Why zoos are good

The zoologist Elias Varga makes the case for zoos

A
ATo my mind, there is no reason why animals housed in zoos and wildlife parks cannot enjoy a standard of living that matches, or even exceeds, what they would experience in the wild. A well-run zoo feeds its animals a balanced, nutritious diet, complete with any supplements they need, and whatever ailments arise are promptly dealt with. True, the space available to them is often limited, yet the surroundings are secure, and no individual has to endure harassment or exclusion from others of its species. Gone, too, are the dangers posed by predators and the constant discomfort of parasites and untreated wounds. Where a wild animal may perish from thirst, hunger or the teeth of a hunter, its captive equivalent generally lives considerably longer. So many grim fates befall genuinely wild creatures that never trouble those in a good zoo that the popular equation of 'free' with 'good' strikes me as mistaken. Beyond questions of welfare, though, zoos fulfil a number of essential functions.
B
BOne of these is research. Saving threatened species and mending damaged ecosystems depends on understanding how the animals at their centre behave and respond to their surroundings. Because a zoo offers a controlled setting, with fewer hazards and fewer confounding factors than the field, studies carried out there can translate into genuine improvements for populations living wild. Learning an animal's breeding cycle and reproductive rate, for instance, feeds directly into the management of its wild relatives. When at-risk or dangerous individuals must be caught and relocated, the task is made safer by what zoos have established about appropriate anaesthetic doses and by the practical experience their staff gain in handling and moving animals. All of this can meaningfully advance conservation, ease conflicts between people and wildlife, and build the knowledge needed to confront mounting pressures such as the loss of habitat.
C
CZoos are also becoming steadily more accomplished at interpretation and outreach. Alongside the animals themselves, visitors encounter signs, talks and presentations that explain what they are looking at and where each creature fits into the wider world — an aspect of their work that was once rather neglected but is now handled with real expertise. The effort reaches well beyond a single site, too. A number of zoos are actively involved in instructing the people who run conservation programmes overseas, and many dispatch their own keepers to other countries, where they pass on their expertise to colleagues in foreign zoos and reserves and so help raise standards, and the success of reintroductions, across the globe.
D
DPerhaps the clearest argument, however, concerns conservation. Species are vanishing everywhere, and an even greater number edge closer to that fate with each passing year. Some of these declines have arrived abruptly and without warning, or came to light only once they were well advanced. An animal held and bred in captivity, by contrast, can form a safety-net population, ready to draw on should its wild counterpart crash or disappear altogether. Indeed, a fair number of species now persist solely in captive collections, most of them in zoos; others owe their continued presence in the wild entirely to individuals released from such collections, or to wild groups reinforced by captive-bred stock. Reintroductions that succeed remain relatively rare, admittedly, but their number is climbing, and each species rescued in this way is itself the proof that captive breeding is worth the effort.
E
EThen there is what a zoo teaches simply by letting people stand before a living animal. Plenty of people, city dwellers above all, will go their whole lives without meeting a wild creature more exotic than a fox or a pigeon. Television wildlife films grow richer and more astonishing by the year, and museums fill their cases with beautifully preserved specimens, yet neither can rival the experience of watching a breathing animal at close quarters — catching its sounds and smells, following its movements, and taking the time to notice the small things. For a great many visitors, that encounter alone deepens their understanding, sharpens their appreciation of wildlife and the work of protecting it, and shows them how they themselves might help.
F
FWeighed against the many and growing dangers now facing the natural world, zoos seem to me nothing less than indispensable to the long-term survival of a great many species. Their value lies not only in safeguarding animals directly, but in what they teach us for the benefit of those still at liberty, and in the way they inform ordinary people about wildlife and its plight — encouraging them to lend a hand, or at the very least to accept why we must all tread more lightly on the planet. Strip the world of its zoos and it would be, and would go on becoming, a distinctly poorer place.

Question 1 - 4

Choose the correct paragraph, A-F.

a mention of two alternatives to zoos for finding out about animals

an explanation of why investigating animals in captivity can be more advantageous than doing so in the wild

an observation about the speed at which entire species can vanish

reasons why creatures kept in zoos may be in better condition than their wild counterparts

a mention of two alternatives to zoos for finding out about animals

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