Zoos are establishments that maintain a group of wild animals, for display to the wider public as a form of entertainment, as well as being the location of several breeding programmes for endangered species. Although they have a lot of obvious benefits, including protecting endangered species with a long-term goal of reintroducing the species into the wild; education; and research, there has been recent discussion on the necessity of zoos: this will be the theme of this blog post.
It is often said that the main aim of a zoo is to provide protection for endangered and vulnerable species, where they are the hub for captive breeding programmes, which have long-term aims of reintroducing the animal into its original habitat (if the habitat still remains with the current trend of biodiversity and habitat losses). Firstly, the several problems of achieving such a task must be dealt with. The first is inbreeding, which arises from breeding animals from such small populations: often such establishments hold a few organisms of each species, thus leaving little room for genetic diversity between mates. This can be combatted by methods of assisted reproduction, which involves any technique that protects from infertility or the health risks of pregnancy. This can be achieved through:
- Collecting samples of sperm from males
- Checking the samples for sperm activity
- Diluting samples with buffer solution and albumen
- Transferring samples into thin tubes called 'straws'
- Storing straws in liquid nitrogen at -196 degrees Celsius
These can then be inserted into the uterus of a female, who may either carry the baby and give birth, or have the embryo flushed out, so it can be inserted into the uterus of a surrogate female of a similar (or same) species. Such an embryo transfer would be carried out in the case of the female being endangered, which not only protects her from the risks of pregnancy but also means that she can provide many offspring in a short period of time. Inbreeding can be fought in this way by transferring the sperm samples collected from the male to different zoos, so that the male gametes will fuse with the female gamete of an organism which is more likely to have differing alleles Previously, animals, often large mammals, had to be transferred from zoo to zoo, which was inefficient, cost a lot of money, and did not leave such animals with high living standards. Therefore, inbreeding can be targetted in a much easier fashion, which leads to greater chances of adaptation of organisms, and thus greater survival. Assisted reproduction can also allow species which refuse to breed in captivity, possibly due to a poor habitat being produced which leads to no courtship behaviour, to reproduce.
However, although some challenges of running programmes with goals of reintroducing species to the wild can be fixed, others are more inevitable and are harder to deal with. Firstly, even though populations of a particular organism may have risen to an appropriate amount in captivity, they have often been taken care of in a zoo for generations on end that they are no longer adapted to living in their original habitat. With the example of the giant panda, with captive breeding programmes having around 300 pandas with none yet to survive and reproduce upon release, it is evident that captive-bred animals have lost their abilities to search for food, avoid predators, or rear their own young. This should not be a surprise when animals in zoos are: kept in enclosures that protect them from predators; fed food in front of their faces; and females are often stopped from naturally reproducing due to the dangers of pregnancy. Although there are reasons for each of these factors, generally stemming from doing everything to keep the populations of a certain animal from going extinct, this raises a question of the ethics of zoos. The way in which they function strays extremely far from the natural life of an animal, so much that on average, animals are dying prematurely in such establishments in comparison to the wild (which has added dangers, namely competition and predation). Therefore we must question if it is our right to meddle in the lives of animals more than we already are if the success rates of populations being reintroduced into their habitats are so low.
In the past, animals in zoos have often been treated as 'trophy cases', through living conditions that were cramped and unsanitary as well as poor treatment from the public and sometimes zookeepers, which highly contradicts the 'conservation' argument for zoos. To some extent, small living spaces for such animals can be understood, the main reason being that zoos, although given the names of conservation establishments and places of education, are fundamentally a business. They will have a limited area to try to fit in as many animals as possible to attract as many people as possible so that they can sell as many entry tickets as they can. However, there is a balance that needs to be recognised and recently has begun to be, between a successful business and the mistreatment of animals. The problems discussed above may lead to thoughts of transferring animals from zoos into protected areas of wilderness, for example safari parks, where they can remain regulated in the wild in greater populations, while still being an opportunity for entertainment and education of the wider public from a distance. However, breeding programs will no longer be able to function, making it much harder to regulate populations, leading to higher chances of failing such programmes with potential extinctions of endangered animals as a cause of this. Therefore, although the placement of highly endangered animals in safari parks may be another extreme that is more useful in housing animals that are less endangered, this can shine a light on the way in which zoos should be run. To combat the profit vs animal quality of life question, regulations must be put in place and maintained to keep the quality of life of animals in captivity as high as possible. Although such regulations may already be in place, often they may not be fully abided to, and thus these must strictly adhered to, with checks not only including the examination of living quality but also looking at average life expectancies in animals captive in comparison to in the wild, which directly shows a positive correlation with treatment of animals in zoos.
Finally, it is important to note that zoos are a place of education for the public, as they are an exciting opportunity to see animals that you may have only heard about, in real life. This can help build the next generation of conservationists, zoologists and ecologists - I am a strong believer in this point as personally there is little that combats the joy of seeing an animal that you have learnt so much about through books. Zoos also provide a certain level of connection to nature, which unfortunately often lacks in many individuals' lives, with the increased use of technology worldwide. Furthermore, such establishments can act as the perfect ground for investigating new research conservation methods, which can have great importance in the field in the near future, with such high biodiversity losses throughout the world. For example, different methods of feeding animals; different forms of habitats; or different methods of assisted reproduction can be investigated in zoos, to understand what will work best in conserving the genetic diversity of animals across the world.
Overall, although there are a lot of ethical questions that can be asked in relation to holding animals in captivity in zoos, the importance of maintaining the highest number of species possible is unequivocal. Although some may argue that with such low success rates of reintroduction of species into the wild due to many reasons explained above, funds placed into these breeding programmes would be better spent on more direct methods of combatting species loss from the roots of the problem (i.e. habitat conservation), this is not always the case. Simply keeping such endangered populations alive, generation after generation, is the first step in minimising biodiversity loss, and it is highly likely that with the increased practice of such breeding programmes, newer, more innovative methods may arise, or ones currently used may be modified to increase their success rates.
Therefore, zoos are a crucial component of the greater picture of biodiversity restoration, that, if led and managed in a correct manner, i.e. the profit is not the most important aspect (which could be achieved by placing conservationists and zoologists in power instead of money-driven businessmen), they can have an extremely positive impact on the environment that surrounds them. However, it is extremely important that animals which reside in zoos are treated humanely, and provided an environment that can mimick their natural habitats as much as possible.
I hope you enjoyed reading on the ethics of zoos in this blog post, and if you have any particular topic that you would wish for me to cover in a following episode, feel free to comment down below! Stay posted for the next post!
Comments