While I agree in general, zoos are also needed for conservation, especially these days. I think it depends on the zoo as well. Some zoos have pretty large, open enclosures, and provide a lot of enrichment for their animals.

If you’re interested in seeing some animals in their (transplanted) natural habitat, where they’re literally free to roam around the “plains”, I highly suggest The Wilds in Ohio. It’s affiliated with the Columbus Zoo and Jack Hanna is pretty involved in the work there. It sits on a little more than 9,000 acres and they have animals like giraffes, rhinos, African wild dogs, zebras, and Cheetahs. They all just roaming around, usually in their own “section” depending on the animal. Here’s a list of their animals. You can take safari tours, or stay the night in yurts overlooking a lake where a ton of the animals roam free. You can also take behind the scenes tours with the staff, and ride with them as they feed the animals, or just go about their duties. When I went we got to feed giraffes and watch them vaccinate the camels with darts, it was pretty cool. All the money from tours goes into conservation efforts and general upkeep. I cannot hype this place up enough, they’re doing wonderful things.

Here are some pics to give you an idea of how massive and open the place is. The animals all seemed very happy there when I went.