Hi there!

If you’re a kid...

and you love meeting really
cool animals in real life

and let’s be honest, who doesn’t?

then this video is
for you!

Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget.

I’m so excited to finally be making another
video just for you.

We’ve covered a LOT so far in my videos
for kids, like why we don’t drink milk,

eat meat or eggs or honey or wear wool, how
you can be a superhero by being vegan, how

fish have feelings, and we’ve even heard
from real vegan kids!

Whew!

That’s getting long.

You can watch all of those videos later if
you want linked there and in the video description

below.

Now just like in my other videos I promise
that I’m not going to show you anything

scary, that I’ll tell you the truth no matter
what and that I won’t talk down to you,

cause you’re probably smarter than us adults!

Today we’re going to talk about the zoo!

If you’re like me, you love animals.

And the idea of getting to meet amazing animals
like lions, giraffes, elephants and monkeys

face-to-face is pretty exciting!

What’s even better is that adults think
it’s a great idea too.

A lot of kids go to the zoo with their family
or friends, or in school on a class fieldtrip.

So why would anyone not want to go to the
zoo?

Well, there are a number of reasons why vegans
don’t go to the zoo.

If you don’t know already, being vegan means
you don’t eat animals or anything that comes

out of them like milk, eggs, cheese, or honey
or wear anything from their bodies, like wool

or leather or silk.

Now this may be a little confusing at first.

I mean if vegans love animals so much, why
wouldn’t we want to go see them?

Well, being vegan isn’t just about not eating
or wearing animals—it’s also about not

using them for our entertainment.

So it’s actually because of how much we
love animals that we don’t go to the zoo.

Let’s go over some of the reasons together!

While there are some pretty horrible zoos
out there where all of the animals are in

really tiny cages, you may have seen zoos
where the animals seem to have a lot of space

to move around.

But what may seem like a whole lot of room
to you and me can still be really small for

them!

In nature, some animals, like elephants, will
walk for miles every day.

And birds will migrate thousands of miles
every year, with one bird called the arctic

tern, flying up to 90,000 kilometers, or nearly
56,000 miles.

That’s more than going around the world
two times!

When you look at it that way, even the biggest
cages at the nicest zoos look really, really

small.

Just imagine being stuck in the same room
day after day after day.

I’m sure that even if you had the coolest
toys, sooner or later, you’d start feeling

a little crazy!

And that’s just how the animals feel.

Only it’s not a day or two—it’s every
single day for their entire lives.

If you’ve ever been to a zoo, you may have
seen tigers, or panthers walking back and

forth, or elephants swaying side to side,
monkeys climbing up and down again and again,

or other animals doing the same motions over
and over and over.

This is something called zoochosis, which
basically means these animals are going crazy

from being locked up.

We’ve talked in other videos about how animals
have feelings just like you and me, even if

they express them in ways we may not understand.

Well, they can also get depressed, anxious,
and even become psychotic when they are in

really stressful situations, just like you
or I would.

Some animals in zoos were trapped in the wild,
taken away from their family and home.

Imagine how scary that would be!

Now you may be wondering, if zoos are so bad
for the animals, why do so many people support

them?

Well, lots of people think zoos are a fun
place where kids can go to learn about animals

and nature.

I have an entire video about zoos and education
that you can watch later here, but from what

we’ve already talked about, you can see
why this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

I mean going to the zoo to learn about animals
and nature is like riding in bumper cars to

learn how to drive!

Either way, you’re not going to really get
the right impression!

People also say that zoos are important because
of their conservation programs.

You see, a lot of different kinds of animals
are in danger of going extinct—and some

already have.

Humans have destroyed their homes, polluted
their habitats, and hunted them until there

are only a few left.

Now I’m sure you know that if you hurt someone,
or if you’ve done something wrong, it’s

important to take responsibility and try your
best to make it better.

Well that’s what conservation programs are
about—they help these animals repopulate,

meaning grow in numbers, so that they don’t
disappear forever.

This is of course a very important thing for
us to do, but zoos are just not the place

to do it!

These animals need to be as close to nature
as possible, so that when the time comes,

they can return to the wild.

Just like you and I won’t learn much about
how animals act in nature at a zoo, neither

will the animals born there!

We can help endangered animals without sticking
them in a cage for people to look at.

The sad truth is that zoos are businesses.

I know I’ve said this before in a lot of
my videos for you, but so many times, the

strange and even really awful things adults
do is because of money.

And I’ll be honest, it can be hard not going
to the zoo if it’s one of your favorite

things!

But I know you’re old enough and smart enough
to know that just because you want something,

doesn’t mean it’s okay to hurt someone
else to get it.

This is something we adults are usually pretty
good at teaching, but not at all something

we’re good at doing!

Sometimes the best way to love animals is
to leave them alone to be animals!

You can still learn all about them in their
natural habitat, and much better than you

could in a zoo!

There are so many books, TV shows, and movies
that bring you all over the world to see all

kinds of amazing animals!

You can even still meet some of them in real
life at places like farm animal sanctuaries.

I’ve included links on the blog post for
this video to help you find places to meet

animals and how to learn more about them!

You can be a friend to the animals all over
the world when you say NO to zoos!

And just like we talked about in my video
about being a superhero, when you don’t

eat animals either, you’re also helping
the environment, so they can stay in their

homes where they belong.

Not in cages or enclosures.

But with their family.

Just like it should be.

Now that’s pretty amazing.

I hope this video was helpful.

Let me know what you thought in the comments
and if you have other things you’d like

me to cover, feel free to tell me!

If you liked this video, do give it a thumbs
up and share it around to help other kids

learn the truth.

If you’re new here, do hit that big red
subscribe button down there for more awesome

vegan content every week and to not miss out
the on the rest of my videos for kids.

If you’re an adult and you want to help
support Bite Size Vegan, check out either

of the support links in the video description
below or click on the Nugget Army icon or

the link in the sidebar.

Now go live vegan, say “no way!” to zoo
day, and I’ll see you soon!