1 00:00:00,229 --> 00:00:01,229 Hi there! 2 00:00:01,229 --> 00:00:02,569 If you’re a kid... 3 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:06,100 and you love meeting really cool animals in real life 4 00:00:06,380 --> 00:00:08,420 and let’s be honest, who doesn’t? 5 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,000 then this video is for you! 6 00:00:14,969 --> 00:00:18,730 Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. 7 00:00:18,730 --> 00:00:22,660 I’m so excited to finally be making another video just for you. 8 00:00:22,660 --> 00:00:27,220 We’ve covered a LOT so far in my videos for kids, like why we don’t drink milk, 9 00:00:27,220 --> 00:00:34,980 eat meat or eggs or honey or wear wool, how you can be a superhero by being vegan, how 10 00:00:34,980 --> 00:00:39,460 fish have feelings, and we’ve even heard from real vegan kids! 11 00:00:39,460 --> 00:00:40,460 Whew! 12 00:00:40,460 --> 00:00:42,850 That’s getting long. 13 00:00:42,850 --> 00:00:47,280 You can watch all of those videos later if you want linked there and in the video description 14 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:48,280 below. 15 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,269 Now just like in my other videos I promise that I’m not going to show you anything 16 00:00:51,269 --> 00:00:56,000 scary, that I’ll tell you the truth no matter what and that I won’t talk down to you, 17 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,129 cause you’re probably smarter than us adults! 18 00:00:59,129 --> 00:01:01,449 Today we’re going to talk about the zoo! 19 00:01:01,449 --> 00:01:03,539 If you’re like me, you love animals. 20 00:01:03,539 --> 00:01:09,500 And the idea of getting to meet amazing animals like lions, giraffes, elephants and monkeys 21 00:01:09,500 --> 00:01:12,220 face-to-face is pretty exciting! 22 00:01:12,220 --> 00:01:16,270 What’s even better is that adults think it’s a great idea too. 23 00:01:16,270 --> 00:01:21,590 A lot of kids go to the zoo with their family or friends, or in school on a class fieldtrip. 24 00:01:21,590 --> 00:01:24,080 So why would anyone not want to go to the zoo? 25 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,060 Well, there are a number of reasons why vegans don’t go to the zoo. 26 00:01:28,060 --> 00:01:32,880 If you don’t know already, being vegan means you don’t eat animals or anything that comes 27 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:38,300 out of them like milk, eggs, cheese, or honey or wear anything from their bodies, like wool 28 00:01:38,300 --> 00:01:39,860 or leather or silk. 29 00:01:39,860 --> 00:01:42,160 Now this may be a little confusing at first. 30 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,950 I mean if vegans love animals so much, why wouldn’t we want to go see them? 31 00:01:46,950 --> 00:01:52,590 Well, being vegan isn’t just about not eating or wearing animals—it’s also about not 32 00:01:52,590 --> 00:01:54,840 using them for our entertainment. 33 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:59,800 So it’s actually because of how much we love animals that we don’t go to the zoo. 34 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,880 Let’s go over some of the reasons together! 35 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:07,020 While there are some pretty horrible zoos out there where all of the animals are in 36 00:02:07,020 --> 00:02:11,450 really tiny cages, you may have seen zoos where the animals seem to have a lot of space 37 00:02:11,450 --> 00:02:12,620 to move around. 38 00:02:12,620 --> 00:02:17,569 But what may seem like a whole lot of room to you and me can still be really small for 39 00:02:17,569 --> 00:02:18,569 them! 40 00:02:18,569 --> 00:02:22,890 In nature, some animals, like elephants, will walk for miles every day. 41 00:02:22,890 --> 00:02:28,230 And birds will migrate thousands of miles every year, with one bird called the arctic 42 00:02:28,230 --> 00:02:33,569 tern, flying up to 90,000 kilometers, or nearly 56,000 miles. 43 00:02:33,569 --> 00:02:37,489 That’s more than going around the world two times! 44 00:02:37,489 --> 00:02:43,049 When you look at it that way, even the biggest cages at the nicest zoos look really, really 45 00:02:43,049 --> 00:02:44,200 small. 46 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,790 Just imagine being stuck in the same room day after day after day. 47 00:02:47,790 --> 00:02:52,970 I’m sure that even if you had the coolest toys, sooner or later, you’d start feeling 48 00:02:52,970 --> 00:02:53,970 a little crazy! 49 00:02:53,970 --> 00:02:57,249 And that’s just how the animals feel. 50 00:02:57,249 --> 00:03:01,519 Only it’s not a day or two—it’s every single day for their entire lives. 51 00:03:01,519 --> 00:03:06,959 If you’ve ever been to a zoo, you may have seen tigers, or panthers walking back and 52 00:03:06,959 --> 00:03:13,579 forth, or elephants swaying side to side, monkeys climbing up and down again and again, 53 00:03:13,579 --> 00:03:17,310 or other animals doing the same motions over and over and over. 54 00:03:17,310 --> 00:03:22,440 This is something called zoochosis, which basically means these animals are going crazy 55 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:23,900 from being locked up. 56 00:03:23,900 --> 00:03:28,799 We’ve talked in other videos about how animals have feelings just like you and me, even if 57 00:03:28,799 --> 00:03:31,709 they express them in ways we may not understand. 58 00:03:31,709 --> 00:03:37,080 Well, they can also get depressed, anxious, and even become psychotic when they are in 59 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:41,629 really stressful situations, just like you or I would. 60 00:03:41,629 --> 00:03:46,959 Some animals in zoos were trapped in the wild, taken away from their family and home. 61 00:03:46,959 --> 00:03:48,359 Imagine how scary that would be! 62 00:03:48,359 --> 00:03:54,029 Now you may be wondering, if zoos are so bad for the animals, why do so many people support 63 00:03:54,029 --> 00:03:55,029 them? 64 00:03:55,029 --> 00:03:59,640 Well, lots of people think zoos are a fun place where kids can go to learn about animals 65 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:00,640 and nature. 66 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:05,420 I have an entire video about zoos and education that you can watch later here, but from what 67 00:04:05,420 --> 00:04:10,209 we’ve already talked about, you can see why this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. 68 00:04:10,209 --> 00:04:15,519 I mean going to the zoo to learn about animals and nature is like riding in bumper cars to 69 00:04:15,519 --> 00:04:16,670 learn how to drive! 70 00:04:16,670 --> 00:04:20,950 Either way, you’re not going to really get the right impression! 71 00:04:20,950 --> 00:04:24,620 People also say that zoos are important because of their conservation programs. 72 00:04:24,620 --> 00:04:29,450 You see, a lot of different kinds of animals are in danger of going extinct—and some 73 00:04:29,450 --> 00:04:30,670 already have. 74 00:04:30,670 --> 00:04:34,970 Humans have destroyed their homes, polluted their habitats, and hunted them until there 75 00:04:34,970 --> 00:04:36,600 are only a few left. 76 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,440 Now I’m sure you know that if you hurt someone, or if you’ve done something wrong, it’s 77 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,710 important to take responsibility and try your best to make it better. 78 00:04:43,710 --> 00:04:48,390 Well that’s what conservation programs are about—they help these animals repopulate, 79 00:04:48,390 --> 00:04:51,730 meaning grow in numbers, so that they don’t disappear forever. 80 00:04:51,730 --> 00:04:56,760 This is of course a very important thing for us to do, but zoos are just not the place 81 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:57,760 to do it! 82 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,420 These animals need to be as close to nature as possible, so that when the time comes, 83 00:05:02,420 --> 00:05:04,370 they can return to the wild. 84 00:05:04,370 --> 00:05:09,040 Just like you and I won’t learn much about how animals act in nature at a zoo, neither 85 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,270 will the animals born there! 86 00:05:11,270 --> 00:05:16,060 We can help endangered animals without sticking them in a cage for people to look at. 87 00:05:16,060 --> 00:05:19,010 The sad truth is that zoos are businesses. 88 00:05:19,010 --> 00:05:24,010 I know I’ve said this before in a lot of my videos for you, but so many times, the 89 00:05:24,010 --> 00:05:29,560 strange and even really awful things adults do is because of money. 90 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,470 And I’ll be honest, it can be hard not going to the zoo if it’s one of your favorite 91 00:05:33,470 --> 00:05:34,470 things! 92 00:05:34,470 --> 00:05:38,810 But I know you’re old enough and smart enough to know that just because you want something, 93 00:05:38,810 --> 00:05:42,490 doesn’t mean it’s okay to hurt someone else to get it. 94 00:05:42,490 --> 00:05:47,500 This is something we adults are usually pretty good at teaching, but not at all something 95 00:05:47,500 --> 00:05:49,460 we’re good at doing! 96 00:05:49,460 --> 00:05:54,360 Sometimes the best way to love animals is to leave them alone to be animals! 97 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,180 You can still learn all about them in their natural habitat, and much better than you 98 00:05:58,180 --> 00:05:59,600 could in a zoo! 99 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:04,310 There are so many books, TV shows, and movies that bring you all over the world to see all 100 00:06:04,310 --> 00:06:05,610 kinds of amazing animals! 101 00:06:05,610 --> 00:06:10,880 You can even still meet some of them in real life at places like farm animal sanctuaries. 102 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,390 I’ve included links on the blog post for this video to help you find places to meet 103 00:06:15,390 --> 00:06:18,000 animals and how to learn more about them! 104 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,690 You can be a friend to the animals all over the world when you say NO to zoos! 105 00:06:22,690 --> 00:06:26,940 And just like we talked about in my video about being a superhero, when you don’t 106 00:06:26,940 --> 00:06:30,940 eat animals either, you’re also helping the environment, so they can stay in their 107 00:06:30,940 --> 00:06:32,900 homes where they belong. 108 00:06:32,900 --> 00:06:34,960 Not in cages or enclosures. 109 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:36,560 But with their family. 110 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:37,560 Just like it should be. 111 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:39,310 Now that’s pretty amazing. 112 00:06:39,310 --> 00:06:41,580 I hope this video was helpful. 113 00:06:41,580 --> 00:06:44,980 Let me know what you thought in the comments and if you have other things you’d like 114 00:06:44,980 --> 00:06:47,440 me to cover, feel free to tell me! 115 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,240 If you liked this video, do give it a thumbs up and share it around to help other kids 116 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:52,240 learn the truth. 117 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,890 If you’re new here, do hit that big red subscribe button down there for more awesome 118 00:06:55,890 --> 00:07:00,360 vegan content every week and to not miss out the on the rest of my videos for kids. 119 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,120 If you’re an adult and you want to help support Bite Size Vegan, check out either 120 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,030 of the support links in the video description below or click on the Nugget Army icon or 121 00:07:07,030 --> 00:07:08,070 the link in the sidebar. 122 00:07:08,070 --> 00:07:12,730 Now go live vegan, say “no way!” to zoo day, and I’ll see you soon!