If you drive around today you will probably see people going about their normal day. Adults grocery shopping, couples walking hand in hand, and kids having fun at the park. They are free and happy. However, while us humans are running free, animals in zoos are sitting in small glass cages, wasting away. Zoos have been around since the 18th century and they have mainly been there for entertainment. Now people who run zoos think that keeping animals captive helps with getting other people to help with protecting endangered species, but that is not entirely true. With all that said, animals should not be kept captive in zoos. 

One reason animals should not be kept captive in zoos is because captive animals are a danger to people if they decide to escape. An example of this was that “... he also found many examples of zoo elephants hurting or killing their keepers” (Marris 6). The reason that they did that was because they were unhappy in their environment and other animals were too. Another example of animals injuring people is that a tiger in 2007 escaped her cage and when she did, she hunted and killed three boys who had taunted her (Marris 7). The tiger wanted out of the cage because living in a small environment is not fit for a wild tiger. Also having your cage poked and people staring at you or taunting you doesn’t sound all that pleasant. Another time an animal escaped was when “A gorilla named Togo at the Toledo zoo used his incredible strength to bend the bars of his cage” (Marris 7). The main cause for all of this is because when animals are kept in 

a cage for too long their mental health is affected which could lead to innocent people getting harmed. On top of that, they are called “wild animals” for a reason and therefore they should live in the wild so they have a less chance of wounding someone.

An additional reason that animals should not be kept imprisoned is that even though the owners of zoos think that keeping these animals in cages inspires people to help protect endangered species, it doesn’t. Think about it. When you are going to a zoo what are you thinking of? Helping endangered animals or how pretty zebras are? So, the author found that “42 percent said that the purpose of zoos was to teach visitors about the cause, 66 percent said that a zoo was a family outing…” (Marris 5). Henceforth, this shows that most people going to the zoo are not thinking about how they can save animals, but about how cute and cool they are. There was another time this was found was when an experiment was conducted and people found out that “... 27 percent of people bothered to read the signs at exhibits” (Marris 5). This is an example of people just here at the zoo admiring the animals and not bothering to think about the fact that some of their species are threatened. During the same experiment, the people looking around discovered that “... no one volunteered info that would lead us to believe they had the intention to advocate for protection of the animal…” (Marris 5). Once more, this indicates the notion that people do not go to zoos to help or even try to protect these wonderful creatures from extinction. 

In conclusion animals should not be kept captive in zoos because it could result in people getting injured and it does not inspire people to help protect animals. Even though others believe that animals in zoos are happy and that keeping them captive motivates other people to help, evidence has proven them wrong. Many examples of animals who are mentally unstable have popped up over the years and biodiversity is still a problem. So, the next time you take a drive around and see people living their lives, know that they are free and wonder why these animals can’t have the same.