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The Rise of Pinjrapoles and the Fall.... : 47
visiting parks and preserves and feeding feral cats in the United States or street dogs in India.Even in the most concrete of jungles in the West, pigeons are plentiful and dogs and cats are being culled in shelters due to overpopulation. Giving life to one of these animals is perhaps one of the most active forms of ahiṁsā one can perform.
Research A somewhat rarer but highly academic explanation that attempts to justify keeping animals confined in zoos is an appeal to scientific research. What type of scientific research you may ask? One type is strictly field research, which involves studying animals outside the confines of zoos. While not done in zoos, this type of research is worth mentioning because some zoos do in fact donate money to studying animals in their natural environments. Apart from field research is the research done inside zoo walls, where most curators spend their time and money. This latter kind of research is further divided into behavioral research and anatomical and physiological studies, with some blending in between.
While studying nonhuman animals outside of captivity can certainly be done without harming any animal and very well should be, it in no way necessitates keeping nonhuman animals in captivity. Despite this fact, most zoos regrettably spend more of their time and money on research conducted on animals in their zoos than spending it on field research where it is most valuable and least cruel. The idea of performing behavioral research within the confines of a zoo that deprives animals from acting out their natural behaviors is also, to put it one way, just rather foolish. This is especially true of larger, more social animals whose natural environments are hardest to replicate in zoos. While it is true that some studies might benefit the health of some animals in zoos, as we mentioned previously, most of the health problems of captive animals are in fact anthropogenic and do not occur in the wild. Research about elephant footproblems that occur overwhelmingly in captivity but do not occur in the wild and research regarding stereotypies caused by captivity are two examples of this. While such studies may be useful for animals in zoos, these studies do not offer reasons for keeping those animals captive to begin with, so they cannot be used to justify their confinement. As for performing invasive, non-observational studies on nonhumans in captivity to benefit humans, this puts the non-vital interests of humans ahead of the vital interests of nonhumans and cannot be justified either due to its highly speciesist premise. As Mahāvīra said, “To all, life is dear; hence their life should be protected."20
Zoos Educate Us but What About? Another explanation you might hear from zoo curators for the existence of zoos may be that the primary function of zoos is educational. After all, many zoos welcome field trips and offer guided tours, while almost all modern zoos have informational signs at every exhibit and perhaps supply some informational pamphlets. With right knowledge being so invaluable to Jainas, education efforts surely should be lauded, but what type of education exactly goes on in a zoo and can that type of education justify keeping nonhumans in bondage?
Scientific Facts One type of education taught in many zoological establishments is scientific education about
