A trip to the Zoo always leaves me driving away with mixed feelings. Yes they are amazing sanctuaries for conservation and education about our wild world but are they a necessary evil?
I am not naïve enough to believe that zoo’s are not necessary, because they are. Mankind has ruined untold amounts of natural habitat and poached species to near extinction. However, animals are meant to be free to roam the wild not be gawped at by boggle-eyed children, screaming babies and stressed parents. Walking around the zoo, it is easy to see the boredom etched on many of the animals faces and it’s saddening to witness the unnatural pacing of enclosures.
It is undeniable that zoo’s play a vital role in the conservation of endangered species. Education, successful breeding programmes and the relocation of ‘rouge’ animals that stray too close to urban environments all help to broaden our understanding of the natural world, but listening to the keeper talks around the zoo it became evident that many of the new generations of animals that are born within captivity will never develop a full spectrum of natural instincts. They will never be released and will never be truly wild.
If breeding is to carry on in this artificial fashion will many of our endangered species have the same fait as the Tasmanian Tiger, and become extinct in captivity? Yes, zoo’s and wildlife reserves are now light-years better than in 1936, when the last Tasmanian Tiger died in Hobart, but studies conducted by the WWF have shown that animals such as the White Rhino and Sumatran Tiger are still being poached in protected reserves. Numbers are dropping into the 100′s. It raises the question; are we doing enough to protect the dying numbers of our Planets’ species?
A we expand our cities and push further and further into ‘wild’ places are we just fighting a losing battle by placing more and more animals into our zoos? Should we not only be campaigning for the protection of these incredible creatures, but also, more importantly, be campaigning to protect the habitat and wilderness we are bulldozing?
Many of us are aware of the species that are under threat of extinction, but how many of us are aware of our everyday decisions that affect the habitat in which these animals live?
