Should animals be kept in zoos? ⏲️ 6 Minute English

10,757 views ・ 2025-05-08

BBC Learning English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:07
Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
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And I'm Georgie.
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In this programme, we're discussing a controversial topic
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that often produces strong feelings: should animals be kept in zoos?
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What's your opinion on this debate, Neil?
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Oh, it's a really difficult question, Georgie.
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I think there are good scientific reasons for having animals in zoos,
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but also, it seems to me a little bit sad and cruel
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for wild animals to be locked up.
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For some, zoos are a good way to teach people about nature
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and save endangered species from extinction.
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Others think separating animals from their natural habitat is cruel
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and unnecessary.
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Either way, with an estimated 700 million visitors
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every year, zoos remain popular – but are they a good thing?
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We'll be debating the pros and cons,
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as well as learning some useful new words and phrases.
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And remember, you can find all the vocabulary
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for this programme on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
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01:09
Now, I have a question for you, Georgie.
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In 2022, five animals escaped from Sydney's Taronga Zoo in Australia,
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but were the escaped animals: a) elephants, b) lions, or c) zebras?
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Hmm. I can imagine zebras running away from the zoo.
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OK. We'll find out the answer at the end of the programme.
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Reporter William Lee Adams has been investigating the arguments for
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and against keeping animals in zoos with BBC World Service programme,
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What in the World.
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Here he gives two arguments in favour of zoos:
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Education is the primary reason that zoos give for why they should exist.
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The fact is, school children all over the world are often bussed to zoos.
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I remember myself going to see lowland gorillas
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at Zoo Atlanta every single year.
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And the point of this was to introduce us to conservation.
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One argument for keeping animals in zoos is to educate people
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about the importance of conservation:
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the protection of plants, animals and the natural world from human damage.
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A second point is that zoos often invest in research programmes
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that help endangered animals.
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Now as we know, pandas are notoriously reluctant to mate:
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the female pandas have a narrow window of fertility,
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they're solitary creatures
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and it takes two to tango when it comes to reproduction.
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But a lot of money in zoos – it goes to, sort of,
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find ways to encourage these animals to mate.
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A second argument is that zoos protect endangered species
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from extinction through breeding.
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William mentions pandas, animals which are reluctant,
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meaning slow and unwilling to reproduce.
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Male and female pandas need a little help to make babies,
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and zoos can provide this help.
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William uses the idiom, it takes two to tango,
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to describe an activity which needs two people,
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or in this case two pandas, to be willing to make something a success.
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Now, let's turn to some of the arguments against zoos with Nikita Dhawan,
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a 19-year-old animal-rights activist from India,
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who spoke to BBC World Service programme,
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What in the World.
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I don't think zoos should exist for several reasons,
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the first one being zoos' detrimental impact on both the physical
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and psychological health of animals.
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Many studies and research have shown that many animals in zoos
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and aquariums display abnormal behaviours like
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head-bobbing, pacing, stereotypical behaviours, signs of mental distress.
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The second reason, I would say, is
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that zoos cannot mimic the natural habitat of animals in the wild.
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Nikita argues that being enclosed in a zoo is so stressful for wild animals
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it leads to abnormal behaviour: behaviour that is different, and worse,
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from what would normally be expected.
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Examples of this include animals pacing their cages in circles and rocking,
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bar-biting and even self-harm.
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And they're so common in captive animals,
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there's a name for it: zoochosis.
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Even zoos with large enclosures cannot fully mimic, or copy,
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the natural habitats and open spaces these animals would enjoy in the wild.
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And imagine how a polar bear, evolved for life in the frozen Arctic,
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would feel, trapped in a zoo in a much warmer country.
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Some zoologists have compared zoochosis to human traumas
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like post-traumatic stress disorder but say it's even more damaging.
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For captive animals,
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everything – including the air they breathe – is traumatic.
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We've heard a few arguments for and against keeping animals in zoos.
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What do you think, Neil?
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Have you changed your opinion at all?
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Well, I think there are really strong arguments on both sides,
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so I'm still not sure, Georgie.
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04:45
Well, we know how some of the animals at the Sydney Zoo felt about things
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because they managed to escape!
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But what was the answer to your question, Neil?
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Well, Georgie, I asked you which animals escaped from a zoo
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in Sydney, Australia, in 2022.
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Was it a) elephants, b) lions, or c) zebras?
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And I said zebras.
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I'm afraid that was the wrong answer.
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It was actually lions – how scary!
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OK. It's time to recap the vocabulary we've learned.
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Conservation is the protection of plants, animals,
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and the natural world from human harm.
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If you are reluctant to do something, you don't want to do it,
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or you do it very slowly.
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The idiom, it takes two to tango, refers to an activity which needs two people
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to willingly and actively take part for it to succeed.
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The adjective, abnormal, means different from what would normally be expected,
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in a bad way.
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05:37
Zoochosis is a term to describe
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the repeated, purposeless behaviour performed by captive animals
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in response to the stress of being confined, including pacing,
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head-bobbing, and swaying.
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And finally, if you mimic somebody or something, you imitate it or copy it.
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Once again, our six minutes are up, but don't forget we have a worksheet
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and a quiz that you can use to practise the vocabulary from this episode.
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Visit bbclearningenglish.com.
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06:05
Goodbye for now. Goodbye.
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