Good Zoo, Bad Zoo.
Are Zoos Good, or are Zoos Bad?
I worked in a zoo.
Zoo Keepers love their animals. I’ve not met one keeper who didn’t do their best for the animals in their care.
But you have to see behind the scenes to appreciate the ways animals are treated, what the zoo expects of them, and the harsh realities of zoo life.
More animals are ‘unalived’ in zoos than those that are ‘allowed’ to live there. Zoos hold their animals captive. The bigger animals….they don’t have the space to live as they do in the wild.
While I might have concerns, a trip to the zoo is often the highlight of the school year, and many schools organise trips to their nearest zoo. That’s why I have a special section on this site to help teachers plan their visit. You will also find handy links to risk assessment forms and a free book to help older children reflect on what they see when they visit a zoo.
I wrote a book about my time in a zoo. I turned it into a novel called ‘Good Zoo, Bad Zoo, Dead Dad.’ The novel is aimed at younger people 16+. I wanted to tell the story of an insider who learned about a big zoo whilst investigating why his father died there. I felt this was the best way to bring the real ‘zoo world’ to life without being ‘preachy‘ or boring.
Click on the following links for more information
Why do animals go mad in zoos?
Why are more animals ‘Unalived’ by Zoos than are allowed to live?
Why do zoos inbreed their animals?
Why are animals in zoos cramped and uncomfortable?
Where can I find out more information about zoo animals?
Is there research which supports zoos and the work they do?
What information do teachers need for a zoo visit?
The average ‘zoo visitor’ doesn’t appreciate animal needs and how they have to fit in with a successful zoo. Take a look at ‘case studies’ and ‘myths and facts’ to find out more about how zoo animals are treated.
We Love Zoos - But Do Animals?
Most of us have visited a zoo, or many zoos. Children in particular see a trip to the zoo as a highlight. There is no doubt that all of us learn more about wild animals by visiting a zoo. However, Good Zoo, Bad Zoo asks the question : is it right? Are animals better off in the wild and are zoos really the best way to support conservation around the world?
Behind the glass walls and pretty signs, zoos hide a reality they rarely admit. Healthy animals are killed for space or image. Captive breeding creates genetic defects. Wild instincts break down into repetitive, stress-driven behaviours, especially in cramped conditions.
In the interests of fairness, please visit our page on wild animal research which shows how major zoos and other interested parties are dedicated to improving the life of animals in zoos. The question is; is their life better in a zoo or in the wild.
We collect the evidence. We show you the proof. You decide what happens next.
Polar Bears - Going Mad in a Zoo.
The more intelligent the animal, the more they suffer from confinement and boredom in zoos.
In many zoos, including some of the best, attempts continue to be made to breed polar bears in captivity.
For many, this is controversial; zoo-bred bears can never be released into the wild. Several activists and others feel that these captive-bred polar bears can contribute little to science.
There are hundreds of polar bears kept in captivity. You can visit this link to find out more.
Good Zoo. Bad Zoo. Dead Dad
For many of us, a trip to the zoo is part of growing up.
As children and teenagers, we rarely stop to ask what that experience costs the animals on the other side of the fence.
Good Zoo. Bad Zoo. Dead Dad is a murder mystery for readers aged 14 to 20+. It’s fast-paced and entertaining, but also an easy way to explore the bigger picture — balancing the joy of visiting a zoo with the hidden cost of providing that experience.
Woven through the fiction are true, first-hand accounts of what really happens behind the scenes, giving readers a chance to see beyond the turnstiles.
Chapter One
Today I start a summer job at the zoo where an elephant trampled my Dad to death. They call it an accident. I say it’s murder.
The entrance plaza greets me with a sticky, sour mix of warm chemical disinfectant and rank animal pee. I know this place by heart, but the old thrill died with my father. My feet drag on the paving stones, the very air snags in my throat. Mum warned working here this might trigger me, but I didn’t expect it to before I started work.
Ahead, kids cry, parents snap and unhappiness simmers along the queues for the ‘UK’s Greatest Zoo’. The looping ‘jungle music’ drills into my skull, a relentless, cheap soundtrack I can't switch off. The email said to wait by the hot-dog stall, a silver trolley painted in zebra stripes. I step aside to avoid the crowd, under a sign which read: ‘PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS’. Ironic.
A moan makes its way to me and a little girl wearing a rabbit-ear headband screams, “Dad, speak to someone. They can’t have run out.”
I’m always hungry, but not today.
Somewhere beyond the gates, an elephant trumpeted and …
Why Write a Novel About a Zoo?
"Chains, concrete, boredom so deep it breaks them. You can read about cruelty in zoos, but when it’s part of a story, you feel every cage slam shut."
Zoo Welfare Campaigner
They told us the baboons had been ‘humanely put to sleep’. I only found out later they were healthy — just not needed. That’s when I stopped believing zoos care."
Judy, 15-year-old zoo visitor
"I saw lion cubs born twisted, blind, and in pain because of inbreeding. We called it ‘bad luck’. The truth is, it was bad planning and worse priorities."
Former Zoo Keeper
Nuremberg Zoo shoots 12 healthy baboons and feeds them to Lions
Tiergarten Nürnberg Zoo killed a dozen healthy baboons due to overcrowding, then fed their remains to the zoo’s predators—sparking public outrage.
Exterminated
By The Zoo
In July 2025, the zoo euthanised 12 healthy Guinea baboons (no pregnancy, no research animals), citing lack of space and failed relocation/rescue attempts.
The carcasses were fed to lions after samples were taken for research. Pro Wildlife filed criminal complaints, which led to protests.
Inbred white tigers bred for display suffer deformities and vision loss
Decades of brother–sister breeding created white tigers with crossed eyes, backbone deformities, and organ issues—purely for visual appeal.
Deformed
Through Inbreeding
White tigers at repeat inbred pairings — for example, Bhim and Sumita at Cincinnati Zoo — led to severe genetic issues including strabismus (crossed eyes), clubfoot, backbone deformities, kidney problems, reduced fertility, and “star-gazing” neurological symptoms.
LA Zoo elephants moved from concrete cages - But Still Cramped
Cramped
In Concrete
Billy and Tina were relocated to the Tulsa Zoo amid lawsuits, but their crowded and barren new exhibit drew sharp criticism from advocates.
In May 2025, the Los Angeles Zoo quietly moved two of its elephants, Billy and Tina, to the Tulsa Zoo, citing AZA recommendations. Activists—including Cher and animal organisations—had urged the zoo to send them to a sanctuary instead.
Advocacy groups and legal filings described the new 17‑acre exhibit as insufficient, stressing that the animals would remain confined in small, barren environments—not true retirement or sanctuary conditions
Once, Human Zoos were Common
Once, we caged people for public display. We called them “human zoos.” Now we see it for what it was — cruelty disguised as entertainment. But elephants still live in pens a fraction of the size of their natural range, pacing the same few metres day after day. If history teaches us anything, it’s that today’s “normal” can be tomorrow’s disgrace.
Click here to see pictures on the internet which show this. It is too offensive for this site.
