2. Zoos of the past
The first zoos focussed on entertaining the public
who
came to view exotic animals displayed in cages
and
taught tricks. This gradually progressed to
larger enclosures and a better standard of life, however as
recently
as 50 years ago a trip to the zoo was a far more
interactiveHow
different will
our zoos be
3. experience, often with seating areas just feet away
from the
bars of the enclosures of even the strongest
species
and very little in the way of stimulus for the
animals which now seems unthinkable to
most.
Today’s zoos are a more educational
experience than their historical
counterparts.
Zoos
today
4. With large open spaces designed to mimic the natural environment of
the species within and their natural behaviours encouraged, trips to
these institutions are now used to educate thousands of school children
every year. Zoos and related institutions around the world are also
involved in breeding programmes aimed at protecting many species
from the dangers imposed on them in their natural environments.
Are they really worth it?
Their ability to house
certain species as well as
participating in breeding
programmes is limited,
displays will often be
invested in further
research in to
maintaining and
so ensuring customer
satisfaction should
always be a factor
when considering the
5.
6. “I think the discomfort that
some people feel in going to
the monkey cages at the zoo
is a warning sign”
- Carl Sagan (2006)
7. “The zoo kills the 'wild' in wild animal.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Despite the numerous benefits of zoos today, they are still subject to criticism on a variety
of issues.
Many people feel the conditions in which the animals are kept, despite being a great step
forward from the previous conditions which would have been endured by them, are not
sufficient and that good care of the animals is not necessarily reflected in their welfare.
Baratay and Hardouin-Fugier (2002) argue that attempts by zoos to preserve endangered
species in their institution are
“an inversion of the utopia of acclimatization: the new dream of human-kind with
delusions of godhood”
This argument often finds support from the public, particularly in cases such as the case
of Marius the giraffe; an 18 month old male Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis
reticulata) whose euthanization at Copenhagen Zoo caused a media frenzy. The zoo was
forced to choose between either
8. “maintaining the genetic purity of populations, at the risk of inbreeding depression, or
interbreedingpopulations, at the risk of outbreeding depression” (Rollinson as quoted by Orrick
in ‘Marius the giraffe and his role in conservation’, 2014)
The critics of this move believed that the giraffe should have been released if the species
numbers in breeding programmes were at such a level that euthanisation was becoming the only
option.
9.
10. Can technology help zoos educate and entertain their guests
while giving nature back her control?
Martin et al (2013) investigated 550 ‘high quality’ zoos and ‘paired’ 393 species of mammals and
birds within these zoos with genetically similar species not presently held in zoos. Their findings
indicated that captive species tended to be larger and less threatened than their wild counterparts
and so the focus on species may be misdirected. Conway (2010) also criticises zoos and aquariums
due to their inability to sustain the rare species they exhibit for long periods of time. A number
of alternative technologies have been proposed as potential solutions to these issues faced by
zoos today.
One available technology is CGI virtual reality experiences. CGI has already been used in the
process of neuro-rehabilitation in which the subjects are exposed to a virtual experience of a New
York City Zoo. The experiments show that even with the low cost technologies used some adult
humans will react to the simulations as though to the real thing (Cappa et al, 2013).
By using CGI technology in place of the more traditional zoo, the financial gains would be
massive. With US$350 million spent on wildlife conservation each year (Gussett and Dick 2010),
11. the potential savings made through removing the animals from enclosures and replacing them
with CGI imagery would be huge, enabling more money to be directed towards ensuring the
natural habitats remain able to support the species within them.
“Robots will replace animals, zoos will design Jurassic Park-style
open habitats where people are caged and animals roam.”
(Andrews, 2013)
While CGI is often seen as the most likely technological advance to be applied to zoos due to the
lack of space required, there is another theory that zoos will take a “Jurassic Park-style” approach,
creating huge open habitats where the visitors are caged and robots designed to mimic the
natural behaviours of the animals they wish to visit are
free to roam in their place. By using robots instead of real
animals the costs of feeding and caring for the animals is
reduced while still generating a profit from visitors to the
park. It also means the animals can remain in their
natural habitat, preventing them from becoming
humanized and encouraging natural behaviours.
“T-Rex doesn't want to be fed. He
wants to hunt. Can't just suppress
65 million years of gut instinct.”
- Jurassic Park, 1993
12. The benefits of the visitors still being able to witness
natural behaviours is something which will be highly
valuable for entertainment purposes, generating a profit
for the institutions and funding further research and in-
situ conservation work as well as preventing any
negative effects which living in captivity may have upon
the animals.
Gene Banks
In the UK, visitors to wildlife parks are generally on the decrease, with all of the five most visited
conservation based attractions seeing a decrease in visitors in 2010 (Guardian, 2011). Could this
mean that interest in such establishments is dwindling? If so what can be done to ensure that
costs do not run higher than the funding generated?
Seed banks are currently a large area of interest in conservation; with the world’s largest seed
bank at Kew Gardens with the millennium seed project where the seeds of over 33’000 species, 12
of which are globally extinct in the wild and many more which are at risk of becoming so (KEW
Royal Botanical Gardens, 2013). The purpose of this project is to store the genetic potential of
With so much emphasis based on customer
satisfaction, are there any alternatives which may
sacrifice this, prioritising other factors instead?
13. each species at risk so that, should its natural habitat become once again suitable for the species,
it can be reintroduced to help create a new, self-sustaining population.
A similar technique has already been used in humans, in an experiment which saw human
sperm stored for over 30 years successfully used to create two clinical pregnancies (Ghadir et al,
2013) with it being expected that many animal species could also be protected in this way with
the genetic material extracted from multiple individuals
There are a number of positive factors to gene banks including the lack of space needed in order
to store insurance populations and the greater ability to maintain a wider range of genetic
variability, providing the potential to remove the risk of having to euthanize individual animals
whose genes are too well represented such as Marius the Giraffe and 6 lions at Longleat which
were euthanized due to the mother’s ‘poorly managed genetic history’ (BBCnews)
“Conservationists hope that, in the
future, advances in cloning technology
will mean these creatures can be
14. DNA to Individual
If gene banks are successful in preserving the
DNA of endangered animals until such a time
15. where their natural environment is once again suitable for them to live in, then the topic of
cloning must be faced, as without using the cloning process, the DNA collected from individuals
will be useless. Despite moral objections from a variety of people, a number of trials have already
been carried out including the Pyrenean Ibex, the only species to go extinct twice, the African
wildcat, and the gaur. Each of these species had the DNA of individuals extracted and using the
unfertilised eggs of a surrogate female from a closely related species with surrogate’s DNA
removed, the DNA of the desired species was then transferred in to the egg and implanted in to
the surrogate. The gaur did not survive past the first 48 hours and the Pyrenean Ibex only 7
minutes; however the technology which enabled this process has been successful with other
species including gray wolves which were successfully cloned by Kim et al (2009).
The research and advances being made in cloning, however, mean that this could become
commonplace for restoring numerous species from extinction or being under threat despite
widespread concern over the moral issues surrounding the topic.
What future plans do zoos have?One of the world’s leading
zoos, Chester zoo, have
recently announced future
plans to expand their site by
30% in order to accommodate
their most recent project
This new experience places
greater emphasis on the
16. The Future
The expansion will see 16 new
buildings and 60’000 square metres
made up of jungle landscaped
islands based on the natural wildlife
of the ecosystems in Madagascar,
Mauritius, Sumatra and other areas,
with the islands housing 13
different endangered animal
species.
With a bridge over the water
connecting each island, the
human visitors will be confined
and the animals will enjoy a far
more natural and enriched
experience of their life in
captivity. (Chester Zoo, 2013)
17. With so muchpublic interest in the welfare of the animals they crave to watch and
learn from, striking the balance between animal welfare and customer satisfaction
could result in the end of zoos as we know them. Given the better conditions for the
animals through CGI or through innovative projects such as Chester Zoo’s Islands
project and the more effective means of protection provided by gene banks, a
combination of these may be the way forward.
This would enable the preservation of certain genetically valuable and highly
endangered animals in near-wild conditions in captivity as well as enabling more
species to interact, thus encouraging natural selection to aid in their evolution, while
the gene banks would have the capability of restoring any species which are lost along
the way should any changes in their natural habitat make it once again suitable for
their populations to thrive where they belong.
One thing is for sure; the entertainment and education of people around the world will
always be a huge deciding factor in the success or failure of each potential option as
without the offering of entertainment, they will lose the enormous potential they
18. currently have to educate the next minds who could contribute to the safe restoration
of the species our ancestors’ actions have put in harm’s way.
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