Elephants in Captivity

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/get-elephants-out-of-zoos.aspx

Obesity, arthritis, foot infections, reproductive problems, psychological disorders, early morality, low fertility, and high rate of stillbirths, difficulty giving birth and raising young, wide variety of abnormal behaviors, such as: swaying back and forth, killing their infants, hyper-aggression towards other elephants; these are all health issues of elephants caused by them being in captivity. Either a zoo or circus is the most common. In the wild these animals travel up to 30 miles a day! In captivity they have the same 20 by 20 foot area to walk around and that’s if they’re not chained or inside for the night or because of the weather, such as, winter.  In the article I linked above, they say, “No amount of expansion at a zoo will give elephants what is truly necessary for their physical and psychological well-being.” (PETA, 1) That quote is absolutely true, but yet it is still legal for zoos and circuses to keep these animals in captivity and it’s been happening for over 200 years. In fact, I’m going to San Diego, California in a week for spring break and The San Diego Zoo is on our list of things to do. I feel guilty paying money to in a way, support captive animals but I’m going to get video of the elephants for this project.  People, including myself have grown up going to the zoo or circus but very well have not asked themselves what the well-being of the animals are; they definitely do not belong there and frankly I think that the zoos and circuses should be banned. IF anything, I would probably support a natural habitat tour service to see the animals, but in their home, where they belong.