Zoochosis- The living condition

of Animals in captivity
 “The artificial environment of a zoo can It is sad to think that these animals spend much of
sometimes lead to animals feeling bored, their lives in an enclosure that is too small for
frustrated and stressed” them and their needs.

 “… They develop a stereotypic behavior I have seen pacing and swaying first hand. It is
that becomes compulsive and unnatural” heartbreaking.

Beyond the Zoo: How Captivity

Affects the Mental Well-being
Of all animals
 “… the act of pacing which is meant to This statement makes a good point. It uses
ease the stress of these animals often leads descriptive techniques to make sure the point is
to further anxiety. Just imagine trying to understood. It is the harsh reality.
pace in a tiny, packed subway car”

 “Grooming to the point of baldness, It saddens me to know that animals will physically
feather plucking, and other self-mutilation harm themselves do to being help captive. I
behaviors are compulsive behaviors” imagine it is out of boredom.

 “self-directed behaviors are often a result I have noticed how certain species have numerous
of stress and anxiety caused by a lack (or animals in the same exhibit. Tigers are solitary
excess) of animals of the same species” animals and I have seen many together.

Oral Health Correlates of Captivity

 “The predominant diet fed to captive I understand it is hard to match an animals natural
carnivores in North America consists of diet as if they were in the wild. This is another
ground meat formulated to provide full reason animals should be left wild instead of held
nutritional requirements. However, this captive.’
ground meat diet completely lacks the
mechanical properties (i.e., toughness and
hardness) of the foods these animals would
consume in the wild”
I like to read studies that have been done on
 “We found that the occurrence and
captive vs wild animals. This is vital proof of
severity of calculus buildup and
effects of captivity.
periodontal disease was significantly
higher in captive felids compared to their
wild counterparts”
 “results suggest that food mechanical
properties are significant factors
contributing to oral health in felids”
The Incidence of Bent Dorsal Fins in
Free‐Ranging Cetaceans
 “Laterally bent dorsal fins are rarely
observed in free‐ranging populations of
cetaceans, contrary to captivity, where
most killer whale Orcinus orca adult males
have laterally collapsed fins”
 “The bending and collapse of the dorsal fin
in free‐ranging cetaceans was suggested to
result from reduced nutrient intake and
blubber thickness due to physical injury or
illness, or from other causes directly linked
to trauma, illness or malformation”
It’s good that a cause has been identified. At least,
this can be improved if nothing else.
This goes to show how common it is for captive
animals to experience things that are unlikely in
the wild. It is sad that they have increased
frequencies of things like this.
As stated above in another source, the diet that
captive animals are fed is different from what their
natural diet would be in captivity. This could be
related to malnutrition.