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Kimberly Bertrand

Instructor Douglas

ENG 112 - 01

22 March 2017

Animals in Captivity: Humans Decide for Them.

When it comes to animals in captivity, there are many voices that believe they know what

is best for these animals. Except, the only voice that truly matters when it comes to this matter, is

the animals themselves. Unfortunately, we can not ever know what they think is the best

solution but we can try. Three very opinionated groups that are trying to solve this issue are

animal rights groups, theme park owners and operators, and animal conservations. It is a

constant battle between theme parks keeping animals in captivity and animal activist groups

claiming that that is torture. In the middle of the spectrum, we have animal conservationists who

some believe captivity is vital to helping populations from becoming extinct, others thinking that

society should improve their standards to allow animals to live a healthier life in captivity.

Not far off from the coast of Jamaica lies the Cayman Turtle Farm. According to the

published journal, "The Cayman Turtle Farm: Why we can't have our Green Turtle and Eat it

Too, this is the only place in the world that breeds and raises green sea turtles for human

consumption. While it was originally opened to sell turtle meat for popular Cayman dishes, it is

now underpaid, lacking the resources needed to be successful. Between 2007 and 2011, 2,299

turtle deaths were documented and only 6.2% of eggs laid during this period produced offspring

that survived twelve months or more. (D Cruze 2015). Along with more devastating statistics,
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the author just proves that these animals in captivity are not living the full potential lives that

they deserve. In an attempt to explain why the Cayman Turtle Farm needs to be shut down, Neil

D Cruze says that CTF is causing economic and animal welfare costs that is no longer suitable

for our society.

This is just one example as it why animal activists are so strongly against animals in

captivity. They see it as nothing but torture, and that these animals deserve to live in the

environment that they organically came from. Another popular argument that has been recently

in the media is the argue against SeaWorld to close their doors and never use killer whales for

entertainment again. From the article, Should the Show Go On? by Joe Bubar, the marine

mammal scientist Naomi Rose is a strong advocate for not keeping these large animals in

captivity. She states, I think they are under a constant low level of stress simply by being

confined when they are built to travel distances. According to Rose, killer whales are capable of

swimming up to 100 miles per day and normally interact with a large family (Bubar 2014). In

captivity, these animals just simply do not get those types of circumstances and that can lead to

an unhappy lifestyle.

Although SeaWorld has received a lot of negative attention, they continue to claim that

their animals in captivity live full, complete lives as orcas in the wild do. Along with SeaWorld,

zoos, and other popular entertainment theme parks, these companies claim that it is important to

our society to have such animals up close and personal; that we can learn a great deal by having

them in our own backyards. These companies main argument of defense is that most information

given to the public is twisted to make the circumstances look a lot worse than it actually is. From

the article, SeaWorld Says Their Whales Live as Long as Wild Whales Do by Lauren Carroll, it
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is strongly pointed out that SeaWorld currently has in its care several whales in their 30s and

one in its 40s when PETA, an extreme animal rights group, has released information stating that

the average death of SeaWorlds orcas are 12 years of age (Carroll 2015). This is an example as

to how so much hatred acquired for animals in captivity in such a short amount of time. Another

positive experience of animals in captivity is when a team of scientists directly measured the

difference between the numbat in captivity and in the wild. According to C. E. Cooper from

Does Season or Captivity Influence the Physiology of an Endangered Marsupial, the

Numbat?, there was not much of a difference in the physiology standards of a wild-living

numbat from a numbat living in captivity. This just continues to prove the viewpoint of zoos and

theme parks that animals live just as vicariously as the wild ones do.

When it comes to captivity for conservation, there can be many different viewpoints on

the matter. Some believe it is absolutely vital to keep certain endangered species in captivity to

prevent them from becoming extinct. Jozef Keulartz, the author who wrote the journal Captivity

for Conservation? Zoos at a Crossroads, has stated that because of the increase of our global

environment being attacked, animals are constantly having to relocate to new territories that put

their species at risk. He continues to say that we have reached the point where it is impractical to

continue to try to have a hands-off method when conserving animals. For the sake of their

species, it is crucial for humans to step in and place endangered populations into captivity to

prevent them from becoming extinct (Keulartz 2015).

On the opposite side, there are groups that believe captivity for conservation is necessary,

but needs to be improved greatly for the sake of the animals well-being. These groups are in the

middle of the spectrum for this ongoing argument. They find it humane to keep species in
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captivity for conservation, research, or even curiosity, they just demand that these situations have

very high standards that are not to be compromised. The welfare organization FOUR PAWS is an

agency that protects animals under human control, according to Europe's Zoos and Circuses

Fail to Meet the Standard; Priority Meeting to Call for Comprehensive Action Wild Animals in

Captivity - Animal Welfare, Law and Enforcement. This group, along with others, have seen

unacceptable standards in zoos in Europe and are strongly working together to make living

situations in captivity an accommodating lifestyle.

Its hard to say which viewpoint has a more compelling argument. Each group has strong

reasons and ample examples to support them. Animal conservationists can easily agree with zoos

and theme parks that the work they are doing is important for our society to grow and learn more

about the animals on this Earth. Although, they can just as easily claim that the negatives to

captivity are simply much greater than the positives of keeping animals in wild, a likeminded

viewpoint of animal rights activists. The two viewpoints that will collide the most is going to be

theme parks and animal rights activists: these two groups are both strongly opinionated and will

probably never see the opposing sides viewpoint. As long as the general public continues to fund

zoos, living standards of animals will not change dramatically. And as long as zoos continue to

keep their businesses running, animal activists will have something to fight for. This is not

something to be solved overnight, but it is important that we are all discussing such matters and

working together to come to a reasonable solution for our beloved animals.

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Works Cited

Bubar, Joe. "Should the show Go on?" Scholastic News, vol. 82, no. 17, Mar 10, 2014, pp. 4-5,8,

Research Library, http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/

1507833867?accountid=10008.

Carroll, Lauren, and Louis Jacobson. "SEAWORLD SAYS THEIR WHALES LIVE AS LONG

AS WILD WHALES DO." Tampa Bay Times, Mar 24, 2015, US Southeast Newsstream,

http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1666310945?

accountid=10008.

Cooper, C. E., and P. C. Withers. "Does Season Or Captivity Influence the Physiology of an

Endangered Marsupial, the Numbat (Myrmecobius Fasciatus)?" Journal of mammalogy,

vol. 93, no. 3, 2012, pp. 771-777, Research Library, http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?

url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1024424884?accountid=10008.

D'cruze, Neil, Rachel Alcock, and Marydele Donnelly. "The Cayman Turtle Farm: Why we can't

have our Green Turtle and Eat it Too." Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics,

vol. 28, no. 1, 2015, pp. 57-66, Research Library, http://ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?

url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1644605620?accountid=10008, doi:http://

dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10806-014-9519-6.
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"Europe's Zoos and Circuses Fail to Meet the Standard; Priority Meeting to Call for

Comprehensive Action Wild Animals in Captivity - Animal Welfare, Law and

Enforcement." M2 Presswire, Jun 19, 2013, Banking Information Database; Computing

Database; European Newsstream; Telecommunications Database, http://

ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1369053214?

accountid=10008.

Keulartz, Jozef. "Captivity for Conservation? Zoos at a Crossroads." Journal of Agricultural and

Environmental Ethics, vol. 28, no. 2, 2015, pp. 335-351, Research Library, http://

ezproxy.cpcc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1664901456?

accountid=10008, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10806-015-9537-z.