CLASS 6S ANIMALS SHOULD BE KEPT IN ZOOS An issue that has been brought up very often is should animals be kept in zoos. I will talk about accessibility because of our urbanized world, D.N.AS., extinction, economics, health and the availability for tests. I support animals being kept in zoos. Firstly, some animals will soon become extinct and the only way to preserve them is by keeping them in zoos. So they should be kept in zoos merely to ensure their survival. Some examples of endangered animals are: the bald eagle from North America, the giant panda from China and Tibet, the snow leopard from Central Asia, the Siberian and Sumatran Tigers, the Indian Elephant, the Tapir, Onyx and the Mountain Gorilla. In addition the world has become very urbanized and people are not close to nature. They don't get to see many animals in their natural environment. Animals should not be kept in cages in the zoo but should be displayed in their natural environment, e.g. koalas in gum trees, and crocodile's swamps with vegetation around them and the gorillas have an environment full of plants. The chimp exhibit at Taronga Zoo is a good example as is Western Plains Zoo. Furthermore animals in zoos are available for tests much more freely than animals in the wild. These tests are not necessarily bad but are performed by vets and primate psychologists and teach things like counting, sign language and talking to chimps and gorillas. Ravens can also be taught to count. Many other intelligent species include: parrots, seals and dolphins. Fourthly animals can be kept in better health in zoos than in the wild. This is possible because the abundance of food and water, which is not available in the wild. Animals in zoos live much longer, even twice as long as animals in the wild, e.g. apes might live to 55 or 60 but only 20 or 25 on the wild and elephants to 60 or 65 but only 30 or 40 in the wild. Another point to consider is that having animals on a zoo provides a ready source of D.N.A. to draw from for research. Our D.N.A can be compared to many animals so scientists save a lot of time taking D.N.AS. from zoo animals. This can only help in medical studies and also in tracking down how we evolved from more primitive ancestors. Finally zoos that employ people with good ideas, like Taronga Zoo, actually make a lot of sense as they attract local, interstate and overseas tourists. Taronga Zoo has succeeded in just that because it keeps animals in large modern enclosures and it is built in a very scenic location. A good example of a modern exhibit is the gorilla enclosure, which was built a few years ago. In conclusion it seems more sensible to have animals in zoos than in the wild where they have an uncertain future. Currently the world is witnessing an extinction event similar to the one that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. There are also great breeding programs in zoos and the animals are sage from poachers, predators and habitat destruction. By Rob