The recent reporting of animals being shot in zoos has inspired me to explore the world of zoos. When I was a child I loved the zoo, I have always been obsessed with animals. As I became involved with animal rights I started to wonder about zoos: Aren't they helping the animals? We need zoos because otherwise they'd go extinct! But in actual fact, none of this is true. The more I read about zoos, the more I am astonished that they exist. The recent events involving the two lions (unnamed) at the Metropolitan zoo in Santiago, Chile, and Harambe the gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo have sparked outrage and I am not surprised. However, what upsets me is that it takes three animals being shot dead for people to take interest. Zoos should be an every day outrage, regardless of the shootings.

Lets take the first incident. On 22nd May 2016, a 20 year old man strips naked and jumps into the lion pen in a suicide bid. There are varying reports on what the zookeepers did. One newspaper claims that they shot their only tranquilising shot and accidentally hit the man instead of the lions. Another claims that they went straight for a gun. And another newspaper claims that they did hit the lions with a tranquilising gun but the effect was taking too long. However, all of the reports end with shooting both lions dead. The man entered into the lions' 'home' by his own freewill and the lions are killed for it. Now please imagine that you are in your own home, watching TV when a naked (?) burglar breaks in, you ring the police, they turn up and shoot YOU. At the end of the day, if the zookeepers can't handle the animals, that must be a clear sign to zoo owners that zoos shouldn't exist. The man survived which is the one bit of good news but I can't help but feel anger towards him. He is obviously mentally unwell and I just hope that he gets the help he needs.

One of the Lions (Independent)

One of the lions was born in the zoo. The theory that the animals are nurtured until they are ready to go back into the wild is obviously a lie. This poor animal never got to experience any of its natural habitats or act on its natural instincts. The other one was rescued from a circus. For this lion, life got better but not the best. Newspapers were quick to share headlines insisting that the man was mauled and the zookeepers had no other option. 'Mauled'? 'MAULED'?! Well, of course he was mauled. I know what lions do, you know what lions do and that man knows what lions do - they kill, they are predators. You don't enter a serial killer's home and expect to not die, just how I wouldn't run up to a lion and expect a hug. The stupidity of people that demonise animals for killing is beyond me. It is in their nature. If they weren't locked up away from their home, they wouldn't be killing as many humans - if any - as they wouldn't come across many.

Metropolitan Zoo in Chile (CNN)

Lions hunt, lions kill and lions eat the corpses. In actual fact, this guy going in the enclosure and being mauled is probably the most natural viewing of a lion that audience will ever see. It certainly makes a difference from seeing an overdosed, depressed animal slumped in a corner. The lion probably thought he was getting a decent meal for once. It breaks my heart that the lions were - for one - caged, but also that the zookeepers had no preparation for this. Of course the zoo authorities now say they didn't have the time to get more tranquilising guns, but witnesses say different. Therefore not only did they kill the lions, they try to make excuses for themselves. I'm not saying an animal's life is more important than a human's, I'm saying that there was no need for them to die (or to even be there at all).

Here is the second incident. On 28th May 2016 a four year old boy managed to get into a gorilla enclosure. Harambe (who comes from a rare species of gorilla) approached the boy and was subsequently shot dead. News headlines claim that the boy FELL into the enclosure. Now, I have had many zoo trips in my childhood and not once did I find myself having to cling onto the ground to stop myself from falling into an enclosure. The probability of this happening as a complete accident is very low. Chances are, the child was playing around and somehow managed to get in. This, of course, shouldn't be possible as the zoo should be more secure.

Harambe, the 17 year old Gorilla (Cincinnati Zoo's Twitter)

Reports claim that Harambe grabbed the boy out of the water in order to protect him but was scared by the screams coming from onlookers. Throughout this event, Harambe did not attack the child in any way, but the zookeepers deemed the situation dangerous because of the animal's size. Therefore, unlike the lion incident, Harambe did not injure the child, he merely got him out of the water and was interacting with him. The shooting of Harambe is inexcusable. Zoo officials have stated their sadness by the loss of Harambe because the keepers had become close to him. So if they had a bond with Harambe, why could they not ease the child away from him? Simple: Humans cannot control wild animals. Zoos pose a danger to animals (mainly) and humans.

Boy with Harambe (Fox)

Many people are turning to the parents for blame. Yes they should have had a closer eye on their son but most of us were not there and cannot comment. This boils down to the unnaturalness of zoos and putting such wild animals close to humans. I feel for the parents because now their capabilities are put into question when actually they are not to blame. They could not have foreseen this occurring and are probably as traumatised as the rest of the audience. However, inadvertently their inability to constantly watch their child resulted in the death of an endangered animal.

Harambe Protects the Boy (Daily Mail)

Thirty years ago, a five year old boy fell into Jambo's gorilla enclosure at Jersey Zoo (U.K.). The boy had serious injuries from the fall and Jambo went to check on the child. Once the boy woke up, he started to cry which startled Jambo, so he left the boy alone. The boy was saved and no one died. Of course no can predict what a wild animal will do in situations such as this but it does show that there is no need to instantly go for killing.

Twenty years ago, a three year old boy fell into Binti Jua's gorilla enclosure at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. Binti carried the unconscious boy whilst carrying her own child on her back to the corner of the enclosure and protected him from the other gorillas. Following this she took the boy to the door of the enclosure to give him to zookeepers.

These two incidents show that killing the animal is not always the only option.

R.I.P. Harambe and the two lions.

My lasting message to you is: Go and see the animals in the wild! I don't want my future children to believe that caging an animal and sending them insane is how to treat an animal. I want my children to see lions running as a pack, or whales swimming in the ocean. The truth is, if you truly care for animals and are dying to see them, you will save the money to do so. Zoos do not educate, they merely provide a false spectacle to humans who are ignorant enough to believe that this is natural.