Questioning Captivity: Should animals be removed from nature for our enjoyment?
The death of Harambe has ignited a long-overdue debate around the ethics of captivating animals. This New York Times article captures our feelings best in this quote from primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy.
“When I visit zoos, I have to turn off my feelings and just tell myself that I am at a museum admiring nature’s masterpieces, otherwise, I can’t really justify keeping great apes in cages.”
When will we, as a species, realize that sometimes our cultural standards are damaging for other sentient creatures? At what point will we shrug off these accepted practices for the sake of morality.
The accepted actions of the past should not dictate how we want to live in the future. We need to question every action and practice. We need to have accountability to this planet and to every species on it.
Animals do not belong in cages.