These Heartbreaking Photos Of Zoo Animals Are A Plea For Help And Change

Along with circuses and research labs for experiments with animals, zoos are yet another type of institution often tainted by the cruel and unethical treatment of animals. Many zoos have unnatural environments with little daylight, poor (if any) natural floral variety, insufficient or low-quality food, little to social contact, and claustrophobically small living spaces. These stressors can drastically change and, both physically and psychologically, cripple and disturb these animals (referred to as interspecific hostages by some). But all of this can change with the German reform initiative called “Zoos of the Future.”

These portraits of animals in zoos by photographer Elias Hassos were published in German Greenpeace Magazine together with an article on the modern concept of the zoo. The article explores humane ways to keep animals in zoos without violating their rights while also conceding that zoos are still necessary for reasons like animal conservation and research. According to this concept, zoos would have more room for each animal and would have environments much more similar to the animals’ natural habitats. Animals at these zoos would spend more time outside their cages.

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The revolutionary “Zoo of the Future” initiative offers a modern concept of a zoo that should look like this: