Do you think animals have better or worse lives, living in a zoo?

Assuming they're well taken care of. They can have an extended life expectancy, have no worries for food, predators or survival.

But they aren't really free, are they? I haven't been to a zoo in ages but I always used to wonder if they were happy living in captivity

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DeluxedEdition · 26-30, F

But do you think an animal has any idea of their sense of purpose or agency, and whether or not it's being fulfilled behind glass. You know, how like people stuck in their lives tend to get depressed.

I don't think animals have purposes in the same way we as humans seek self-fulfillment. Animals are instinctual. They know automatically how to be mothers and to nurse their young. Birds know to put their babies out of the nest. So I would say in their sense no their sense or purpose is not being fulfilled. Do they recognize that specific aspect? No, but they recognize they're trapped and not happy.

caPnAhab · 26-30, M

@DeluxedEdition yes, I think you've said it better than I did.

About the zoo in Georgia... Maybe they ran the place really poorly? I'd just hope that place was an exception that staff in those places take care of there residents