Wildlife films which show how animals behave naturally have done far more to promote respect for animals. Studying the natural behaviour of animals in captivity will rarely give accurate information. In many cases, zoo animals are bred to attract visitors and publicity, and to make a profit. Certain safari parks and zoos have admitted culling surplus monkeys and supplying animals for experimentation or collaborating with animal researchers. Surplus ostriches and bison have even been sold to farms to be reared for their meat.
Zoos claim they provide an unparalleled appreciation of the power and wonder of nature.
Yet the power and dignity of the animals is often stripped from them, and instead of being at one with an environment for which they have evolved, they sit in a wasteland. We see lonely solitary beasts shuffling around concrete enclosures, their eyes sad and empty. Creatures of the night cannot spend a day away from prying eyes. Reptiles may climb or scratch at their glass tanks because they don't understand why they can't get out. Others seem to sleep their lives away behind a rock.