Writing Feedback / Discuss both view and give your opinion of whether the zoo should be closed due to cruelty (IELTS) [4]

the issue of animals in zoos

It is true that zoos have taken away the natural habitat of many wild animals. While I tend towards the viewpoint that zoos are unpleasant and causing pain to animals, I would have to support that zoos have a role as wildlife sanctuaries preserving animals.

On the one hand, there are some reasons to believe that zoos are quite unkind and causing bad issues to animals. First and foremost, mistreating animals still have appeared in many zoos in the world. In other words, zookeepers usually treat animals poorly such as forcing them to obey through spanking methods and even starvation. As a result, this problem will cause many health conditions of both physical health and mental health on animals. From that, they will be in a state of exhaustion, which leads to the difficulty in maintaining breeding and wildlife populations. The second reason for that statement might be known as lack of space. In fact, this is simply because each species of wildlife animal has their own natural instincts which can almost mainly thrive when they are kept in the natural habitat. Consequently, it is reasonable to see that holding animals in captivity will make them lose their natural instinct and also limit their ability to grow and survive, leading to mental and developmental disorders in animals. Thirdly, the next reason needing to be mentioned is the risk of disease spreading. Indeed, when animals are kept close together, there always exists a risk of disease spreading between them if some of them get health issues. To be more exemplify, the virus of disease from some animals would be expanded to a wider area and then enter the bodies of others. As a consequence, it can be claimed to be dangerous to the health and partial lifespan of animals, zoos' employees and even tourists who have exposed to sick animals.

On the other hand, I am also convinced that zoos play an important role in wildlife conservation. To illustrate, it is easy to see that zoos protect wildlife from illegal poachers, who always choose natural forests as ideal hunting locations, especially endangered animals to exploit for profit. Secondly, zoos are considered as the useful places for childrens' study because these give them the opportunity to acquire more knowledge of wildlife through being close to animals. Thus, this can be a practical option to raise children's awareness of protecting wildlife animals and also increase their love for these animals. Thirdly, it is quite feasible to infer that zoos result in economic boosting. Specifically, zoos are always interested by tourists, families and schools' field trips, who want to explore and research the species diversity and natural instincts of wildlife animals. Therefore, it will partially handle the country's economy and unemployment problem through generating more job opportunities for staff positions and revenues of zoos in tourism, contributing to the economy of developed countries. Lastly, in the modern age, standard veterinary care would be evaluated as the positive point of zoos. In fact, animals, especially endangered animals are often given the best healthcare method including dietary, nutrient intake and treatment. Furthermore, by means of offering early diagnosis and breeding programs, animals can undergo routine inspections for parasites, viral diseases, and cancer. Hence, it is more favorable to conserve endangered species.

In conclusion, from my perspective, I partially agree with both given statements due to the aforementioned reasons, and it seems wrong to ban zoos until effective alternatives methods have been launched.