Essay Sample on Animals In Captivity

Animals have been the center of amusement and fascination for centuries. From stories from "Dumbo" to "Bambi", we have been told that it is our responsibility as humans to protect animals and their habitats. Recently there have been reports of more animal population decline in the wild. Which brings up the question; Are we doing our job? Seaworld has come under fire for their orca whales and their treatment whilst living at Seaworld. Some of this has come from the endangerment of their animals and employees, the habitats in which they stay, and the abuse of the animals. These problems don't exist in SeaWorld; they happen in multiple other places that house animals. Wild animals should not be used for entertainment. 

The endangerment of animals in captivity has many side effects. "The behavior of animals in zoos is typical of many other animals in captivity. It is stunted and unnatural"https://animalequality.org/news/zoos-the-life-of-animals-in-captivity/#:~:text=Animals%20suffer%20in%20zoos.,they%20would%20wish%20to%20. The main  'purpose' of zoos is to educate the public on their animals, however, when the actions and everything about the habitats are unnatural it sparks the thought; what are we learning? The animals in zoos and other forms of captivity are suffering. (blackfish) Scientists found out that long-distance echolocation exists because of a mother whale crying for her calf who was taken from her by Seaworld. In the wild orcas never leave their mother. These animals were not meant to live in unnatural habitats. It has been shown that those environments are equivalent to extreme physiological torture. This mindset puts them in a fight, flight, or fawn mode that can lead to them acting out. Many people have been harmed by wild animals while working with them. (Seaworld)  Dawn Brancheau was a trainer in Seaworld until February 24th, 2010. Tilikum was an orca whale who lived the majority of his life in the captivity of Seaworld. The Orca whale culture is a women-led environment. At night he was locked in a 23-foot square bathtub witch is only 12 feet deep with two other female orcas. Tilikum, the young orca whale, was beaten and bullied by these other whales. From this trauma, he lived in constant psychosis. His actions from this mindset caused him to kill three people turning him into a "serial killer whale" he scalped most of his victims, and the majority had missing and mutilated body parts. These actions have never occurred at all in the wild.   When any species are kept very close with an inadequate habitat, disease runs rampant, such as bacterial infections and influenza. The unnecessary endangerment of all parties should almost be enough to get rid of these facilities altogether.

Habitats are an essential part of survival. When you take animals from opposing sides of the Earth they are introduced to ailments and bugs that their immune system can not handle because they never expected to be in a different environment. ( Blackfish) Tilikum's enclosure was just big enough for him to turn around, but in the wild, he would have swam 40 miles a day.  The habitats are not the only problem here, but who else is in there with them. As previously stated in this essay the orca whale society is female-dominated. Raking is an action that orcas only do to show extreme aggression and frustration. It is when one whale drags its teeth against another whale, leaving open bleeding wounds in rake-like patterns. Tilikum almost always had open rake wounds from the two other females in the tank with him. Phycological effects on animals in captivity are very distressing to think that we put other humans in there to care for them as well as perform with them. When basic needs like food and socialization are used as a reward, is where it starts to get concerning. In the tragic case of Dawn Brancheau, she told Tilikum to do a trick and he performed well but he was too far away to hear her whistle blow and he got a delayed reward, later that day Dawn lost her life in the horrific case that took place. These actions cause animals to become erratic and irrational which makes an already dangerous situation even more life-threatening.