Zoochosis In The Zoo

Lastly, people can also harm animals in various ways other than slip-ups with drugs. During the summer, people love to go watch drugged up animals as they walk around in their cramped exhibits. According to Good in Zoochosis:what really happens to animals in captivity, “Over 175 million people visit zoos a year, causing animals to become stressed, bored or frustrated, a term called ‘zoochosis’” (Good). Zoochosis is described as the abnormal actions of animals due to being held in captivity. Because zoochosis is caused by the terror people bring, the children and families that visit are harming the animals. Zoochosis brings many symptoms to the animals including “fur plucking, rocking and pacing” (Good). Zoochosis, caused by people, hurt the

The AZA or the Association of Zoos & Aquariums has put in accreditation basics that each zoo must meet to become accredited. If a zoo is accredited, more people are likely to visit those zoos over non-accredited ones. The AZA checks on more than five aspects when a zoo is trying to go through the accreditation process, including living environments, veterinary programs, safety, security, nutrition and the quality of the zoo’s staff members (“Accreditation Basics” 1). According to the AZA, the accredited zoos have to keep up with these standards, or they will get their accreditation evoked. To ensure that these zoos are following all accreditation rules, “[e]ach zoo or aquarium must keep up with these changes to remain AZA-accredited. And to prove it, they must go through the entire accreditation process every five years” (“Accreditation Basics” 1). The AZA is working hard to ensure that animals are being kept as healthy as possible when they are in the zoos with the help of their strict accreditation process that zoos must go through to become accredited and get more visitors, so they can stay in business. Although the AZA is trying to make zoos a healthier environment for the animals, zoos will never be the healthiest option for

If zoos are unable to become accredited, their number of visitors will drastically decrease which in some cases might put them out of business, allowing the animals to be moved to a more desirable zoo or even returned to the wild. Right now, the AZA requires zoos and their staff to become reaccredited occasionally, the AZA stating “they must go through the entire accreditation process every five years” (AZA 1). Although putting zoos through the accreditation process again is a good idea to make sure they keep up with the requirements, the AZA should be checking to make sure that the zoos are following requirements more frequently because a zoo could not be following their requirements until right before they become reaccredited which can bring danger to the animals and their well-being. The Accreditation Commission, the group that decides whether a zoo will become accredited, should also meet for each individual zoo because right now “[t]he Accreditation Commission meets twice a year to consider all candidates for accreditation” (AZA 1). If the Accreditation Commission met individually, the members would be more likely to pay attention to the minor details of each zoo, and these minor details could cause an animal to die, so the Accreditation Commission could save multiple lives of the animals they love to go see at the zoo