I'm often asked if I work in a zoo. There seems to be a perception that if you have studied zoology you must therefore work in a zoo. I did actually consider it once and spent a day taking the job for a test drive, shadowing the keepers. I remember
Talk to the Animals: Are zoos good or evil?
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There are arguments for and against keeping animals in enclosures. Photo / Thinkstock
I asked the organisation's executive director, Chris Hibbard, (incidentally, my big brother) how zoo visitors might recognize a 'good' zoo and he responded with something of a checklist:
• Good educational signage
• Opportunities to get involved
• Opportunities to interact with staff and ask questions
• Animals in good condition
• Enclosures clean and options for animals to display natural behaviors
• Evidence of involvement in conservation programs
I asked Chris what zoos might look like going into the future.
"Zoos are going to be increasingly focused on helping people understand how they can support wildlife conservation through everyday actions such as consumer purchases and other lifestyle choices. I think we will see zoos branching out with increased work in the field being managed alongside work within the zoo as a single program."
Modern zoos have replaced bars and concrete with larger more natural enclosures that give visitors a better idea of how the animal lives. Improvements in animal welfare include a focus on environmental enrichment, providing items and opportunities that allow animals to behave as they would in the wild. Local conservation successes include the hatching and rearing of brown Kiwi for release, and maintaining insurance populations of Tasmanian Devil in the face of devastating disease in the wild.
One of the enduring criticisms of zoos is that some species are kept purely for display value rather than contributing to conservation. These are often 'drawcard species', traditional zoo animals like elephants that don't breed well in captivity but are deemed necessary for gate sales. Would a zoo visit hold the same appeal to visitors if it featured mostly local fauna - which in our case is often of the small brown and timid variety?
Like many, I was somewhat disturbed by Copenhagen Zoo publicly carving up a 'surplus' giraffe and feeding it to the lions.
Read more: Copenhagen zoo kills giraffe, feeds it to lion
Admittedly, had it been a nondescript antelope, it would not be so newsworthy; however a large iconic animal, named Marius no less, predictably caused quite a stir. This is a case of bad management resulting in unwanted animals and the subsequent dilemma of what to do with them. In no way do I condone this incident but I do wonder whether those outraged that an animal was bred just to be killed and fed to another thought twice before tucking into their next steak.
What do you think about zoos? Do you have any thoughts about the Copenhagen Zoo incident?