I spent some time at a zoo in London, expecting the sadness of the animals behind bars to be the main takeaway from my experience, but I left feeling that it was actually the lack of interest and care from the children visiting that really hit me – something I had not considered before, as a large argument in favour of zoos is their “educational purpose” for children.
I witnessed children trying to kick wild birds, throwing stones into enclosures and slamming their fists onto the glass of tanks. I saw first-hand how little of an impact these beings’ existence had on the children. They would linger by the animals’ bars for a few moments before running onto the next enclosure, screaming as they went.
I am against zoos, and my assumption going into this zoo visit was that I would walk away feeling the same way I did when I entered – angry and sad for the animals in captivity – but I felt something else as well. The lack of care and interest these children showed towards the animals held captive for their so-called “benefit” left me feeling astounded. I am not sure whether it’s the age of tech and the constant stimulation they are exposed to, dulling their attention spans, that is the culprit, or if it has always been this way.
How can you teach children compassion while normalising wild animals’ captivity?
This Kookaburra stood in the same spot for my entire visit, staring up at a sky they will never fly in
The stats don’t lie, a peer reviewed study published in Conservation Biology found that 62% of children who visited London Zoo on unguided visits showed no measurable learning outcomes; some even retained incorrect information. These statistics further affirm that there is limited educational value zoos can offer children, and that it is certainly not worth the suffering of the wild animals kept there.
Whilst I was visiting, a child threw a rock into a Grey Crowned Crane enclosure. These animals’ homeland is sub-Saharan Africa and, as with all cranes, they are known for being shy and rarely confident around people. To witness a child look at these trapped animals and want to throw a rock at them was shocking. As he went to do it again, one of his parents stepped in to correct him, saying “what if you hit the birds!”, and as he continued to try he was whisked away to inflict himself on another enclosure. The birds frantically flapped their wings, trying to fly away from the danger, but the slices through their feathers have rendered them flightless. Birds who would travel hundreds of kilometres by wing in the wild aren’t even able to lift themselves off the ground in captivity. They paced the bars of their tiny enclosure and comforted each other, clearly disturbed and scared – they had nowhere to hide or run to.
The Grey Crowned Crane- their raised wings show the damage to their mangled flight feathers
Whilst in the lunch area, two children chased the resident pigeons, kicking at the frantic birds – thankfully every kick missed. Their parents watched on, amused. A Striated Caracara stood motionless in a corner of the cage behind them, staring out above the hordes of people rushing past.
Further into the zoo, children screamed and slammed their hands onto the tanks in the reptile shed – a sad, small building packed with tiny enclosures. The interior was lined with murky glass windows, looking out at the other dark, dingy tanks – this is the only view the resident animals will ever have. The lizards, frogs, invertebrates and amphibians housed here will never swim, walk or crawl freely, and will never feel the breeze of fresh air on their skin or scales.
Aside from the lack of truly valuable education provided by zoos, it is concerning that children are being taught to believe that animals exist only for their entertainment. That it is acceptable and even encouraged to cage a wild animal in an artificial environment, because they may enjoy looking at them.
This further enforces a lack of connection and empathy for animals, which I witnessed first-hand at my visit. These establishments give children a distorted view of conservation, causing wild animals to be associated with spectacle, rather than living beings deserving of respect and kindness.
How can it be called “educational” if the behaviour being witnessed is unnatural? And how can it be called “conservation” if the animal and their descendants never return to the wild?
All of this was witnessed in one brief visit, and it left me with more questions than answers. What is the real benefit here? And for whom? The main attractions at this zoo were the play areas – the animals were just an add on, their existence reduced to an attraction between playtime.
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