shown that zoo domestication should be stopped,
will people go through various measures such as shut down zoos to make a statement? The
dilemma continues
LETTER COMMENTS:
Overall, your background information on your topic is good. The main thing is you need
to make sure that throughout the paper your voice doesnt get lost. Maybe you should focus on
breaking the paragraphs into smaller topics so you can then expand on the topics, but be careful
on overloading the information! If you have any questions feel free to get up with us







Works Cited
"Animal Rights Uncompromised: Zoos." PETA. People for the Ethical Treatments of Animals, n.d. Web.
26 Mar. 2014. <http://www.peta.org/about-peta/why-peta/zoos/>.
"Basic Facts About Elephants." Elephant. Defenders of Wildlife, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.defenders.org/elephant/basic-facts>.
Bjorkenstam, Melissa. "Legal Rights for Animals - Petfinder." Petfinder Legal Rights for
Animals Comments. ASPCA Animal Watch, Spring 2001. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.petfinder.com/helping-pets/information-on-helping-pets/legal-rights-
animals/>.
DeGrazia, David. Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002.
Print.
"DOMESTICATION." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/domestication>.
Donahue, Jesse, and Erik Trump. The Politics of Zoos: Exotic Animals and Their
Protectors. DeKalb: Northern Illinois UP, 2006. Print.
Kalof, Linda. A Cultural History of Animals in Antiquity. Vol. 1. Oxford: Berg, 2007.
Print.
Lear, Jessica. "Our Furry Friends: The History of Animal Domestication | JYI
The Premier Undergraduate Research Journal." JYI The Premier Undergraduate
Research Journal. Journal of Young Investigators Science, Feb. 2012. Web. 24
Mar. 2014. <http://www.jyi.org /issue/our-furry-friends/>.