Navigating the differences between zoos, safari parks, and sanctuaries can be difficult, especially when you care about animal rights and want to make compassionate choices. For example, are safari parks better than zoos? Do all sanctuaries treat animals well? Below, you’ll find out what makes sanctuaries different from zoos and safari parks, as well as advice on what to look for when coming across one of these types of establishments.
Zoos and Wildlife Parks
Zoos are places that keep animals captive in enclosures by taking them from the wild, or more commonly nowadays, breeding them. Despite myths that zoos serve educational and conservation purposes, the reason they exist is not for the animals; it is for human ‘entertainment’ and profit.
Animals are put on display and treated as exhibits, not individuals with unique needs and wants. Zoos engage in a variety of cruel tactics that are kept behind closed doors. These include killing off healthy animals who are older or don’t have the ‘right’ genes, breeding animals to draw more visitors with new, cute baby animals, ripping families apart by trading animals with other zoos and providing inappropriate enclosures, inappropriate diets, or inappropriate co-housing of species that leads to deaths and health issues. Captivity cannot adequately mimic the animals’ natural environment or fully allow them to express their natural behaviours.
Zoos serve no other real purpose other than so-called human ‘entertainment’.
Safari Parks
Safari parks, although often mistaken for sanctuaries, are just a different type of zoo. Safari parks are supposed to more closely mimic the animals’ natural habitats. This is largely done through larger enclosures and a wider variety of flora. However, their practices are usually identical to those of zoos, as they breed, trade and exploit animals for profit.
Despite their efforts to advertise their conservation efforts and differentiate themselves from traditional zoos, it is commonplace practice for safari parks to keep animals captive for life, lead breeding programmes, separate families by transferring animals to other zoos, and offer interactive animal experiences and other exploitative practices, such as mutilating birds to ensure they do not escape.
This, of course, means one thing: ‘safari parks’ are essentially zoos, just rebranded.
Sanctuaries
At Freedom for Animals, we believe true sanctuaries to be vital safe havens for animals who have suffered physical and psychological harm as a result of exploitation and human interference, and for individuals who are unable to be rehabilitated and released to the wild. Unlike zoos, which prioritise profit and ‘visitor experience’ over animal welfare, true sanctuaries are founded on principles of compassion, empathy and a respect for all living beings, thus allowing animals to live a life free from cruelty and harm. But sanctuaries are not always the same in theory and practice. Although some establishments claim to provide sanctuary for animals, their practices show otherwise.
So, how do you know if a sanctuary is true to its name? Here is where the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries Accreditation comes in. As they say, “not all sanctuaries are created equal”, and the GFAS accreditation program determines whether a sanctuary truly provides excellent and humane care for animals in a non-exploitative environment. This means having ethical policies such as not buying and selling animals, not breeding animals in captivity, not allowing visitors to handle animals, and upholding conditions that ensure any visitors do not cause distress to the animals they care for. True sanctuaries are sadly few and far between, as not many establishments legitimately prioritise the well-being of the animals over the profit of exploiting them for the public.
Sanctuaries do not exist for us humans; they exist to serve and help the animals, and that goal should be reflected in their values and practices.
Zoos’ Efforts to Rebrand
As we have already discovered, many organisations in the UK and worldwide describe themselves as something other than a zoo: “safari park”, “wildlife centre”, “sanctuary” or even “rescue”, but do not truly live up to that title. In fact, they are businesses and prioritise profit or engage in exploitative practices.
This takes place because the industry is catching on that the public is more aware of animal welfare and animal rights, with people looking to support humane establishments more than ever before. So, in an attempt to make themselves sound better than they are, without initiating any real change or reevaluating their standards, these establishments opt to market themselves differently instead.
As a result, we see more and more zoos rebranding themselves, and emphasising that they keep and breed endangered species on site for conservation (a long-debunked myth). All the while, most of these places will never release animals into the wild, and mostly keep species that are of least concern to become extinct. Research that Freedom for Animals is currently undertaking indicates that only around a quarter of animals kept in zoos belong to species considered threatened in the wild.
What You Need to Know
In short, the main difference between a zoo and a true sanctuary is that, while zoos operate to make a profit, sanctuaries operate for the benefit of the animals. Importantly, sanctuaries treat animals as unique individuals, not exhibits, stock or commodities.
You’ll know an organisation is not a true sanctuary if it does not follow the values outlined by the GFAS accreditation, is breeding animals and is providing opportunities for the public to invade animals’ personal space with up-close experiences, handling, and shows. To help identify a true sanctuary, you can consult the GFAS sanctuary finder. You can also take a look at Animal Aid’s list of sanctuaries.
Most importantly, we need to remember that, although animals are fascinating, it does not mean we should always be looking for opportunities to interact with them or even see them up close.
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