Should animals be kept in Zoos or are they better living in natural habitat?

Should animals be kept in Zoos or are they better living in natural habitat?

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of keeping animals in a Zoo?

“There is nothing like home”. This is an absolutely valuable statement not only for humans but animals as well. And their natural habitat, be it a jungle or pond or ocean is their home. They are happiest and fittest in their natural habitat. However, at times keeping them in the zoo is a necessity. One cannot forget that a zoo has a great educational value and hence, their presence is also a must.


Zoos enable people and particularly school children to see wild, beautiful and exotic animals. It enables them to study how animals live and behave. This provides a practical exposure to the students.

Moreover, if the zoos are properly organized and well kept, they have lot of advantages also, like:

- They have the potential to provide good living conditions to the animals.
- Animals do not starve because they are provided with food and water.
- Good zoos have extremely trained care takers and medical experts for the animals, facilities which they may not get in their natural surroundings.
- Moreover, animals are safe as the zoos are required to have extreme security measures both inside and outside.
- Animal killing is impossible inside the zoo. People cannot kill them to satisfy their selfish needs.
- Animals live as close to the natural habitat as possible. For example, water and other natural barriers are used to separate animals from each other and from the visitors.

But it cannot be denied that no matter how comfortable a zoo is, it is still the “unnatural habitat” of the animal. Also, the living space provided to the animals is very less as compared to their natural habitat. This makes them unhappy and restless. Also, some animals so not breed in the zoo as they feel stressed to proliferate.

It is true that a zoo takes away the freedom of the animals all together. The animals living in the zoo will never experience what living in a natural habitat is like. But at the same time, existence of zoos is also very important from educational point of view. Hence, the conditions of the zoos should be upgraded to such an extent that animals feel happy, comfortable and as close to their natural habitat as possible.