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Every year, the U.S raises 100 million pigs for food each year.

8.5 Billion chickens are killed every year, and 300 million are kept in cages for egg production.

Many factory-farmed animals have been genetically mutated to produce higher quality goods such as beef and eggs.

Antibiotics used on the animals keep them alive in what should be deathly conditions- also causing antibiotic-resistant bacteria which is harmful to humans.

Chickens' beaks are removed so that companies can fit 5-8 into a 14 inch square cage.

1/5 of Chickens will die before being slaughtered because of stress or disease.

At a typical slaughterhouse, 250 cows are killed every hour.

Adult, female pigs spend 2 - 3 weeks nursing their young as opposed to the usual 13 - 17 weeks they would in the wild.

The pie chart on the right depicts the total amount of U.S spending on food production. On this chart it's important to note that only $20.7 billion is being spent towards stopping animal cruelty, while health care is given $314 billion yearly. The amount of money spent on stopping animal cruelty is less than 5% of food production's total investments.

On this table, it's important to note how most of the overall deaths are due to slaughtering. In 2009, slaughtering was the cause of more than 90% of the total animal deaths. And 91% in 2010, showing a gradual increase.
Animal Cruelty In Zoos:

A government funded study discovered 75% of elephants were overweight and only 16% could walk normally. (Only 20% were completely without walking/leg problems.)

Lions and tigers have about 18,000 times less space in zoos than normally in the wild, and polar bears are estimated to have less than one million times their usual space.

Zoos in the UK found that 54% of their elephants showed signs of behavioral (mental) problems.

In zoos, lions spend 48% of their time pacing, a commonly noted indication of a behavioral problem.

10% more lion cubs die in zoos than they do in the wild where most of their deaths are linked to natural factors such as predation.

Zoo elephants: 50 years of life and death shows how the number elephant deaths has increased over the years. From '62 to '12 there was a high inflation in births, but an even greater amount of deaths. The bar to the far right displays this ratio of births to deaths as being 170 : 390, meaning that at this rate, the elephant population is not stable. More points of interest are the categories Artificial Insemination Births, and Artificial Insemination Deaths. Human interference is more clearly depicted here, starting around 1999. This is further made important by the statistic that: "54% of successful artificial inseminations have resulted in miscarriages, stillborn births or premature deaths."Concluding that human interference has not been beneficial to the elephant population.

Animal Cruelty In Aquariums:

A CAPS study discovered 79% of UK aquarium animals were obtained straight from the wild.

Normally, dolphins and orca whales can swim up to 100 miles each day, but can be kept in tanks 24 feet long, 24 feet wide, and 6 feet deep.

Dolphins usually live to be about 40 - 50 years old, but over 80% of captive dolphins die before they turn 20, and at SeaWorld, most die before 10.

Florida's Sun-Sentinel found that over the years, 4,000 sea lions, seals, dolphins, and whales have died in their captivity, and 1/5 of these deaths were due to human errors.

At the Calgary Zoo's "touch tank," forty sting rays died within the first three months of the exhibit being open.

In the wild, orcas can live for decades (some up to 100 years old,) but in captivity, orcas usually only live to be about 9.

At SeaWorld alone, over 44 orcas have died from extreme trauma, intestinal gangrene, and other horrific illnesses. NOT ONE HAS DIED FROM OLD AGE.

Within the last 10 years, over 60 bottle-nose dolphins have died (16 of which were stillborn babies.)

Animal Cruelty In Circuses:
The graph to the left shows the number of orcas that have died while in captivity in 2011, and the different organizations which were responsible for them . One of the most noticeable of these facilities is San Diego's SeaWorld and Canada's Marinland- both of which are responsible for the death of seventeen orcas. Other notable names are SeaWorld in Orlando (11 deaths) Shirahama (13 deaths) and Kamogawa (10 deaths.)

Since 2000, there have been more than 35 dangerous accidents in which elephants have escaped from circuses, run through streets, destroyed buildings, attacked civilians, and killed/ injured handlers.

The average circus animal spends over 11 months traveling.

Between the years1994 and 2005, 31 elephants in American circuses died premature deaths.

33% of circus animals do not have access to an outdoor facility or natural habitat.

71% of circus animals have suffered medical injuries.

A baby elephant can be bought from a circus for around $2,000 and trained ones for $30,000.

68% of circus' wild animals (including tigers, lions, and elephants) have been deprived of food, leading to starvation or malnourishment.

Bibliography:
The graph on the right depicts the documented number of animal abuse cases due to abandonment and Neglect in US Regions. Within the year 2010, the South had the highest amount of recorded cases with a total of 139. The North East was the second highest (81 cases), followed by the Mid-West (59 cases), and lastly the West (45 cases). One possible reason as for why the south has such a high number is because neither Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, or South Dakota have any felony provisions for animal cruelty.

"Last Chance for Animals - Factory Farming." "Aquariums and Marine Parks." "Farm Animal Cruelty." "Factory Farming: Misery for Animals." "10 Facts about Zoos." "Marine Animal Exhibits: Chlorinated Prisons." "Should Animal Circuses Be Banned? - Facts & Infographic." "Animal Cruelty Must Stop." Last Chance for Animals - Factory Farming. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.
PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.
ASPCA. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.
PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.
Captive Animals Protection Society. N.p., 03 Mar. 2010. Web. 07 June 2015.
PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.
Should Animal Circuses Be Banned? N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.
Animal Cruelty Must Stop. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 June 2015.

Animal-food-production. 2013. Meatonomics.files.wordpress.com, n.p.

DeathStatChart. N.d. Http://farmusa.org/, n.p.

ZooElephants50YearsOfLifeAndDeath. 2012. Digital image. Http://old.seattletimes.com/, n.p.

Orca Whale Deaths. Digital image. Https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 June 2015.

Documented Animal Abuse Cases Due To Abandonment and Neglect in US Regions in The Year 2010. Digital image. Jensenay.files.wordpress.com. N.p., 5 Mar. 2011. Web. 9 June 2015.

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Every year, the U.S raises 100 million pigs for food each year. 8.5 Billion chickens are killed every year, and 300 million are kept in cages for egg production. Many factory-farmed animals have been genetically mutated to produce higher quality goods such as beef and eggs.

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Why the sudden shift from holding wild animals captive to freeing them? Perhaps it's because of one, or several, of the following reasons.

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We hear a lot of things to justify keeping animals in zoos. But are these justifications based on fact, or are they simply what zoos would have us believe? Here's 5 things we hear about animals in zoos, and why we should think twice about them.

Whilst some zoos may contribute in small ways to conservation projects, the vast majority of animals in zoos are not on the endangered species list, and the ones who are will likely never be rehabilitated to their natural habitat. A study conducted by Captive Animal Protection Society (CAPS) found that almost half of the animals in breeding programs in the EU were not even endangered in the wild.

The truth is that zoos exist primarily for profit. One of the biggest draw cards for zoos is baby animals. Babies will often be bred even when there isn't enough room to keep them, inevitably resulting in "surplus" animals in zoos. Surplus management strategies are one of the best-kept secrets of modern zoos. In 2014, the world reacted with shock and outrage when a healthy 2 year old giraffe named Marius was killed and cut up in front of spectators at Copenhagen Zoo. His body was then fed to the lions.

In response to widespread criticism, Copenhagen Zoo's Scientific Director Bengt Holst defended the decision, saying that the zoo had a surplus of giraffes and that this is something that's " done every day", just not in the public eye. Just a short time later, Copenhagen Zoo was in the news again for killing four healthy lions to make room for a new male lion they wanted to breed. The relevant zoo standards in Australia would allow a similar judgement to be made about 'surplus animals' in zoos here, but these 'management' decisions are rarely made public.

Zoos also routinely trade and relocate animals who they deem to have outlived profitability or who no longer fit into breeding schemes. Trading animals with other zoos can be extremely stressful for the animals who are relocated, as they leave behind social bonds and surroundings they have grown accustomed to.

Just like SeaWorlds and other marine parks, for zoos the interests of animals usually comes second to attracting visitors and making money.

FACT: Zoos exist for profit.

Much to their (zoo's) embarrassment, death is a constitutive part of life, something they produce not only accidentally ... but at the very core of their functioning.Dr Matthew Chrulew, Curtin University academic and zoo expert

A zoo can teach you a lot about how animals behave in captivity but will teach you very little about the behaviour of animals in the wild. Even though most modern zoos make efforts to offer animals a more natural environment, most captive animals in zoos are unable to live in a way that they would naturally and some may even be on medication to alter their behaviour. (See point 4.)

Perhaps those who visit zoos recognise this. A study of visitor behaviour at four zoos in the U.S. found that only 6% of visitors said they go to a zoo to learn more about animals, while 86% of visitors said they went to the zoo for "social or recreational purposes".

In the early days of zoo popularity, television was far from an everyday reality for people. Today, with enlightening and informative nature documentaries, interactive online educational tools and the increasing ease and affordability of international travel, we have the opportunity to learn about animals by viewing them in their natural habitat.

"Learning" about animals by keeping them locked up is not only ineffective, it is obsolete. Click here for a list of 10 amazing places to see animals in the wild.

FACT: The best way to learn about animals is in their natural habitat.

There is nothing natural about a penguin, giraffe or elephant living in the middle of an Australian city. We've come to accept this as part of normal society. It's only when things go wrong that we're reminded that a city zoo is no place for an animal.

In 2015, a flood in Georgia destroyed enclosures at the Tbilisi Zoo and saw dozens of zoo animals unleashed on the streets, including lions, bears, wolves and a hippo.

Some 20 wolves, eight lions, white tigers, tigers, jackals, jaguars have either been shot dead by special forces or are missing.Mzia Sharashidze, Tbilisi Zoo spokeswoman

If we look back in history we see that keeping animals in captivity has left a trail of disasters ...

2018: The lions at London Zoo are so inbred that 2 out of 3 lion cubs born are dying.

2018: A Eurasian lynx named Lilith escaped Borth Wild Animal Kingdom in Wales and was shot dead by order of the local authority. A second lynx, Nilly, died the week earlier when she was asphyxiated by the catch pole during handling.

2017: A white rhino named Vince was shot dead and his horns hacked off by intruders at Thoiry Zoo near Paris.

2017: Government inspectors found that nearly 500 animals had died in less than 4 years at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria, UK. The inspectors cited "overcrowding, poor hygiene, poor nutrition, lack of suitable animal husbandry and a lack of any sort of developed veterinary care" as welfare concerns and recommended that the zoo's license renewal be refused.

2016: A 17 year old gorilla named Harambe was shot dead at Cincinnati Zoo when a four year old boy climbed into the enclosure. Opinions are divided as to whether the boy was in any danger from Harambe before he was killed by zookeepers.

2015: A female gorilla named Julia, who had lived at Melbourne Zoo for 20 years, was attacked and killed by a younger male gorilla named Otana who had been transferred to the zoo from the UK.

2015: Keepers at Duisburg Zoo in Germany shot dead a male orangutan who tried to escape, saying that a sedative would have taken too long to take effect.

2015: Dozens of animals - including lions, tigers, monkeys and crocodiles - died from hunger or thirst at the Khan Younis Zoo in the Gaza Strip when they were left without care during the Palestinian and Israeli conflict.

2012: A polar bear in Buenes Aires Zoo overheated and died. (Another heat-stressed and depressed polar bear named Arturo is currently held at an Argentinian zoo and, despite public pressure, the zoo Director has refused to have him relocated.)

2008: A leaked memo revealed that a zookeeper at Melbourne Zoo had stabbed an elephant, Dokkoon, more than a dozen times with a sharp metal spike. The same memo exposed that a male gorilla, Rigo, had been kept in isolation for 16 years and four seals suffered partial blindnessfrom the chlorine in the tiny pool they were kept in for up to three years while a $20 million dollar enclosure was built.

2007: A kangaroo was euthanised after being hit by a train that runs through the Cleveland Zoo.

2004: A 13 year old male gorilla, Jabari, escaped from Dallas Zoo and was shot and killed by police.

2002: Flooding enclosures in Prague Zoo led to an elephant and hippopotamus being euthanised to 'save' them from drowning.

2000: An 18 year old sloth bear named Medusa died of dehydration when Toledo Zoo officials locked her in a den to hibernate, not knowing that her species does not hibernate.

We have been born into a society that accepts animals in zoos as commonplace but the invention of the zoo dates back thousands of years - to an era when people who looked different were also put on display. We now have unlimited options for entertainment, not to mention a greater understanding of animal sentience and needs. In today's society, ogling at animals in zoos behind glass seems crudely outdated. Certainly it's unnecessary and rarely (if ever) in the animals' best interests.

Costa Rica has recognised this and in 2013 declared that it would be closing all its zoos and releasing the animals who are able to be rehabilitated to the wild. (The others would be cared for in sanctuaries or live out their lives in nature parks.) Which will be the next country to make this compassionate decision?

FACT: There is nothing "normal" about animals in zoos. Wild animals belong in the wild, not captive in cities.

The only creature on earth whose natural habitat is a zoo is the zookeeper.Robert Brault

Animals in captivity across the globe have been documented displaying signs of anxiety and depression. In fact, psychological distress in zoo animals is so common that it has its own name: Zoochosis.

Zoochosis can include rocking, swaying, excessively pacing back and forth, circling, twisting of the neck, self-mutilation, excessive grooming, biting, vomiting and copraphagia (consuming excrement).

These traits are largely uncommon amongst healthy and happy animals in the wild. When kept in captivity, animals are deprived of the ability to express their natural desires and the effect this can often have on their mental and emotional health is tragically clear in the form of zoochosis. Such behaviour, when exhibited by confined or disturbed animals in other situations, is often referred to as 'stereotypic behaviour' and is recognised by scientists as a clear indicator of severe animal welfare issues.

What's even sadder, is that to counter these problems, zoos internationally have been known to give drugs to affected animals. In her book Animal Madness, Laurel Braitman says that the practice of putting animals on anti-depressants is surprisingly common. "At every zoo where I spoke to someone, a psychopharmaceutical had been tried." One case Braitman shares is of a polar bear named Gus who lived at Central Park Zoo. Gus began compulsively swimming figure eights in his pool for up to 12 hours per day.

An animal psychologist determined that Gus was bored. And not surprisingly, given that his enclosure was less than 0.00009% of what his range in the Arctic would be. Despite being born in captivity, he would still have felt predatory impulses. In fact, when he was first moved to the zoo, he would entertain himself by stalking small children. But the zoo did not want children getting frightened so they built a barrier to stop this.

Gus was given thousands of dollars worth of behavioural therapy, the nickname " bipolar bear" and ... a prescription of Prozac. His compulsive swimming eased off but never really went away. Gus died in captivity in 2013 at age 27.

Similarly, it has been revealed that SeaWorld (U.S.) trainers give psychoactive drugs and anti-depressants to some of its marine animals. Since the 'Blackfish' documentary exposed the truth about keeping highly active and social animals like orcas in captivity, SeaWorld has seen a significant decline in attendance. Society is recognising that there's nothing fun about sad animals.

FACT: Living in captivity has been found to lead some animals to neurosis and depression.

Zoos care about one thing above all else: profit. Former zoo director David Hancocks estimates that less than 3% of a zoo's budget goes to conservation, while the majority goes towards "hi-tech exhibits and marketing efforts to lure visitors." Zoos exist primarily to put animals on show and make money from doing so. In this, zoos have more in common with an animal circus or marine park than they do with a sanctuary or natural habitat.

Humans have a great capacity for kindness towards our fellow species. When we see an animal suffer, we jump to their aid, ( just like the awesome humans in this video did).
If zoos had the best interests of animals at heart, would they keep them in captivity at all? And if we as individuals have the best interests of animals at heart, will we continue to pay money to see them behind bars and glass walls?
We have the choice to show our respect for animals by letting them live a natural life, rather than contributing to an institution that breeds them for a life in captivity. You can make a difference in the lives of animals in zoos by choosing animal-friendly alternatives to zoos, such as admiring animals in the wild, at sanctuaries or on television.

NOTE: We acknowledge that every organisation has different animal welfare policies and this article is intended to inform the public about existing zoo practices and may not apply to all zoological parks. We hope that it will encourage people to ask questions and to seek out organisations that align with their own values about the treatment of animals.

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5 things we need to stop telling ourselves about animals in zoos

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We hear a lot of things to justify keeping animals in zoos. But are these justifications based on fact, or are they simply what zoos would have us believe? Here's 5 things we hear about animals in zoos, and why we should think twice about them.

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Roadside zoos are businesses that capitalize on breeding, buying, and selling sentient beings. Their main priority is profit, not the well-being of sensitive, feeling animals. How do we know?

1. Pymatuning Deer Park left a dead animal to rot inside a deer enclosure.

Authorities have cited Pymatuning for numerous violations including enclosures caked with food and feces buildup, failing to provide a young lion with enough light for a diurnal light cycle and for failing to provide animals with adequate veterinary care.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture cited the facility seven times for not providing adequate veterinary care and for refusing veterinary recommendations for this animal before finally euthanizing him.

Other than begging tourists for food scraps, essentially the only thing that these bears can do to pass the time is pace back and forth and walk in endless circles.

In nature, giraffes aren't completely weaned until they're at least 1 year old, and mothers and their calves often stay together for their entire lives. However, April was separated from all her calves when they were between the ages of a few weeks old to a year and a half. Even worse, Animal Adventure Park livestreamed the births as a ridiculous moneymaking scheme.

Once the cubs are too big for public encounters, they're sent elsewhere or confined to cramped cages in which most pace incessantly.

Bears who have been under the watch of workers at Oswald's Bear Ranch have been shot to death, been trapped in a collapsed den, suffered a "drug overdose," and suddenly died from unknown or undisclosed causes, and half a dozen more have been slaughtered. Oswald's told a state inspector in 2017 that a "mean" bear should be "made into jerky."

Ben suffered from severe lesions on his eyes, nose, and mouth. The damage left his corneas permanently scarred, and his vision is likely impaired. PETA rescued Ben from Tregembo Animal Park. He now lives at a beautiful sanctuary where he can finally climb, dig, run, and hibernate.

For years, big cats, bears, and other animals trapped at Waccatee Zoological Farm have been witnessed pacing and baboons have been seen swaying and rolling their heads. A macaque and a capuchin have been seen frantically biting and attacking themselves-all signs of extreme psychological distress.

These bears have no escape from their cramped, hot concrete-floored cage, and their inadequate water trough is typically empty.

10. Zootastic Park "euthanizes" rabbits by hitting them with hammers.

This roadside zoo also puts the public's health at risk-for example, a calf who was being treated for highly contagious ringworm was not separated from visitors by an adequate barrier, and a monkey used for public encounters had not been tested for tuberculosis. In addition, during an encounter, a tourist was bit by a tiger cub.
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These are only a few of the many examples of ways in which roadside zoos have failed the animals they claim to care for. Such facilities are still a nightmare for animals-but victory by victory, we will dismantle this cruel industry.

Using PETA's form below, please speak out against disgraceful roadside zoos today:

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10 of the Many Reasons Why Roadside Zoos Are Bad for Animals | PETA

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Roadside zoos are businesses that capitalize on breeding, buying, and selling sentient beings. Their main priority is profit, not the well-being of sensitive, feeling animals. How do we know? Authorities have cited Pymatuning for numerous violations including enclosures caked with food and feces buildup, failing to provide a young lion with enough light for a diurnal light cycle and for failing to provide animals with adequate veterinary care.

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Animals should not spend their entire lives in captivity simply to fulfil our desire to see them. Here are our top ten facts about zoos that you need to know...

1. Zoos are miserable places for animals

In 2010, a Freedom for Animals undercover investigator filmed sick animals left untreated and dead animals to rot on floors atTweddle Farm Zoo. Freedom for Animals had to take rabbits to a vet to have infections treated and after our expose local police confiscated a monkey who had been kept alone and given cake and other junk food to eat.

Think safari parks are better than 'traditional' zoos?Woburn Safari Park was keeping its lions locked into small enclosures for . A government zoo inspection report in 2010 said: " The animals were very crowded and there was no provision for individual feeding or sleeping areas. There was no visible environmental enrichment. Some of the lions exhibited skin wounds and multiple scars of various age, some fresh, some healed."

In late 2012, another safari park was shamed as West Midland Safari Park was exposed for providing white lion cubs to a notorious circus animal trainer , who sent them to a traveling circus in Japan. The Lions remain in the circus today.

A government-funded study of elephants in UK zoos found "there was a welfare concern for every elephant in the UK." 75% of elephants were overweight and only 16% could walk normally, the remainder having various degrees of lameness. Less than 20% were totally free of foot problems[1].

2. Zoos can't provide sufficient space

Zoos cannot provide the amount of space animals have in the wild. This is particularly the case for those species who roam larger distances in their natural habitat. Tigers and lions have around 18,000 times less space in zoos than they would in the wild. Polar bears have one million times less space[2].

3. Animals suffer in zoos

A government-funded study of elephants in UK zoos found that 54% of the elephants showed stereotypies (behavioural problems) during the daytime. One elephant observed during day and night stereotyped for 61% of a 24-hour period[3].

Lions in zoos spend 48% of their time pacing, a recognised sign of behavioural problems[4].

4. Animals die prematurely in zoos

African elephants in the wild live more than three times as long as those kept in zoos. Even Asian elephants working in timber camps live longer than those born in zoos[5].

40% of lion cubs die before one month of age. In the wild, only 30% of cubs are thought to die before they are six months old and at least a third of those deaths are due to factors which are absent in zoos, like predation[6].

5. Surplus an imals are killed

A Freedom for Animals study found that at least 7,500 animals - and possibly as many as 200,000 - in European zoos are 'surplus' at any one time.

Animals are regularly 'culled' in UK zoos. In 2006 the whole pack of wolves at Highland Wildlife Park were killed after the social structure of the pack had broken down. In 2005 two wolf cubs and an adult female were shot dead at Dartmoor Wildlife Park. The vet reported: "Selective cull due to overcrowding and fighting in the pack" and "Further cull of cubs needed". In 2001 a DEFRA zoo inspection of Dartmoor Wildlife Park in October 2001 found that "several significant dead animals" were stored in a food freezer "for taxidermy in the future".

The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) said in 2007 that member zoos were being actively encouraged to kill unwanted animals, including tigers, if other zoos did not want them and if they were hybrids. It said that such animals take up space and keeper time[7].

In 2010, zoo trade bodies rallied to the defence of a German zoo which was prosecuted for breaching animal welfare laws after it killed three tiger cubs because they were not pure-blooded (hybrid)[8].

In 2011, an exposé of Knowsley Safari Park led by Freedom for Animals following information provided by a whistleblower showed the safari park to be in contravention of legislation on disposal of carcasses as well as raising queries over handling of firearms. A former employee of the safari park alleged: " culling was being used as a means of training instead of being carried out in the kindest and most humane way."

In early 2014, there was global outrage when Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy young giraffe called Marius. The event triggered a worldwide debate on culling in zoos and it was admitted by zoo spokespeople that thousands of healthy animals are deliberately killed in European zoos alone each year.

6. UK zoos are connected to animal circuses

Freedom for Animals exposed a UK zoo in 2009 that was a member of the trade body BIAZA (which supposedly upholds the highest standards) as having abreeding connection with a controversial animal circus. Noah's Ark Zoo Farm had been breeding camels from the Great British Circus for several years and in 2009 obtained three tigers from the circus.

A female tiger at the zoo had three stillborn cubs and another who died at three weeks old. The mother also died.

The same zoo was found to doing business withanother circus animal trainerin 2013. This was the same trainer who had been sold lion cubs byWest Midland Safari Parkand sent them to a traveling circus in Japan .

7. Animals are trained to perform tricks

Many zoos train animals to perform tricks as if they were in a circus. Performing sea lions, birds and elephants can be seen at many UK zoos.

Some training of elephants has been done using electric goads. Freedom for Animals infiltrated a training session held at Blackpool Zoo in 1998 and filmed elephants being trained to lift their feet and head, hold sticks in their mouths and jabbed with elephant hooks in the shoulder and head.

In 2010 it was revealed that an elephant at Woburn Safari Park had previously been trained using an electric goad [9].

Blackpool Zoo proudly publicised its training of a baby sea lion for shows in mid 2013 [10]. This is in spite of the fact that the UK Government has agreed to ban similar shows in circuses on the basis that: " we should feel dut y-bound to recognise that wild animals have intrinsic value, and respect their inherent wildness and its implications for their treatment ".

8. Animals are still taken from the wild

In 2003 the UK government gave permission for the capture of 146 penguins from a British territory in the South Atlantic (Tristan da Cunha). Those who survived the seven-day boat journey from Tristan to a wildlife dealer in South Africa were sold to zoos in Asia [11].

In 2010, Zimbabwe planned to capture two of every mammal species found in Hwange National Park and send them to North Korean zoos. This included rhinos, lions, cheetahs, zebras and giraffes as well as two 18-month-old elephants. The plan was only stopped after international pressure by a coalition of organisations including Freedom for Animals.

70% of elephants in European zoos were taken from the wild [12].

A Freedom for Animals study found that 79% of all animals in UK aquariums were caught in the wild. Sea Life aquariumsadmitted to taking animals from the wild as recently as 2013, but refused to provide information on how many of the animals held by them were wild-caught.

9. Zoos don't serve conservation

Zoos claim to breed animals for eventual release to the wild but breeding programmes are primarily to ensure a captive population, not for reintroduction.

Lions are popular in zoos, but the vast majority "are 'generic' animals of hybrid or unknown subspecific status, and therefore of little or no value in conservation terms [13].

Zoo director David Hancocks said: "There is a commonly held misconception that zoos are not only saving wild animals from extinction but also reintroducing them to their wild habitats. The confusion stems from many sources, all of them zoo-based... In reality, most zoos have had no contact of any kind with any reintroduction program."[14]

Captive breeding is considered by some conservation scientists to be a diversion from the reasons for a species' decline, giving "a false impression that a species is safe so that destruction of habitat and wild populations can proceed"[15].

Zoos spend millions on keeping animals confined, while natural habitats are destroyed and animals killed as there is insufficient funding for protection. When London Zoo spent £5.3 million on a new gorilla enclosure, the chief consultant to the UN Great Ape Survival Project said he was uneasy at the mismatch between lavish spending at zoos and the scarcity of resources available for conserving threatened species in the wild.

"Five million pounds for three gorillas when national parks are seeing that number killed every day for want of some Land Rovers and trained men and anti-poaching patrols. It must be very frustrating for the warden of a national park to see".

Measures to protect giant pandas' habitat also supports hundreds of species of mammals, at least 200 birds, dozens of reptiles and over half of the plants known to exist in China [16].

In 2013, Freedom for Animals revealed that the UK's largest aquarium operator, Sea Life, could traceless than 3 pence per visitor to in situ conservation projects.

10. Zoos fail education

A Freedom for Animals study of UK aquariums found that 41% of the animals on display had no signs identifying their species - the most basic of information.

A US study found no compelling evidence for the claim that zoos and aquariums promote attitude change, education, or interest in conservation in visitors. The study authors urged zoos to stop citing a zoo-funded study which claimed an educational benefit from visits "as this conclusion is unwarranted and potentially misleading to consumers."[17]

In 2010, a Government-commissioned study found that "Concerns remain, however, with regard to the lack of available evidence about the effectiveness" of conservation and education projects in zoos.

Animals in zoos are suffering. You can help end that by joining us as a Freedom Champion today!
Become a freedom champion
[1]M Harris et al. The welfare, housing and husbandry of elephants in UK zoos. University of Bristol, 2008

[2]Wide roaming animals fare worst in zoo enclosures. Guardian, 2.10.03

[3]M Harris et al. The welfare, housing and husbandry of elephants in UK zoos. University of Bristol, 2008

[4]G Mason & R Clubb. Guest Editorial, International Zoo News, Vol 51, No 1 (2004))

[5]R Clubb et al. Compromised survivorship in zoo elephants. Science, Vol 322, 12.12.08

[6]G Mason & R Clubb. Guest Editorial. International Zoo News, Vol 51, No 1 (2004))

[7]Zoos kill healthy tigers for the skin trade. Sunday Times, 22.7.07l

[8]Code of Ethics & Animal Welfare. World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, June 2010

[9]Woburn admits it gave bull elephant electric shocks. Sunday Times, 27.6.10

[10]http://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/blackpool-zoo-s-baby-sealion-follows-in-her-mother-s-footsteps-1-5750458

[11]Taken by force. BBC Wildlife, February 2004

[12]R Clubb and G Mason. 'A Review of the Welfare of Zoo Elephants in Europe', RSPCA, 2002

[13]Nicholas Gould, Editorial, International Zoo News, Vol 49, No 5 (2002)).

[14]Quoted in 'Who Cares for Planet Earth?' B Jordan, 2001

[15]Snyder et al. Limitations of Captive Breeding in Endangered Species Recovery. Conservation Biology, Pages 338-348. Volume 10, No. 2, April 1996

[16]Panda mating frenzy hits zoo. BBC News, 4 May 2007 )

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Animals should not spend their entire lives in captivity simply to fulfil our desire to see them. Here are our top ten facts about zoos that you need to know... In 2010, a Freedom for Animals undercover investigator filmed sick animals left untreated and dead animals to rot on floors atTweddle Farm Zoo.