The current zoo system should be abolished.

"it's a different experience when you see an animal up close. " From my own experiences I'm most often unable to see the animals. They are often either hiding from the noisy screaming people flashing pictures, or there home is so small they have to choice to sit there are be stared at. "Yet, there are still some that provide everything for the animal which will be my second point. " The thing that all zoos lack is the animals natural habitat. The painted walls may look real to us but I think an animal can tell the difference between paint and a real tree. I visited the Omaha zoo this last fall and I walked by a cage holding a leopard cub. The leopard was in a cage about 12 by 24 ft. from my source (. http://en.wikipedia.org...) a free leopard lives in an area that ranges from 12-30 sq. miles. This is inconsiderate. Elephants get deceases like Arthritis and Foot Diseases because of there small cages. "Good zoos have veterinarians who can help injured or sick animals, which would die in the wild. " God put the animals in the wild because they know how to survive in the wild WITHOUT our help. God didn't put polar bears in Africa for a reason. "When it's hot, zoos try whatever possible to make the animals comfortable. " Zoos TRY, but a polar bear needs more than a pile of ice and a cold swimming pool. (referring to your video) They were made to live in areas that close to no other animal can go! That is there home, and that is where they should stay. "Some zoos overcome animals becoming overweight by hiding food or placing it in containers, where the animal has to expend energy to obtain it. " I've seen them do this for monkeys. The container I saw was a plastic bin with holes in it that the monkeys can easily reach. But instead of giving them more exercise (something they'd have more than enough of in the wild) they make the food a bit harder to get. "Generally speaking, animals live longer in captivity than in the wild, because keepers and veterinarians are available to look after their health and diet. " In a site I found- they said quite the opposite. Because of their lack of space they aren't able to get the exercise they need. A wild elephant herd walks over 30 miles a day. They don't get close to a forth of that in their pens. (. http://www.helpelephants.com...) There was an article done on an elephant that was given medications because she was sick because of lack of space for exercise. The medications were pills that hid the decease from the visitors to hide the zoo's fault. "Animals are safer in the zoo because there are no predators to hunt them. Keeping their population numbers high. " As I said above the animals were born into that life and can survive just fine. The real predators we should be worried about are people. poachers who hunt the animals. If people are so concerned about the survival of the animals then maybe we should stop taking them out of there habitat (making them unaccustomed to where they were born) and start hounding down on the real reason they are going instinct. "Endangered animals are kept in zoos to help them survive and even raise their numbers through mating. " Zoos (except for a very small percentage) breed animals to put the babies on display.