Entering the conversation:

As I have looked at the layout of the modern day zoo and the scholarly works of other likeminded people I can in fact see that we need to change our thoughts on how society looks at the
zoo as a whole. The research has been done and many scholars have argued, and proved, that
keeping animals captive is not a practice that should go into the future due to the stress that it
invokes on the animals. Our understanding of the intelligence of animals has greatly evolved in
the last 50 years here in the U.S and now that we know these animals, like us, have complex
feelings and we now understand that it is our duty too free them back into the wild. All animals
have a right to freedom and due to long period of being left alone in captivity is problematic to
the health of these animals. In addition, conservation efforts inside of zoos are inadequate and
have no real benefit to the captive and wild species and therefore must be abandoned
(Masci,2000). Consequently, the animals that are currently in zoos cannot return into the wild
because of domestication; however, going into the future we can go against the breeding of new
animals in captivity and with the young that are currently being raised inside the zoo they can be
moved to sanctuaries that allow them to be away from human exposure. Also, in this section I
believe that if we change our thinking about the layout of zoos we can come up with a new way
for zoos to operate in the future that is beneficial to the animals.
In this paragraph I will propose an idea on how we can abolish all zoos and zoo types.
This new layout for zoos is my take on landscape immersion in which we take the people to the
animals rather than the animals to the people. In short, what Im saying is that we create areas
inside the animals natural habitat for people to walk through and see these animals and these
will be placed across the U.S. To give you a better picture I will explain my trip to the island of
Roatan, off the Coast of Honduras, and my experience with this new sort of zoo. On this trip we
had the opportunity to pick something we wanted to do in which a few of us chose to go visit
birds, monkeys, and other native wildlife and what I saw amazed me. None of the animals that I
saw were owned by the park, in fact, all the animals there were completely wild. The layout of
this zoo was that the park had built houses for animals in their natural areas with a path for us to
walk through also the zoo keepers would sometimes feed them but the animals had the freedom
to leave whenever they wanted. As we walked through the park they had the opportunity to hide
from us until they felt ready to come out. This made me wonder why other zoos hadnt thought
of this idea of bringing the people into the animals natural environment and allowing us to see
them in all their wildness. This, in my opinion, is the future of zoos and how we can get rid of
them entirely.
In the U.S there are a wide range of environments that include deserts, humid climates,
and cold areas in which we could model areas, like the one in Roatan, and move the animals to
their habitats while creating areas that people could walk through and see all the animals. This
new idea of bringing the public into the animals habitat will greatly change their overall
wellbeing because they wont be forced to come in contact with humans. These immersion areas
could also be brought to states that dont produce much income. For example, states like West
Virginia that have a lot of mountain areas that stay relatively cold all year in which they could
create an immersion area where people could visit and see animals like certain hoofed animals,

birds, and carnivorous mammals that naturally live in those types of environments. Yearly
thousands of people already travel to these areas therefore going to the park should not be an
issue. Even though one may not be able to see all sorts of animal species at once you get to
experience them without bringing harm to their wellbeing. These parks can be used to create
revenue for states all across the U.S in addition to getting more people active due to the fact that
they will be hiking through the park areas.
The layout of this park that Im proposing will be spread out over large areas across the
U. S and they will be privately owned. In addition, my hope for this payment of this park will be
through park admissions and animal interest groups, like PETA, that already fund zoos but
moving forward they will give their donations towards the park and also my hope is that the
general public promote this idea of the immersion park. One might have questions about various
aspects of the landscape immersion park. Its layout will be stretched over vast areas in which
people will go to a central location where they will pay a $35 fee to see the animals then, in
groups, will be bussed to the path where the tour will start. The tour should roughly take an hour
to an hour and a half and there will be 35 people per tour and the tours will alternate. Depending
on the types of animals that the people are hoping to encounter will determine if they are going
to walk by foot through the park or be transported in open caged cars that will drive through the
path. This differs from current sanctuaries because the animals will not be owned by the park and
they are not enclosed in a large area but rather these animals will be surviving on their own
without influence from humans. Another aspect of the landscape immersion park is that it will
allow the public to learn about various animals in their wildest state. A series of emersion parks
will roughly cost anywhere from $200,000-$500,000 depending on the size and area the park is
located. Below you can see a breakdown of the general cost of the park and all its components.
In these tours people will be allowed to come into contact with some of the animals, depending
on their type, also they will be accompanied by an experienced tour guide just as they would be
in a park and have a chance to purchase food for the animals to come in contact with.
Land for central meeting location
Transportation to trail (not including gas)
Central location building*
Park workers pay
Animal rehabilitation*
Food for the animals*
*varies per park size

$1,000 per acre

$20,000(seats 35+ people)
$100 per sq. foot
Minimum wage (varies by state)
$70,000
$50,000

In the layout above one can see that my overall hope for the park is for the animals to
have the freedom to come and go as they please. My reasoning behind this is due to the lack of
privacy these animals receive in zoos and this way the animals can leave when they feel
threatened or just want to be left alone. Ways in which the park can ensure each group sees an
animal is through the use of food where the guests will have a chance to purchase food for the
animals prior to the tour. This not only generates income for the park but also benefits the
animals and the likelihood youll see an animal. The way in which this park will be laid out is

that the immersion park will purchase an area of land for both the central meeting location and
for the trails leading into the wild habitats of the animals. There will be certain areas for walking,
which will be guided, that will lead into the specific areas in which the people are most likely to
encounter these animals. Furthermore, I feel that we should test this immersion park prior to
moving all the animals from zoos, which would be conducted by select zoos, with hoofed
mammal species such as sheep, rams, and deer varieties. Reasons as to why we should test these
animals first is due to the fact that they are herbivores and can find food easily in the wild also
these mammals are typically friendly towards humans which makes them good candidates to try
the immersion park out on.
Many people; however, might have questions about what will happen to the current zoo
locations and how theyll be able to see some of the smaller animals that cant be easily found in
the wild but some zoo locations can still; however, be used. These locations can still be used to
house some smaller insects and amphibians like spiders, insects, snakes, and lizards. One might
say that this is no different than the animals current state; however, they will be given larger
living spaces to live in which people can still see them. In addition, the current zoos can become
an area where scientist study, research, and teach the general public about animals in their natural
habitats and how we can save their environments. By creating these parks, the animals will not
only be out of captivity but the public can still become educated about the animals and their
environment. This immersion park will be similar but also different than current zoos in the
sense that they can still have gift shops and a lot of the similar setups that create revenue at the
central meeting location. Except the difference is that people will be taking an interactive hike or
drive through paths in the animals environment rather than seeing them in a small enclosure.
Current zoo locations can also still be utilized as an extension of the immersion parks in which
kids could still take field trips and make it a place of education for the animals and the
environment.
One issue; however, that lies with getting rid of zoos entirely is that people feel that the
its the only way to see these exotic animals and learn more about nature. However, the public
needs to understand that our modern zoo cannot continue into the future because animals have
the right to freedom in order to expand their numbers in the wild. In addition, zoo supporters see
conservation efforts inside zoos as necessary to the survival of all animals; however, here I am
going to state that these animals have survived for millions of years without our help therefore
they dont need our help. Also many feel that there is nothing wrong with our modern day zoo
layout but it has been proven that these captive animals suffer from a variety of mental health
issues. Furthermore, even though many zoos have attempted to make the habitats for the animals
more like their environment they will never be able to completely replicate it therefore the zoos
should just abandon this concept and work on saving wild animals.
Another question that might arise is about what will happen to the millions of animals
that are currently in captivity and cant be released. This question proves to be problematic but
what I propose is that we can take the animals that are currently in zoos and do either one of two
things which include either seeing what animals can be released into the wild and the ones that
cannot. Various animals can, in fact, adapt to the wild as well as younger generations that havent

been completely domesticated therefore zookeepers can test their animals ability to return to the
wild and slowly integrate them into being fully dependent. For instance, animals like monkeys,
hoofed mammals, and marine life can be taught to live on their own without the help of zoos
which could allow them to return to the wild where they can be studies in their natural habitat.
Consequently, the animals that have become too domesticated will be retired to sanctuaries
where they will live the remainder of their lives. This will repopulate the current animal
generations that are in the wild and force the zoos to take care of the environment that the
animals live in due to the fact that it will be their source of income.
This new way of looking at how to look at animals in their natural habitats will greatly
improve the numbers of many species in the wild. If the public uses the same amount of money
and resources that was used to keep animals in zoos to save their environment we can, in fact,
better the environment we live in. For instance, if the zoos used the money that was used to keep
the animals captive and feed them instead to save their environments in these park areas the
animals numbers would flourish in the wild; therefore, human conservation efforts would be
unnecessary. This would lead to the general public coming to appreciate life and the environment
while also having the ability to travel around the U.S and interact with a variety of animals.
Lastly, one can see that the proposal of taking all the zoo animals and moving them into
immersion parks for people to view them in a way that is beneficial to the animals wellbeing, the
peoples education, and ultimately the environment.