LeCourrier46.pdf (archives-ouvertes.

fr)

Animal welfare

First of all, in zoos, the animal territory is smaller than in liberty and it is made artificially, animals
have less space to run and develop themselves. A simple example is goldfishes, most of the time
they are kept in small tanks, so they stay small during their life. But in fact, goldfishes are supposed
to become big as they grow old. Bad captivity conditions prevent them from having a normal
development. Moreover, food and water are provided to the animals continually, they don’t need
to hunt their prey, so they lose the ir instinct, and they move less. Animals are protected from their
predators, infections, and diseases. Reproduction is programmed by the zoo managers. Overall, their
behaviour is dictated by humans. Which is not how it is in their natural habitat. All these factors can
have an impact on their physical and mental form. Nutrition is a factor of morphological change,
especially of the cranium

For example, turtle eggs are incubated on dry surfaces instead of moist surfaces, so when babies are
born, they suffer from a heart hypertropia (decrease of the blood quantity).

Captivity induces stress for a lot of animals, and stress has a big impact on the general form. For
example, it can affect reproduction abilities and sometimes mother don’t want their babies when
they are born.

Animals in zoo can have babies, the problem is that populations in captivity are very small so there is
a lack of genetic diversity. And as the populations are small there also can be cases of consanguinity
which can lead to a diminution of fertility, an increase in juvenile mortality, a reduction of growth
and a diminution of the intra inter species competition.

Zoos can introduce enrichment processes

Mental

When we talk about mental health, a lot is related to the stress. And in zoos, there are a lot of stress
factors. Animals are in captivity and their control capacity are decreased, and sometimes natural
conditions aren’t well reproduced like lights periods, nutrition, heat gaps, traumas.

It can be the origin of stereotypies; they are a repetition of actions without variation or aim. Animals
get these because they are unable to act like they do in normal conditions which leads to frustration
and the use of a substitute comportment. A lot of species uses them when they are waiting for food.
As an example of stereotypies, carnivores like lions walk along their cages. Sometimes, those
stereotypes can turn into self-harming.