When I originally started this project my initial standpoint was that all forms of animal captivity are wrong. I still stand by this in terms of SeaWorld, circus animals and wildlife parks that simply do not care about the animal’s welfare but what has really changed my mind on the topic is UK Zoos. From communicating with Flamingo Land, Blackpool Zoo and Belfast Zoo, it seems like they all have one common goal in mind; conservation and making sure the animals are fit, healthy and meet with the standards of BIAZA. I feel it is important to protect our wildlife from poachers and extinction and if this means captivity and breading for some time I think it is the lesser of two evils to continue doing so in the right conditions. It is encouraging to know that our county …show more content…
This means that the orcas currently living at SeaWorld will be the last. This is a great step in the right direction for SeaWorld and animal rights, as it shows the consequences and impact poorly kept animals have on the world and on businesses made from them. This is a great step forward for the poor treat animals at the park and any small change helps a lot. We can only hope that other zoos and wildlife parks also catch on and change their ways for the better.
Conclusion
Overall, I believe my project has successfully weighed up the pros and cons of animal captivity by sharing various case studies and contrasting the views of many philosophers including Singer, Regan, Mill, MacIntyre, Kant, Aristotle, Cohen and Partridge. Despite my slightly altered view of animal captivity in the UK after my interview with Ross Snipp, Zoo Manager of Flamingo Land, I still stand by my initial view that all forms of animal captivity is wrong, as the UK is only a small majority of the world. This means that the good coming out of most UK zoos is outweighed by the bad coming out of various other zoos, wildlife parks and