19 Secrets Zoos Don't Want You to Know

Animals at roadside zoos get less humane treatment than those in regular zoos.Animals at roadside zoos get less humane treatment than those at regular zoos.Roadside zoos keep animals in concrete pens, using just an old tire or a log to get their attention. These zoos aim to draw people on busy roads. They often try to lure travelers inside, sometimes harming the animals. These zoos lack accreditation.

Sanctuaries might look like humane places for animals needing homes, but not all sanctuaries operate as non-profits they claim to be.If a sanctuary breeds outside conservation efforts, it is not truly a sanctuary.Rehabilitation centers and sanctuaries must never breed animals for display. Fake animal sanctuaries have no rules defining a sanctuary. Any operation can claim that title without providing quality care.

Zoos use stand-ins for entertainment. Zoos have created fake or copied animals. One Chinese zoo displayed a Tibetan mastiff as an African lion, giant sea cucumbers and rats as snakes, and dogs as leopards and timber wolves.A Chinese zoo.A Chinese zoo displayed a Tibetan mastiff posed as an African lion, giant sea cucumbers and rats posed as snakes, and dogs dressed as leopards and timber wolves.

Captive animals often feel depressed, bored, and lonely. This condition is called “zoochosis.”The condition of captive animals being depressed, bored, and lonely is called “zoochosis.”Zoos use mood-altering drugs like Prozac because zoochosis is rampant. Symptoms include head bobbing, constant pacing, over-grooming, bar biting, and self-mutilation. Bill Travers' 1992 documentary on captivity showed these harsh effects.

Many zoos get rid of surplus animals.Many zoos remove surplus animals.Zoos get rid of surplus animals lacking space or breeding value. Some zoos kill these animals, a practice called "zoothanasia," feed them to other zoo residents, or sell them to other zoos or dealers. This practice happens overseas at unregulated operations; it is not common in certified US zoos.

Unaccredited zoos cause a big problem because they are easy to start. Any person who privately owns wild animals can get an exhibitor license under the Animal Welfare Act and build a zoo. However, only 10% of the 2,000 U.S. zoos have accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.Association of Zoos and Aquariums.Some states limit wild animal ownership, but not all do. Some states make it easier to start private animal operations than others.

Zoos often claim they offer safer settings than the wild, leading to longer animal lives. Stress from an unnatural environment can shorten an animal's life span.Zoo elephants.Zoo elephants live about 16 to 18 years; wild elephants live 50 to 70 years. Orcas at Sea World average 13 years.Wild orcas have an average life expectancy of 30 to 50 years, reaching up to 100.Wild orcas have an average life expectancy of 30 to 50 years old, and can live to be up to 100.

Zoos try to appear professional and educational, but zoos often lack real zoological knowledge.Many zoos lack zoological understanding.Many zoos lack the ability or training to care for or breed animals, causing unhealthy animals and early death. Some zoos do not have this ability.Some zoos have virtually no animal education.Lacking knowledge of the animals they care for makes these zoos dangerous for any animals that visit.

In the wild, animals eat plants and hunt prey. In captivity, they eat wet cat food. Zoos feed animals pre-packaged, processed foods, which science calls "" formulated foodstuffs."" This food does not need chewing and harms the dental health of carnivores like tigers, which need sharp teeth for cleaning."

Zoos claim success with breeding programs, but they skip how unsuccessful most of these programs are. Reintroduction programs fail to teach animals their natural settings and rarely return animals to the wild. Despite thousands of endangered species, only 16 of 145 reintroduction programs have reintroduced animals to the wild.Only 16 of 145 reintroduction programs have ever succeeded.Worldwide, only 16 of 145 reintroduction programs have actually reintroduced animals.Worldwide, 16 of 145 reintroduction programs have actually reintroduced animals.These programs reintroduced animal populations.These programs reintroduced animal populations.These programs reintroduced animal populations to the wild.These programs reintroduced animal populations to the wild.Most of these programs were government projects, not zoos.

Some animals feel so unhappy in captivity they risk their lives to escape. Lions, alligators, and zebras escape their enclosures. A Dallas Zoo gorilla named Jabari attempted an escape by jumping over walls and moats, but police fatally shot him. A witness later said teenagers taunted him by throwing rocks.Jabari made an escape attempt by jumping over the walls and moats of his enclosure, only to be fatally shot by police.A witness later confessed that teenagers were taunting Jabari by throwing rocks after his escape attempt.

Maintaining elephants in zoos costs about 50 times more than protecting the same number in the wild. Using that money for conservation lets animals live in their natural homes and balances ecosystems.

Zoos offer little learning about the species they hold. Visitors spend only minutes at an enclosure, gaining little or no understanding of the animals.Visitors gain little understanding of the animals.Visitors' observations are limited to unnatural, stressful settings. A 2014 study showed zoos negatively affected children's education.A 2014 study showed zoos had a negative educational impact on children.We learn little from animals kept in captivity.

Captive animals do not choose mates. They may be artificially inseminated, and their offspring can be sold or traded. Animals bond strongly with their young, and a pregnant female's mood affects the pregnancy. Thus, zoo breeding practices often cause miscarriages, stillbirths, or the mother rejecting her young.Zoo breeding practices often cause miscarriages, stillbirths, or the mother’s rejection of her young.Zoo breeding practices often cause miscarriages, stillbirths, or the mother’s rejection of her young.

People get seriously ill—sometimes die—from diseases picked up at petting zoos.E. Coli and salmonella.Bacteria appear at petting zoos. Infection is rare, but E. Coli causes serious kidney failure. Some states enacted laws for petting zoos, setting cleanliness standards. These rules still cannot stop possible infection. The CDC estimates...Over 73,000 people get sick yearly.About 60 people die on average from petting zoos.

Zoos use bears or large cats for hunting in the wild. They swap this with regular feedings of processed food in the zoo. This stresses the animals. Studies show more naturalistic carcass feedings reduce stress and related behaviors.Naturalistic carcass feedings reduce stress and related behaviors.Regular feedings instead of hunting leads to stress.

Zoos claim to help conservation. However, few zoos register their animals on an international species database. Most zoo animals are not even endangered species.Most zoo animals are not even endangered species.Animals live in captivity with much human contact. Returning them to the wild is extremely hard. Many zoos acquire animals based on the conservation myth. They claim they keep animals to rebuild populations, but they mostly give the offspring to other zoos.

Most zoo animals released into the wild do not survive, even if they were healthy at the zoo. They lack habitats resembling their natural ones.Because they lack natural habitats, especially in climate and fauna, they cannot adapt. They will starve or be abandoned after release. They also have less fear of natural predators.Animals often lack the natural social skills needed to mate with their wild relatives.They often lack the natural social skills required for successful mating.Caged animals get fat. Their enclosed environment and frequent feedings make it common for zoo animals to become obese, which endangers their health.

It is common for animals at the zoo to become obese due to their environment and feedings.About 40% of elephants in captivity are obese. A spokesperson for the Copenhagen Zoo admitted that...Endangering their health. About 40% of captive elephants are obese. A spokesperson for the Copenhagen Zoo admitted that "Basically all animals except birds were overweight." were overweight."