There is a lot of discussion about zoos and whether they are necessary in the system of contemporary school education for children to be able to have a closer look at the life of wild animals. Some people consider zoos to be a good educational tool, as they give children a possibility to see an animal with their own eyes, not from the book or at TV.
Well, on one hand – it is right, because books or TV shows can hardly replace the experience of seeing animals in real life. But on the other hand – are zoos natural from in their origin? Is it well for a wild animal to live in a cage, which is far smaller than its natural environment?
I think that an educative aspect of visiting a traditional zoo is quite doubtful, since the very sense and concept of the zoo looks very questionable, if not to say, wrong to me from the ethical point of view. Keeping an animal in a cage, when it is supposed to live in the woods or jungle does not look very educative.
There is a wonderful option apart from the zoos, with a help of which it is really possible to study the life of wild animals in the natural conditions without any discomfort for them – national parks. In them animals are put in the environment as close to the natural one as it is possible in the geographical location the park is situated. So, it is possible to observe and study animal world from aside with the least interference.
Thus, visiting national parks can be really educative for schoolchildren; moreover, they can promote love for animal world and respective attitude to nature in general.