Animal rights activists feel that zoo parks are morally wrong for enclosing wild animals in such tight spaces, forcing them to suffer through lives of captivity for our selfish pleasure. They argue that tampering with an animal’s life in any way is wretched. There are a number of activists who oppose zoological breeding facilities, which they say are mere farms for circuses and other exploitative enterprises. This is just one view, of course. There are still a number of zoo keeper biologists who feel very passionate about animal conservation and species preservation. Even so, it’s alarming to see the number of incidents that occur at zoos around the world.

Zoo parks sometimes fail due to mismanagement, as was the case with the National Zoo in Washington DC. Under zoo director Lucy Spelman’s care, two red pandas died after ingesting aluminum phosphide pellets that were intended to kill rats. An African lion died after being left alone all night following surgery. A bobcat was put down for an ingrown claw and a pack of zebras starved to death from hypothermia and starvation. Animal rights advocates were also clamoring to know what killed 23 other animals during a short time span, including a young pygmy hippo, a bear, two giraffes, a seal, an orangutan, a panda, a lion and a bobcat. No paperwork was filed for the euthanized black-footed ferrets, tree kangaroo or bobcat, nor was an official record filled out for the giraffe that died under anesthesia. “Because of incompetence in management and veterinary medicine, the operations at the National Zoo have been in such a state of disarray that it has led to poor animal care, animal suffering and even animal deaths,” wrote Donald K. Nichols, a senior zoo pathologist.

One of the zoo parks under fire this year is the Goiania Zoo in Brazil, where 69 animals have died of mysterious causes. The deceased animals include giraffes, hippos, jaguars, anteaters, European bison, turtles and caimans, officials say. They fear there may be an animal poisoner on the loose but they are still running toxicology reports and running through all the paperwork. Others argue that cramped enclosures and poor conditions may be a cause for death. One of the dead caimans was found with a fishing hook lodged in his stomach, which may point to recklessness. One Brazilian news site called the zoo “a torture show open to the public.” Zoo director Raphael Cupertino says, “We have seen a sequence of large animals die and we will take all the necessary steps to resolve the situation.”

The safety of zoo parks has also been called into question at times. While far more people leave zoos unscathed, there are still a number of zoo incidents that leave Americans wondering whether we should be so close to wild animals at all. For instance, a zoo keeper had his finger bitten off by an enraged chimp in 2009. A man was ravaged by a 300-pound Siberian tiger who escaped from his cage in 2007. A zoo official at Belgium’s Olmense Zoo was mauled to death by a cheetah in 2007. That same year, a six-year-old girl was killed by a performing tiger at the Kunming Zoo after a camera flash disturbed him. A pregnant zoo keeper was fatally mauled by a 180-pound leopard at the John Ball Zoo in Michigan. These incidents and more warn us that wild animals will always be dangerous; it is indeed nature over nurture.

Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed panic attacks help as well as tips on the various medications for panic disorder available at www.anxietydisordercure.com.