Description
The condition of the animals varies widely, predominantly in zoos in countries with little or no regulations. The majority of zoos continue to work to improve their animal enclosures, although constraints like size and expense make it difficult to create ideal captive environments for some species, such as dolphins and whales.
The bear cages, one square meter in size, in Dalian zoo, Port Arthur, Liaoning Province, China, in 1997.
Some critics argue that animals that live in zoos are treated as voyeuristic objects rather than living creatures, and are often driven to insanity in the transition from being free and wild to incarcerated and dependent on humans for survival.
A four-decade Oxford University study found that polar bears, lions, tigers, and cheetahs show the most evidence of stress in captivity.