zoo world essay

208 pp. 5.5 x 8.5 Pub Date: September, 2023

Subjects: Creative Nonfiction

Series: The Journal Non/Fiction Prize

Imprint: Mad Creek

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• About the Author
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Read an interivew with Mary Quade in Belt Magazine .

Read an interview with Mary Quade in InsideHook .

“These passionate, nuanced environmentalist essays are perfect for Barbara Kingsolver fans.” —Rebecca Foster, Shelf Awareness

“Quade, a poet and creative writing instructor, presents a mixture of travel memoir, philosophical meditation, and environmental ethics class, pondering the many ways she and all of us walk through the world.…A pocket adventure for environmentalists and those who enjoy meditative writing.” — Kirkus

“Mary Quade is like a girl-guide transcendentalist. She has an unquenchable thirst for natural history—ducklings, milkweed, snake farms—and an unflinching eye for environmental crime. In prose that is like fleshed-out poetry, she elevates the humble and brings great concepts down to earth. Whether at home in Ohio or on an adventure in Michoacán, Vietnam, or the Galápagos, Quade is excellent company. Zoo World is a book to savor.” —Mary Norris, author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen

“In these stunning and urgent explorations, largely about the (im)balance between the human and nonhuman worlds, Quade writes with the precision of a researcher, the lyricism of a poet (which she is), and a selfless compassion. This extraordinary menagerie of essays is not to be missed.” —Sue William Silverman, author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences

“Mary Quade is a collector—of insects and injured ducks, of images and memories and facts. Whether wandering a zoo in Vietnam, a beach by Tortuga Bay, some industrial no-man’s-land in Cleveland, or her own backyard, she gathers into her sentences a great many bright and broken findings that, arranged into these artful essays, lovingly illuminate this bright and broken world.” —Donovan Hohn, author of Moby-Duck and The Inner Coast

“A wild ride of a book about the animals in whose midst we live, the animals we eat, and the animals we are—taking us swiftly round the curves and hauling us up each steep ascent before the exhilarating, inevitable plunge that follows.” —Michelle Herman, The Journal Non/Fiction Prize judge and author of Close-Up

We contain the elements of our world in archives, boxes, collections, mausoleums, history books, and museums, trying to stave off their eventual disappearance from our memory and from the earth in a futile attempt at redemption for our violence against them. In Zoo World, Mary Quade examines our propensity for damage, our relationships with other species, our troubling belief in our own dominion, and the reality that when you put something in a cage, it becomes your responsibility. Her subjects are as eclectic as mallard ducks, ancient churches, monarch butterflies, classrooms, tourism, street markets, zoos, and dairy cows and as global as migration, war, language, and climate change. Whatever the topic at hand, Zoo World considers how our stewardship of the earth and one another falls short, hoping that a more humble understanding of our place on the planet might lead not only to our mutual survival but also to the extinction of our hubris as human beings. Replete with Quade’s lyrical and observational gifts and refusing to let any of us off the hook in the name of inspiration or comfort, these essays are a fresh take on travel and nature writing, pushing both in thrilling new directions.

Mary Quade is the author of the poetry collections  Guide to Native Beasts  and  Local Extinctions . A graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she is a recipient of an Oregon Literary Fellowship and four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards for both poetry and creative nonfiction. She teaches creative writing at Hiram College.

The Collection

Project Monarch

Songs of the Humpback Whale

The Galápagos Shooting Gallery

In the Classroom

Paradise, Earth

Fonoteca Nacional: Memoria de Otro Tiempo Sonora, Coyoacán, Mexico City

In Harmony with Nature

Steel: Products of Cleveland

Acknowledgments

Related Titles:

Dark Tourist

Hasanthika Sirisena

Sign Here If You Exist and Other Essays

Jill Sisson Quinn

Sustainability

A Love Story

Nicole Walker

Mary Quade is the author of Guide to Native Beasts  (Cleveland State University Poetry Center) and Local Extinctions (Gold Wake) and the winner of the 2022 the Journal Non/Fiction Prize. Look for her new book Zoo World: Essays in Fall 2023 from The ohio State University Press Mad Creek Books.

A graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, she is the recipient of an Oregon Literary Fellowship and four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards for both poetry and creative nonfiction (2006, 2010, 2014, 2020).

Before moving to Ohio, she taught high school English and photography in Oregon. Since 2002, she has lived in northeast Ohio on the last few acres of a former dairy farm with her husband, Cris Harris. She is a professor of English at Hiram College in Ohio, where she teaches creative writing. 

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Zoo World: Essays (Non/Fiction Collection Prize) Kindle Edition

• Print length 229 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Mad Creek Books
• Publication date September 19, 2023
• File size 1910 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

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Excerpt. © reprinted by permission. all rights reserved., about the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C5FTRPZQ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mad Creek Books (September 19, 2023)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 19, 2023
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 1910 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 229 pages
• #799 in Biological Science of Wildlife
• #893 in Nature Writing
• #3,177 in Nature & Ecology (Kindle Store)

About the author

Mary Quade is the author of the poetry collections Local Extinctions and Guide to Native Beasts and the essay collection Zoo World, winner of the 2022 The Journal Non/Fiction Prize, forthcoming from The Ohio State University Press / Mad Creek Books imprint in September 2023.

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by Mary Quade ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 19, 2023

A pocket adventure for environmentalists and those who enjoy meditative writing.

An intimate think piece on the world of man vs. nature.

Quade, a poet and creative writing instructor, presents a mixture of travel memoir, philosophical meditation, and environmental ethics class, pondering the many ways she and all of us walk through the world. Her captivating first essay packs a familiar punch, as the author discusses catastrophic oil spills, but the real meat of the chapter is the personal saga of how Quade tried to rescue her own ducklings on her farm. Throughout the book, the author creates similar narrative patterns, relating the larger natural world with her smaller inner one. Birds, snakes, monkeys, monarch butterflies, and numerous other animals move within the text, each reflecting some facet of the relationship between humans and animals. Quade also chronicles her travels around the world, with a focus on Mexico and Vietnam and how their politics relate to her own story. She writes to alert readers about certain issues related to nature (“a fluttery term”) or current affairs but also to connect with them. At times, the switch between bucolic settings and international politics can be jarring, but Quade maintains a quick tempo that keeps the pages turning. Some of the essays read like elongated thoughts and scribblings, but they always end with a conclusion that allows readers to think deeply about the subject matter. Quade acts like a teacher, leaving some of the work to her audience. Recalling a milk carton label that said, “Produced in harmony with nature,” she writes, “I’m not terribly musical, but it seems to me if we’re on the same note—nature—we can’t really be in harmony, we can only be in unison. But if we think of nature as something ‘other,’ something we can be in or out of harmony with, then what does being in harmony with it entail?”

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023

ISBN: 9780814258774

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Mad Creek/Ohio State Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: May 5, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023

NATURE | GENERAL NONFICTION

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Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker . So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny .” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.

Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Celadon Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020

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Sedaris at his darkest—and his best.

In which the veteran humorist enters middle age with fine snark but some trepidation as well.

Mortality is weighing on Sedaris ( Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002 , 2017, etc.), much of it his own, professional narcissist that he is. Watching an elderly man have a bowel accident on a plane, he dreaded the day when he would be the target of teenagers’ jokes “as they raise their phones to take my picture from behind.” A skin tumor troubled him, but so did the doctor who told him he couldn’t keep it once it was removed. “But it’s my tumor,” he insisted. “ I made it.” (Eventually, he found a semitrained doctor to remove and give him the lipoma, which he proceeded to feed to a turtle.) The deaths of others are much on the author’s mind as well: He contemplates the suicide of his sister Tiffany, his alcoholic mother’s death, and his cantankerous father’s erratic behavior. His contemplation of his mother’s drinking—and his family’s denial of it—makes for some of the most poignant writing in the book: The sound of her putting ice in a rocks glass increasingly sounded “like a trigger being cocked.” Despite the gloom, however, frivolity still abides in the Sedaris clan. His summer home on the Carolina coast, which he dubbed the Sea Section, overspills with irreverent bantering between him and his siblings as his long-suffering partner, Hugh, looks on. Sedaris hasn’t lost his capacity for bemused observations of the people he encounters. For example, cashiers who say “have a blessed day” make him feel “like you’ve been sprayed against your will with God cologne.” But bad news has sharpened the author’s humor, and this book is defined by a persistent, engaging bafflement over how seriously or unseriously to take life when it’s increasingly filled with Trump and funerals.

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Zoo World: Essays

Mary quade. mad creek, $21.95 trade paper (208p) isbn 978-0-8142-5877-4.

Reviewed on: 07/07/2023

Genre: Nonfiction

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Essay on Zoo for Students and Children

500 words essay on zoo.

The world is a huge place to see. It consists of so many living organisms that it is impossible to see each and every one of them. Especially for human beings, who are fascinated very much by animals. For the same reasons, zoos were created so that humans can interact better with animals.

In other words, a zoo is a facility that has animals, birds, and reptiles of all kinds. They are confined to space where they are given food and medical facilities. The government has given strict guidelines to maintain a zoo. This is done keeping in mind the animal’s safety. In addition, zoos are made breeding grounds for animals to protect their species.

Benefits of Zoo

Zoos were made to bring wildlife closer to humans. It gave humans a better and up-close view of them. This allows various researchers and scientists to note the behavioral pattern of the animals. It helps them in their studies and discover new things.

In addition, zoos are a great source of entertainment for kids. They love visiting zoos and interacting with animals. This helps them learn practical knowledge about the animal. It also gives them exposure to wildlife and widens their knowledge.

Furthermore, zoos give us easy access to rare animals. Had it not been for zoos, we would have never been able to see what some animals looked like. We enjoy their behavior and it also creates awareness about the extinction of the rare species.

Similarly, zoos are a safe breeding ground for animals. They ensure the animal breeds so they never go extinct. This helps in creating a good balance. Moreover, the zoos ensure the animals get all the nutrition in their bodies to lead a healthy life. This is beneficial as the animal may not get guaranteed meals in the forests.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Disadvantages of Zoo

While the zoo is a great place for entertainment, it is also very exploitive. It takes advantage of the poor animals to make a profit off them. The zoos keep animals in very bad conditions. It takes unethical methods just to create revenue.

Furthermore, zoos are very unfair to animals. They take the animals out of their natural habitats just for the sake of human entertainment. Why would the animals be put into cages as humans want them to? They are voiceless creatures who are being forced to live in poor conditions. Imagine putting humans into cages so animals could come to see them. It sounds inhumane the other way around but not when we do the same to animals.

Most importantly, zoos do not take proper care of exotic animals. They bring them over in their facility despite knowing that they cannot survive in that climate. Some zoos do not take enough precautionary measures to keep the animals safe. This has resulted in so many deaths of animals that it seems cruel.

In short, though zoos are very helpful to humans and animals to an extent. They must be monitored constantly to ensure the animals are safe. The unethical zoos must be shut down at once to prevent any further loss of animals.

FAQs on Zoo

Q.1 List the advantages of Zoo

A.1 Zoos bring the wildlife close to humans. It helps researchers study them closely and discover new things. It protects rare species and provides a safe breeding ground for them as well.

Q.2 How are zoos harmful to animals?

A.2 Zoos are very harmful to animals. They take them out of their natural habitat for human entertainment. They make them stay in poor conditions due to which they also lose their life and get infections.

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80 Zoo Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best zoo topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 good research topics about zoo, ⭐ simple & easy zoo essay titles, ❓ research questions about zoo.

• Zoos: Advantages and Disadvantages The expediency of zoos and similar institutions is controversial since no artificially created conditions correspond to the natural range of animals’ origin.
• Should Animals Be Kept in Zoos? Some people are of the opinion that animals are inferior to human beings. On the issue of competition, it would be unfair to let animals live free and compete against human beings in the natural […] We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Negotiating: Pandas in San Diego Zoo Case It is not the possible revenues of the zoo that need to be mentioned, but rather the revenues that the counterparty will have, as well as the influence of pandas on the promotion of support […]
• Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species However, at the moment, they could be considered important scientific and research centers that investigate the current situation related to species and create conditions needed for their survival and further preservation.
• Zoos: Cruel or Educational? The reality is that there is ambivalence whether zoos protect animals from the adversity of the wild or they violate the rights of animals to enjoy their freedom in the wild.
• The Harm That Zoos Do to Animals The first argument against zoos to discuss is the lack of interesting activities, joy, and ways to get rid of stress that animals can access in the wild.
• Negotiating About Pandas for San Diego Zoo The popularity of the San Diego Zoo as one of the top zoos in the country and the idea that the borrowing of pandas will be a significant tourist attraction could be highlighted by Myers.
• The Future for Zoos and Aquariums Bibliography If the rights and welfare of animals in zoos and aquariums are properly observed, the world association of zoos and aquariums will have no issues with these zoo fields.
• The Analysis of Siamangs’ Behavior in a Zoo Setting The results of the research disprove the hypothesis as it was assumed that siamangs would be less active in the zoo due to visitor’s attention and limited territory. Therefore, it is possible to note that […]
• The Australia Zoo Rescue Unit Project Being a rescue unit, the project is meant to provide the services of rescuing the ill and injured wildlife animals by offering them with veterinary services free of charge in all zoos of Australian territory.
• Animal Behavior in San Diego Zoo Based on the numerous remarks of scholars that claim that the animals are less active in the artificially created conditions in zoos, the hypothesis of the current write-up is as follows: Pandas tend to be […]
• Zoo Park’s Redundancy Management and Legal Issues Lastly, I have advised the management of the best ways to address the situation leading to the accident in the zoo park’s restaurant.
• The Role of Zoos in Endangered Species Protection Adopting the endangered species requires the zoos to have sufficient funds to meet the needs of the animals and to maintain the facilities.
• Setting Up a Safari Zoo in the UAE The paper below focuses on the barriers to setting up a safari zoo in the UAE. Through this, the study will identify the animals that are more likely to be comfortable in the zoo.
• The Effectiveness of Sustainable Practices, Plans, Programs and Initiatives Implemented by Australian Zoo The recommendations are going to be made about the additional initiatives which may be implemented in the industry paying attention to the failure to apply to one of the concepts in the sustainable development triangle.
• Endangered Animals and Zoo: How Zoos and Aquariums Protect Endangered Species
• Tourists Tours: The Bronx Zoo and the Botanical Garden
• Comparing the Behavior: Zoo Animals Versus Wild Animals
• Zoo Attendance: The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
• Let the Zoo Elephants Go: Movement for Retire Animals to Sanctuaries
• Operations Management: London Zoo and New Walk Tourism
• Appraising Employees at the San Diego Zoo
• Early Learning and Development: A Playground at the Zoo
• Tours in the Zoo Influence the Success of Extracurricular Educational Programs
• Social Enterprise: Zoos and Aquariums
• Hotel and Outdoor Petting Zoo
• Operations Management London Zoo and Nottingham Castle
• Planning and Building Housing for the Zoo
• The Future of Zoos and Animals in Them: Challenges Force Zoos to Change in Big Ways
• Animals and Statues Around the Zoo: Art Project
• Bronx Zoo Teen Summer Camp
• Akron Zoo Events Attendance Annual
• Tourist Management Strategies: Australia Zoo
• Bristol Zoo Business Objectives
• Cameron Park Zoo: The Perfect Place to Relax and Enjoy the Beautiful Day Outdoor
• The Zoo and Its Benefits: Conservation, Education and Research Programs
• Metropol Zoo Strategic Marketing Management
• Anthropology Zoo Observations
• Air-Cooling and Heating System for Tiger in Zoo Using Earth Tube Heat Exchanger
• Anthropology: Primate Behavioral Observation at San Antonio Zoo
• High-Tech and Tactile: Cognitive Enrichment for Zoo-Housed Gorillas
• Taronga Zoo Marketing Research
• The Morphology and Behavior of Zoo Animals: Gorillas, White-Handed Gibbon, and Golden Lion Tamarin
• Marketing Strategy for Zoo and Marine Park
• The Modern Zoo: Saving Species From Extinction
• Promotional Collateral for the Oakland Zoo
• SWOT Analysis and Marketing Mix for Zoo and Aquarium
• Animals and the Zoo: Zoo Animals and Their Wild Counterparts
• Captive Tiger Management Activity in Zoo
• The Competitive Environmental Forces of the San Antonio Zoo
• Analyzing the Marketing Strategy of Singapore Zoo Tourism
• Zoo: Project Planning and Behavioral Issues
• Zoo and Cruel Towards Animal
• Nightmare Zoo: The Surabaya Zoo of Indonesia
• Growth Strategies for John Ball Zoo Society
• Should Animals Be Kept in a Zoo?
• Which Is the World’s Largest Zoo and What Is Its Area?
• Where Is Largest Zoo in India?
• What Does a Zoo Do With an Animals Remains Once It Dies?
• When Is the Weekly off for Delhi Zoo?
• When Is the Best Time of Day to Visit the Zoo?
• Is It Ethical to Release Live Prey Into the Enclosure of a Carnivorous Zoo Animal?
• What Is the Difference Between a Zoo and a Wildlife Sanctuary?
• What Kind of Toys Do Large Predators Get at the Zoo?
• What Is It Like to Work at a Zoo?
• How Do People Perceive Zoo Animals?
• What Zoo Animal Is Most Likely to Become Depressed?
• What Factors Influence Stereotyped Behavior of Primates in a Zoo?
• How Should the Well‐Being of Zoo Elephants Be Objectively Investigated?
• What Is the Value of Zoo Experiences for Connecting People With Nature?
• What Is the Frozen Zoo Concept?
• How Old Is the Oldest Zoo?
• What Effect Do Visitors Have on Zoo Animals?
• What Is the Main Purpose of Zoo?
• Where Did the Word Zoo Come From?
• What Is the First Zoo in Asia?
• Which Is the Oldest Zoo in India?
• What Is the Most Visited Zoo in the World?
• Which Zoo Has the Most Animals?
• Why Is San Diego Zoo So Famous?
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• Sample Essays

In this IELTS Zoo Essay you have to discuss whether you think zoos are cruel and should be shut down or whether they are useful as they protect some wild animals.

Essays on zoos have appeared in the IELTS test before and this was a question that was recently in the test.

Some people think that zoos are all cruel and should be closed down. Others however believe that zoos can be useful in protecting wild animals.

Discuss both opinions and give your own opinion.

Understanding the Question

You must always read the question carefully and note if there is anything restricting the topic.

You have to discuss both sides of the argument and with this zoo essay question it would be very easy to read it and then simply write about the benefits and drawbacks of zoos.

But look at this bit carefully:

• Others however believe that zoos can be useful in protecting wild animals .

One of the arguments is specifically about protecting animals. So when you discuss the second argument you must be careful not to just write generally about the advantage of zoos. 

You have to focus on how they may protect wild animals . So when you brainstorm your ideas for the zoo essay, you should be thinking about:

• why animals need protecting and
• how zoos can help with this 

And in your other body paragraph you would need to explain why they are also seen as cruel. 

And of course you must remember to give your own opinion. In this essay, the author makes it clear at the beginning that they support the closing down of zoos. 

The opinion you decide on though is of course your choice.

Zoo Essay Sample

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Zoo Essay Model Answer

Zoos remain popular places for people to visit for entertainment and to learn about wild animals. Although some people are of the opinion that zoos can provide a sanctuary for endangered animals and so should be kept open, I believe that the cruelty that animals suffer outweighs this benefit, and that they should be shut down.

These days, animals are under threat from humans in many ways, seen for example in the way that their habitats are being destroyed through the cutting down of rain forests, or through poaching. Following on from this, the argument is that zoos can protect some of these animals that are under threat. The reason is that they are in a safe environment managed by trained staff who can ensure the animals are looked after and can produce offspring. There are examples of successes in this respect, such as with Pandas, which have been endangered for many years but have been protected.

However, there are more convincing arguments for why zoos should be shut down. Firstly, even though some species are under threat, there are lots of animals which do not fall into this category and who are there just for the entertainment of visitors. While it may be fun and educational to see them, animals are not meant to be caged, and their distress can often be seen in the way many of them pace back and forwards all day. Not only this, if the prime reason of zoos is to protect animals, this could be done in other environments such as wild life parks where the animals have more freedom.

In conclusion, animals should be protected but this does not have to be in zoos. Zoos are cruel to animals, not similar enough to their natural habitat, and they should be closed down. 

(299 Words)

Band scores are given for task response, coherence and cohesion, lexis (vocabulary) and grammatical range and accuracy. 

This zoo essay would get a good score for task response as it fully answers the question by discussing both opinions and giving a personal opinion. Ideas are also well explained, extended and supported. 

It would get a good score for coherence and cohesion as it is organised coherently and logically and is easy to follow. The introduction introduces the topic then there is a thesis statement.

One body paragraph discusses one side of the argument, and the other discusses the other side. The second body paragraph is also the writers opinion, and this is summarised again in the conclusion

.There is some interesting vocabulary and phrases. For example:

• sanctuary for endangered animals
• under threat from humans
• habitats are being destroyed
• produce offspring
• successes in this respect
• not meant to be caged
• natural habitat

There are also some good complex grammatical constructions and the grammar is precise. For example, the red words show that some of these are  adverbial clauses ,  noun clauses  and  relative clauses :

• Although  some people are of the opinion  that  zoos can provide a sanctuary for endangered animals...
• ...seen for example  in the way that  their habitats are being destroyed...
• ...the argument is  that  zoos can protect some of these animals who are under threat.
• ...trained staff  who  can ensure the animals are looked after...
• Pandas  who  have been endangered...
• ... even though  some species are under threat...
• ... While  it may be fun and educational...

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• A Visit To The Zoo - Long and Short Essay

Essay on A Visit To The Zoo

A zoo is a place where different kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fishes are kept in cages or enclosed areas for people to see. It needs a lot of land to be taken care of. Below is an essay about visiting a zoo in simple English. It has short sentences so students can understand it easily. After reading this essay, students can write their own paragraph about visiting a zoo.

Descriptive Essay on A Visit to a Zoo

Most people can't easily go to far-off jungles or well-known national parks to see different animals. It's tough to find all those animals in their own homes. Plus, taking kids on a safari in the forest is risky to see animals, birds, and reptiles. That's why many people like going to the zoo. It's a fun and safe way to see all kinds of animals.

There is a wide variety of animals, birds, and beasts that are kept in cages in a zoo. Zoo also keeps animals of rare species. Many animals and birds are brought from foreign lands. This gives the visitors an opportunity to watch such animals and birds of rare species brought from foreign lands, which they could have never seen otherwise. 

Zoos are like homes for animals from all around the world. Lions from Africa, kangaroos from Australia, gorillas, chimpanzees, zebras, white tigers, white peacocks, polar bears, colorful parrots, big pythons, and giant crocodiles – they all live in zoos. These places are important because they help protect animals that might disappear forever.

Almost a thousand types of animals, birds, and beasts stay in zoos. Some zoos even help animals have babies in a safe place, called captive breeding. This helps save species that are in danger, so they don't disappear forever. Zoos play a big role in making sure these amazing creatures continue to exist.

These zoos and their maintenance actually show that mankind has an immense love for animals. Man cannot ignore the fact that these animals, birds, reptiles, and beasts are a part of nature. People get to see the variety of animals that exist on this earth. People get to interact, learn and grow with these species of animals.

Visiting a zoo brings human beings closer to these living beings. It makes human beings develop a liking for animals and birds. They get to learn so much about these animals too. Zoos have an aspect of geographical importance as well. They play a vital role in uniting and educating different communities. When we as visitors watch a species of an animal brought from a foreign land, we get to learn about how and where these animals live, about the climate, and the habitat in which they thrive naturally.

The maintenance of a zoo is a huge task. Animals, birds, reptiles, and fishes, from foreign lands with different climatic conditions are to be kept in such surroundings, climate, and temperature that matches that of their natural habitat. If that arrangement is not done properly these animals would not survive. In hot summers, tigers and lions require access to water to keep cool. A gorilla or chimpanzee requires trees and lush green areas to roam. 

All these animals also need to be fed according to their original tastes and appetites. A leopard, a lion, or a tiger has to be served its due quantity of raw meat for every meal. A gorilla or a monkey should be served a vegetarian diet. There are some animals that are to be fed with fish. The python is capable of devouring a whole goat and so, it should be fed accordingly, without harming any other living being around it.

Going to the zoo is not just enjoyable; it's a great way to learn. Zoos teach us a ton about how different animals live and what they like. To make sure the animals stay healthy, the zoo has its own medical team and animal doctors. These doctors are well-trained and really good at their job. Animals at the zoo can get sick, and if their illnesses spread, it could be really bad for the whole zoo. Sometimes, the animals even need big surgeries and treatments to get better. So, keeping everything in good shape is really important at a zoo.

We visitors, at times, cause a great deal of risk to the lives of these animals and birds. Out of excitement, to feed the animals, we throw food in plastic bags to the animals inside their cages. The animals tend to swallow the plastic bags along with the food. The plastic gets stuck in their intestines and causes serious problems, and can even result in death sometimes. Along with this, to get some entertainment, the visitors sometimes risk their own lives. Out of curiosity, the visitors try playing around with wild animals, which, if triggered, can become violent. 

The visitors coming to zoos, mainly children, should be properly oriented and refrain from such activities. The zoo authorities also have to take care of the mental health of the animals. The animals may develop stereotypic behaviors or even die prematurely if not taken care of properly. Thus, zoological parks help us learn, grow and have fun. They help us bring human beings closer to nature. We get to understand and live God's beautiful creations through these parks. 

Short on a Visit to a Zoo Essay 

Last Sunday, my family and I went to the zoo. It was a sunny day and we got there at 8 am. When we arrived, there was a big crowd at the entrance. Some people were buying tickets, and others were just enjoying the nice weather and chatting.

Inside, we found a lovely lake with ducks and swans swimming around. It was pretty cool to see all those white ducks on the water. As we walked around, we came across a place with lots of birds – parrots, pigeons, eagles, and sparrows of different colors. The birds were making some enchanting music, and we stopped to enjoy it for a bit.

Next, we saw big cats like leopards, lions, tigers, and tigresses. One lion even rushed towards us, and its roars were really loud and scary. Moving on, we checked out a tiger's den. The tiger had sharp teeth and gave us a fierce look. It walked gracefully towards us, but its roar made us step back. We also saw bears and elephants. The elephants were majestic, swinging their trunks in the air, and the bears were happily playing together.

In another area, there were deer and stags taking strolls, and they were playful and beautiful. We then found a spot with baboons and monkeys in a big tree. They were jumping around, playing pranks, and some even came down for bananas. Kids were having fun making faces at them.

Later, we visited an aquarium with colorful fishes and dolphins happily playing in the water. Near the end, we saw sad polar bears in an enclosure, so we gave them some food. The black bear in another cage was doing tricks, and people were thrilled. We also checked out crocodiles, snakes like pythons and cobras, but the hissing cobras made us move away.

After going around the zoo, we sat in a garden, surrounded by the sweet smell of flowers. The calm wind made it a perfect place to relax. We enjoyed the view with some snacks and drinks. As the sun set, we left the zoo with happy memories and excitement.

Visiting a zoo makes us learn a lot many things about the various species of animals besides the fun and frolic that we have. We get to learn about the tastes and habits of so many varieties of birds, animals, reptiles, and beasts. A zoo is a place that brings us closer to the living beings that we co-exist with on this earth – the animals, birds, reptiles, insects, and so on. It tells us about the balance between the animal species and their habitats. It shows us that animal life is as important as human life. It tells us even more about the wondrous creations of God on this earth.

The value of zoos lies in their ability to bridge the gap between humans and the natural world. They offer us a glimpse into the lives of creatures we might never encounter otherwise, fostering a sense of wonder and respect for the diversity of life on Earth. However, this privilege comes with a responsibility – to ensure the well-being of the animals in our care and to constantly strive for improvement in their living conditions.

Ultimately, the future of zoos lies in striking a delicate balance between education, conservation, and animal welfare. By prioritizing the needs of the animals we hold captive, we can ensure that zoos become not just places of entertainment, but also sanctuaries for endangered species and vital centers for conservation education. Only then can these wondrous, complex institutions truly fulfill their potential as ambassadors of the wild.

FAQs on A Visit To The Zoo - Long and Short Essay

1. What is the importance of zoological parks?

Zoological parks help us preserve endangered species to prevent them from becoming extinct. The breeding procedures in these places help us increase their population.

2. How would you describe a zoo?

A zoo is also called a zoological park. It is a reserve where animals are confined by making arrangements similar to their natural habitat. These enclosures are open for public view. Some zoos also opt for breeding. There are more than 1000 such enclosures available to the public. However, most of them are situated in major cities.

3. What are the good things about zoos?

Zoos act as a source of economy for the community and the country as a whole. They help us interact closely with nature and preserve endangered species as well. They act as an educational source and help us understand God’s beautiful creations.

4. Should animals be kept in Zoos?

Animals should be left to live freely in their natural habitats with their families, and not trapped in cages in zoos.

5. What are the advantages of Zoos?

Zoos act as protected spaces for endangered species of animals. They act as an educational and economic resource for society.

Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Conservation — Pros And Cons Of Zoos

Pros and Cons of Zoos

• Categories: Animal Welfare Conservation Zoo

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Words: 417 |

Published: Mar 16, 2024

Words: 417 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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Pros of zoos, cons of zoos.

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• Solar Eclipse 2024

What the World Has Learned From Past Eclipses

C louds scudded over the small volcanic island of Principe, off the western coast of Africa, on the afternoon of May 29, 1919. Arthur Eddington, director of the Cambridge Observatory in the U.K., waited for the Sun to emerge. The remains of a morning thunderstorm could ruin everything.

The island was about to experience the rare and overwhelming sight of a total solar eclipse. For six minutes, the longest eclipse since 1416, the Moon would completely block the face of the Sun, pulling a curtain of darkness over a thin stripe of Earth. Eddington traveled into the eclipse path to try and prove one of the most consequential ideas of his age: Albert Einstein’s new theory of general relativity.

Eddington, a physicist, was one of the few people at the time who understood the theory, which Einstein proposed in 1915. But many other scientists were stymied by the bizarre idea that gravity is not a mutual attraction, but a warping of spacetime. Light itself would be subject to this warping, too. So an eclipse would be the best way to prove whether the theory was true, because with the Sun’s light blocked by the Moon, astronomers would be able to see whether the Sun’s gravity bent the light of distant stars behind it.

Two teams of astronomers boarded ships steaming from Liverpool, England, in March 1919 to watch the eclipse and take the measure of the stars. Eddington and his team went to Principe, and another team led by Frank Dyson of the Greenwich Observatory went to Sobral, Brazil.

Totality, the complete obscuration of the Sun, would be at 2:13 local time in Principe. Moments before the Moon slid in front of the Sun, the clouds finally began breaking up. For a moment, it was totally clear. Eddington and his group hastily captured images of a star cluster found near the Sun that day, called the Hyades, found in the constellation of Taurus. The astronomers were using the best astronomical technology of the time, photographic plates, which are large exposures taken on glass instead of film. Stars appeared on seven of the plates, and solar “prominences,” filaments of gas streaming from the Sun, appeared on others.

Eddington wanted to stay in Principe to measure the Hyades when there was no eclipse, but a ship workers’ strike made him leave early. Later, Eddington and Dyson both compared the glass plates taken during the eclipse to other glass plates captured of the Hyades in a different part of the sky, when there was no eclipse. On the images from Eddington’s and Dyson’s expeditions, the stars were not aligned. The 40-year-old Einstein was right.

“Lights All Askew In the Heavens,” the New York Times proclaimed when the scientific papers were published. The eclipse was the key to the discovery—as so many solar eclipses before and since have illuminated new findings about our universe.

To understand why Eddington and Dyson traveled such distances to watch the eclipse, we need to talk about gravity.

Since at least the days of Isaac Newton, who wrote in 1687, scientists thought gravity was a simple force of mutual attraction. Newton proposed that every object in the universe attracts every other object in the universe, and that the strength of this attraction is related to the size of the objects and the distances among them. This is mostly true, actually, but it’s a little more nuanced than that.

On much larger scales, like among black holes or galaxy clusters, Newtonian gravity falls short. It also can’t accurately account for the movement of large objects that are close together, such as how the orbit of Mercury is affected by its proximity the Sun.

Albert Einstein’s most consequential breakthrough solved these problems. General relativity holds that gravity is not really an invisible force of mutual attraction, but a distortion. Rather than some kind of mutual tug-of-war, large objects like the Sun and other stars respond relative to each other because the space they are in has been altered. Their mass is so great that they bend the fabric of space and time around themselves.

Read More: 10 Surprising Facts About the 2024 Solar Eclipse

This was a weird concept, and many scientists thought Einstein’s ideas and equations were ridiculous. But others thought it sounded reasonable. Einstein and others knew that if the theory was correct, and the fabric of reality is bending around large objects, then light itself would have to follow that bend. The light of a star in the great distance, for instance, would seem to curve around a large object in front of it, nearer to us—like our Sun. But normally, it’s impossible to study stars behind the Sun to measure this effect. Enter an eclipse.

Einstein’s theory gives an equation for how much the Sun’s gravity would displace the images of background stars. Newton’s theory predicts only half that amount of displacement.

Eddington and Dyson measured the Hyades cluster because it contains many stars; the more stars to distort, the better the comparison. Both teams of scientists encountered strange political and natural obstacles in making the discovery, which are chronicled beautifully in the book No Shadow of a Doubt: The 1919 Eclipse That Confirmed Einstein's Theory of Relativity , by the physicist Daniel Kennefick. But the confirmation of Einstein’s ideas was worth it. Eddington said as much in a letter to his mother: “The one good plate that I measured gave a result agreeing with Einstein,” he wrote , “and I think I have got a little confirmation from a second plate.”

The Eddington-Dyson experiments were hardly the first time scientists used eclipses to make profound new discoveries. The idea dates to the beginnings of human civilization.

Careful records of lunar and solar eclipses are one of the greatest legacies of ancient Babylon. Astronomers—or astrologers, really, but the goal was the same—were able to predict both lunar and solar eclipses with impressive accuracy. They worked out what we now call the Saros Cycle, a repeating period of 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours in which eclipses appear to repeat. One Saros cycle is equal to 223 synodic months, which is the time it takes the Moon to return to the same phase as seen from Earth. They also figured out, though may not have understood it completely, the geometry that enables eclipses to happen.

The path we trace around the Sun is called the ecliptic. Our planet’s axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic plane, which is why we have seasons, and why the other celestial bodies seem to cross the same general path in our sky.

As the Moon goes around Earth, it, too, crosses the plane of the ecliptic twice in a year. The ascending node is where the Moon moves into the northern ecliptic. The descending node is where the Moon enters the southern ecliptic. When the Moon crosses a node, a total solar eclipse can happen. Ancient astronomers were aware of these points in the sky, and by the apex of Babylonian civilization, they were very good at predicting when eclipses would occur.

Two and a half millennia later, in 2016, astronomers used these same ancient records to measure the change in the rate at which Earth’s rotation is slowing—which is to say, the amount by which are days are lengthening, over thousands of years.

By the middle of the 19 th century, scientific discoveries came at a frenetic pace, and eclipses powered many of them. In October 1868, two astronomers, Pierre Jules César Janssen and Joseph Norman Lockyer, separately measured the colors of sunlight during a total eclipse. Each found evidence of an unknown element, indicating a new discovery: Helium, named for the Greek god of the Sun. In another eclipse in 1869, astronomers found convincing evidence of another new element, which they nicknamed coronium—before learning a few decades later that it was not a new element, but highly ionized iron, indicating that the Sun’s atmosphere is exceptionally, bizarrely hot. This oddity led to the prediction, in the 1950s, of a continual outflow that we now call the solar wind.

And during solar eclipses between 1878 and 1908, astronomers searched in vain for a proposed extra planet within the orbit of Mercury. Provisionally named Vulcan, this planet was thought to exist because Newtonian gravity could not fully describe Mercury’s strange orbit. The matter of the innermost planet’s path was settled, finally, in 1915, when Einstein used general relativity equations to explain it.

Many eclipse expeditions were intended to learn something new, or to prove an idea right—or wrong. But many of these discoveries have major practical effects on us. Understanding the Sun, and why its atmosphere gets so hot, can help us predict solar outbursts that could disrupt the power grid and communications satellites. Understanding gravity, at all scales, allows us to know and to navigate the cosmos.

GPS satellites, for instance, provide accurate measurements down to inches on Earth. Relativity equations account for the effects of the Earth’s gravity and the distances between the satellites and their receivers on the ground. Special relativity holds that the clocks on satellites, which experience weaker gravity, seem to run slower than clocks under the stronger force of gravity on Earth. From the point of view of the satellite, Earth clocks seem to run faster. We can use different satellites in different positions, and different ground stations, to accurately triangulate our positions on Earth down to inches. Without those calculations, GPS satellites would be far less precise.

This year, scientists fanned out across North America and in the skies above it will continue the legacy of eclipse science. Scientists from NASA and several universities and other research institutions will study Earth’s atmosphere; the Sun’s atmosphere; the Sun’s magnetic fields; and the Sun’s atmospheric outbursts, called coronal mass ejections.

When you look up at the Sun and Moon on the eclipse , the Moon’s day — or just observe its shadow darkening the ground beneath the clouds, which seems more likely — think about all the discoveries still yet waiting to happen, just behind the shadow of the Moon.

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WEATHER ALERT

2 warnings, 2 watches and 6 advisories in effect for 24 regions in the area

Video shows how san antonio zoo animals reacted during april 8 solar eclipse, activities weren’t uncommon for the animals but were performed in a different context than usual.

Julie Moreno , Executive Producer/Digital Content

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Zoo released some video clips showing how animals reacted during Monday’s solar eclipse .

The zoo was just outside the path of totality. Still, about 99.9% of the sun was blocked by the moon.

Zoo officials said the meerkats ran through their habitat in one large group while the whooping cranes “danced” and the flamingos bunched in a cluster.

While those activities aren’t uncommon for the animals, they were performed in a different context than usual.

Meerkats are highly social animals that stick together. They usually hunt during the day and retreat to their underground burrows at night to rest and avoid nocturnal predators. Zoo officials said the meerkats approached and entered their indoor habitat space a few minutes before totality, which is something they would typically do in the evening. The behavior “supported our working hypothesis that diurnal animals, meaning those awake during the day, would display their typical evening activity patterns during totality,” zoo officials said.

“While it’s possible some of this behavior may have been coincidental, this certainly caused a difference in the typical day for all of us - humans and animals!” said Cyle Perez, director of public relations.

Zoos across the country were excited to study animals’ behavior on Monday. Researchers have found that many animals display behaviors connected with an early dusk.

More eclipse stories:

• WATCH: Here’s how the sun looked on Eclipse Day
• ECLIPSE SPECIAL: Watch KSAT’s coverage from San Antonio, Texas Hill Country on April 8

Copyright 2024 by KSAT - All rights reserved.

About the Author

Julie moreno.

Julie Moreno has worked in local television news for more than 25 years. She came to KSAT as a news producer in 2000. After producing thousands of newscasts, she transitioned to the digital team in 2015. She writes on a wide variety of topics from breaking news to trending stories and manages KSAT’s daily digital content strategy.

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Guest Essay

José Andrés: Let People Eat

By José Andrés

Mr. Andrés is the founder of World Central Kitchen.

In the worst conditions you can imagine — after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire — the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always.

The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless. They are not generic aid workers or collateral damage in war.

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Sobol risked everything for the most fundamentally human activity: to share our food with others.

These are people I served alongside in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Mexico, Gaza and Israel. They were far more than heroes.

Their work was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right. It is not conditional on being good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. We do not ask what religion you belong to. We just ask how many meals you need.

From Day 1, we have fed Israelis as well as Palestinians. Across Israel, we have served more than 1.75 million hot meals. We have fed families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north. We have fed grieving families from the south. We delivered meals to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families. We have called consistently, repeatedly and passionately for the release of all the hostages.

All the while, we have communicated extensively with Israeli military and civilian officials. At the same time, we have worked closely with community leaders in Gaza, as well as Arab nations in the region. There is no way to bring a ship full of food to Gaza without doing so.

That’s how we served more than 43 million meals in Gaza, preparing hot food in 68 community kitchens where Palestinians are feeding Palestinians.

We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war.

Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli government needs to open more land routes for food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today. It needs to start the long journey to peace today.

In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, it’s time for the best of Israel to show up. You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population.

We welcome the government’s promise of an investigation into how and why members of our World Central Kitchen family were killed. That investigation needs to start at the top, not just the bottom.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said of the Israeli killings of our team, “It happens in war.” It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.

It was also the direct result of a policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels. Our team was en route from a delivery of almost 400 tons of aid by sea — our second shipment, funded by the United Arab Emirates, supported by Cyprus and with clearance from the Israel Defense Forces.

The team members put their lives at risk precisely because this food aid is so rare and desperately needed. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, half the population of Gaza — 1.1. million people — faces the imminent risk of famine. The team would not have made the journey if there were enough food, traveling by truck across land, to feed the people of Gaza.

The peoples of the Mediterranean and Middle East, regardless of ethnicity and religion, share a culture that values food as a powerful statement of humanity and hospitality — of our shared hope for a better tomorrow.

There’s a reason, at this special time of year, Christians make Easter eggs, Muslims eat an egg at iftar dinners and an egg sits on the Seder plate. This symbol of life and hope reborn in spring extends across religions and cultures.

I have been a stranger at Seder dinners. I have heard the ancient Passover stories about being a stranger in the land of Egypt, the commandment to remember — with a feast before you — that the children of Israel were once slaves.

It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like.

José Andrés is a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen.

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Panama Papers: trial begins of 27 Mossack Fonseca employees

Law firm’s founders among those to face money laundering charges after leak of 11.5m files in 2016

A criminal trial of 27 employees working for the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers on money laundering charges has commenced in a Panamanian court.

Eight years ago, leaked financial records from the law firm Mossack Fonseca sparked international outrage at the use of offshore companies by wealthy individuals to commit tax fraud and hide assets.

In 2016, files from Mossack Fonseca were leaked to reporters at the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Reporters from more than 100 media organisations, including the Guardian, collaborated to investigate the 11.5m files.

The firm’s founders, Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca Mora, are among those facing charges. They have previously denied any allegations against them, arguing that they had no control over the offshore companies that the firm set up for its clients. If convicted, they reportedly face up to 12 years in prison.

According to the Associated Press , Mossack attended the hearing to declare his innocence, telling reporters outside the courtroom that he was “very optimistic”. A representative for Fonseca told the court that his client was in hospital.

Battered by international criticism, Panama adopted new legislation modernising the country’s legal definition of money laundering in 2019. Aspects of the charges against the Mossack Fonseca employees concern activities predating the change in the law, which could complicate prosecutors’ attempts to convict them, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists .

Panama’s supreme court previously ruled that creating shell companies used for tax fraud could not be considered a crime if the companies in question were created prior to 2019.

Mossack and Fonseca were both acquitted of separate charges two years ago after a judge directed that the firm did not handle or attempt to hide money stolen from Brazil as part of a major corruption scandal involving the state oil company codenamed Lava Jato or the Car Wash.

Offshore companies linked more than 100 politicians from around the world, including 12 national leaders, were discovered by journalists analysing the Panama Papers. They included $2bn in an offshore company belonging to the Russian cellist Sergei Roldugin, the friend of the President Vladimir Putin.

Nawaz Sharif , then prime minister of Pakistan, and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson , prime minister of Iceland, were both forced from office amid public fury at hidden offshore wealth connected to their families.

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Sharif was disqualified from office and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by the Pakistani supreme court after reporters discovered undeclared real estate secretly owned by his family through offshore companies. Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign after it was revealed that he had never declared his family’s ownership of an offshore company with a $1m claim against one of Iceland’s failed banks.

After publication of the Panama Papers investigation, countries around the world initiated proceedings to recover unpaid taxes that had been hidden using offshore companies. By 2021 more than $1.36bn in fines and penalties for unpaid taxes were said to have been recovered by exchequers around the world, including $253m recovered by HMRC in the UK.

• Panama Papers

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