▲ Samjung The Park closed the door

Samjung The Park, the only zoo in Busan, has closed the door. The zoo has been suffering from economical problems, and due to the lack of visitors by COVID-19, it ultimately gave up. On the other hand, animals in New York Zoological Park such as tigers and lions have been infected by the virus. As zoos are subjected by COVID-19, a lot of people discuss abolishing zoos.

People who agree with the discontinuance of zoos say that technology has been developed, so there is no more necessity of zoos. By the combination of AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality), we can describe animals elaborately. In addition, they assert that animals are suffering from the poor environment of zoos. The majority of zoo animals are from other countries, so factors such as climate and geological features are different from their homeland. It is hard to manage the zoos in different countries which have climate change during seasons. By the result of faint administration, animals experience physical and psychological stress.

▲ panda suffering from poor environment of the zoo

Even though there are problems with zoos, some people disagree on the abolition of zoos. They say that the purpose of the zoo has changed from entertainment to the protection of animals. For instance, animals like polar bears have no place to go due to global warming. If there are no man-made facilities, polar bears are going to extinct. Like this, zoos can protect endangered animals from extinction. In addition, there are difficulties to send animals back to their homeland. There are animals which spend a long time in the zoo. If those animals go back to the forest, it will be hard for them to adapt in the new environment.

▲ polar bear protected by the zoo

No matter whether the zoos should be banned or not, the system of the zoo should be modified. Achieving happiness watching the locked animals in the cage is undoubtedly cruel, and it only emphasizes the immoral part of human beings. Therefore, we all should consider what is the proper way for animals and also humans, too.

May 9th, 2020

by Yang Ye Won