When a person commits an offence and he/she is convicted by a law court, the person is sent into a prison. The person is incarcerated for a specified period of time. The length of the period of incarceration depends on the gravity of the offence. The incarceration serves as a punishment for the offence. The person loses his/her freedom throughout the period of incarceration. The incarceration is justified? Right?
Now, what is the offence of the wild animals we keep in zoos especially the non-endangered ones? Those wild animals are usually kept in zoos for life. It’s like giving them life imprisonment for committing no crime.
There is no justification for locking up those animals especially those that are not endangered. It’s unfair!
It has been established that small birds like swifts and sparrows can fly up to 500 km per day, even more. Imagine the inconvenience such birds would experience if they are locked up in a cage. Locking them up in a cage for what?
For we humans, an average person travels a distance of around 56.3 km per day. Yet, we wouldn’t be happy to have ourselves incarcerated for any reason. Why do we now incarcerate birds that fly a distance that is several or multiple folds of the distance we move per day?
For the endangered animals, of course, they need to be protected. Whatever habitat created for them should be conducive enough to live their lives to the fullest.
In some parts of the world, the incarcerated animals are not given enough food. They are malnourished just like the lion in the picture below.
Lions are ferocious hunters in the wild. The incarcerated lion in the picture above would feed itself well in the wild. If the incarcerated lion above can’t be fed well, why not release it into the wild to feed itself?
In the spirit of humanity, we should stop inadvertently giving prison sentences to animals for committing no crime.
Photo Credits: Bronek Kaminski/Barcroft India, www.dailymail.co.uk, www.essence.com, 47vibez.com.ng, www.richardgardenerantiques.co.uk
