Hewitt-Ernst1

Lacey Hewitt-Ernst
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
3 March 2016
The Effects of the Captivity of Animals
Animals should not be placed in captivity. Animals are taken out of their natural habitat
to be put in captivity. These animals do not deserve to be in captivity, these animals deserve to be
in their natural habitat. Zoos and aquariums should not have the right to take these animals to put
them in captivity for entertainment.
Countless numbers of marine animals that have been taken away from their families and
placed in captivity for entertainment purposes. These people do not take these animals out of
their natural habitat because they feel as if they are helping them, but they take them out for their
own purposes. These animals can not take on their natural behavior in these small tanks they are
placed in, they tend to misbehave because they are not in their natural habitat. There have been a
couple cases when marine animal trainers or workers have been attacked by Tilikum. According
to the article Over 30 Years and Three Deaths: Tilikums Tragic Story, Tilikum is the largest
orca in captivity at SeaWorld, and has been in captivity there for almost over 30 years. Shortly
after Tilikum's capture, he was held in a cement tank where he waited to be transferred over to a
marine park. When Tilikum was transferred over to Sealand, they would would not give him
food unless he performed the unnatural tricks the trainers wanted him to. This caused the other
two dominate female orcas to attack Tilikum, leaving teeth marks on him. The article Over 30
Years and Three Deaths: Tilikums Tragic Story states the first attack occurred on February
21st, 1991, when Sealand trainer Keltie Byrne fell into the tank with all three orcas. Keltie Byrne

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was dragged to the bottom of the pool and was attacked by all three orcas. Keltie eventually
drowned, and it took the employees almost over two hours to retrieve her body from the orcas.
After the attack Tilikum was put up for sale and Sealand closed. When Sea World saw Tilikum
was for sale they immediately bought him to breed with other orcas in captivity at SeaWorld.
Another attack was made on Daniel P. Dukes in 1999 and Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Dawn
Brancheau was scalped and drowned by Tilikum. These attacks are due to Tilikum's aggravation
and stress. Also, all of the orcas in SeaWorld have a collapsed dorsal fin caused by depression
and stress. According to the article How Captivity Affects Marine Animals, since whales and
dolphins use sonar to communicate with one another, they are essentially rendered deaf and
dumb when placed in a concrete water tank. The sonar bounces off the cement tanks, confusing
and irritating the animals (How Captivity Affects Marine Animals). Also, according to the
article, Aquariums and Marine Parks it states that touch tanks and swim-with programs
allow the public to pet, kiss, or even ride dolphins. Such programs invade the animals already
diminished worlds are intrusive, stressful, and even dangerous for the animals, as well as being
risky for human participants too (Aquariums and Marine Parks). These animals are not
healthy in captivity, and most of these animals die off from the unhealthiness. Aquariums and
Marine Parks states that wild orcas can live for decades. The median age of orcas in captivity
is only 9. At least 44 orcas have died at U.S. SeaWorld facilities from causes ranging from severe
trauma to intestinal gangrene; not one has died of old age. More than 60 bottlenose dolphins died
at SeaWorld parks in 10 years alone, including 16 stillborn babies (Aquariums and Marine
Parks). These animals mean no harm to anyone. They just want to be in their natural habitat
with their families.

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Zoo animals are taken out of the wild and placed in captivity for entertainment also.
These animals in captivity are incapable of doing things they would in the wild such as choosing
a mate. In captivity these animals do not get to choose who they mate with, the zoo's decide.
Most zoos mate their animals because they know how appealing they are to the public, and they
will get more visitors if they have new animals. Once these animals are older and not as
appealing to the public anymore, the zoos will sell them.Some of these animals that are sold are
sold to parks where hunters pay to kill them. Selling animals once they are no longer valuable to
the zoos is horrible, no animal should ever have to go through anything of the such. These
animals are abused and neglected in captivity, they do not have much space in the cages they are
put in. If animals have been in captivity they begin to do unnatural things, and being to be more
prone to diseases. With animals being held captive in a cage, there are also kids that throw
objects at these animals and taunt them. They also are not fed the proper foods that they would
receive in their natural habitat. In one of the chapters of Animal Rights: Nobel Cause or
Needless Effort? they talk about how unnatural it is to have animals kept in captivity and how
these animals have rights just like humans do.
Animals should not be placed in captivity. These animals have rights, and we take those
rights away from them once these animals are taken away from their families to be placed in
captivity for entertainment. Zoos and marine park show us how miserable and depressed these
animals are in captivity. These animals do not deserve to be put in cages and little tanks for the
rest of their life.

Works Cited
"Aquariums and Marine Parks" PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

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"How Captivity Affects Marine Animals." How Captivity Affects Marine Animals. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
Marna A, Owen. Chapter Two, Animals and the Law. Animal Rights: Noble Cause or Needless
Effort? Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century, 2010. N. pag. Print.
"Over 30 Years and Three Deaths: Tilikum's Tragic Story - SeaWorld of Hurt."SeaWorld of Hurt.
N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.