Debate

Page 1

Good afternoon, as the affirmative team we believe that animals should be kept in captivity in zoos and marine parks. As the first speaker i will be arguing that it gives us the opportunity to save endangered species. I will also be arguing that it allows more research to be done on certain animals where not much is known about them.

Endangerment is a serious issue amongst the animal kingdom. The threat of extinction faces so many different species and if we were to hold them in zoos and marine parks they would have the chance to reproduce and keep their species alive. The only reason these creatures face extinction is because of us humans and our actions.Take the orangutans for example. They were on the endangered list for many, many years. The reason for their near extinction was because their homes were being cut down for the production of palm oil in order to benefit human kind and the economy. Our actions put those who have no voice in danger and we now know that we can do something about it. There are orangutan rehabilitation centers where people rescue injured or homeless orangutans and give them the support and care they need. Say we were to do this with more than just the orangutans, imagine how many more species we would still have alive. We need to have animals in captivity for their own health and for the survival of their kind.

There are lots of animal species that we have little to know knowledge about. If we were to put them in captivity, there would many new opportunites for scientists to discover and learn about these incredible creatures. The information they would gather would contain such facts as the animals behaviour, diet , etc. With this information they can then inform and help the zookeepers look after the animals as they would know when something was wrong of the animal was hurt/sick. There are so many species where nothing was known about them and therefore they became extinct because we didnt know how to save them. You may be thinking, why cant they observe the animals in their natural habitat. Well my answer to that is that that is far to dangerous for the humans and the animals besides, whatever enclosure the animal is put into, it will most often replicate their natural habitat but will be much safer as the zookeepers will be standing around and the fences will contain the animals so they can't lunge at the researchers. Animals being placed in captivity is necessary as research about these species can continue safely and we will know a lot more on how these creatures live and how to care for them.

Animals should be kept in captivity in zoos and marine parks because humans can look after them and protect their species, making sure they survive and don't face extinction and much more research can be done on these animals in a much safer environment. We most defintley should keep animals in captivity.