Up until just over a month ago, I believed that zoos were unethical. I disagreed with the idea of keeping wild animals in captivity, especially species that are not endangered. I also thought that keeping wild animals in enclosures would prevent them from exhibiting natural behaviours as they would in the wild.
Keeping animals in zoos means different species are separated which prevents predators from hunting, a mentally stimulating activity. Primates, for instance, without sufficient mental stimulation fall into despair and depression, and seek any form of stimulus, like throwing faeces at bystanders. In some zoos, enclosures are not adequately sized or the ideal climate for the animals.
Over the summer, I had the incredible opportunity to speak to Dr Amanda Guthrie, the Senior Vet Officer at ZSL London Zoo. I asked her about her opinion on whether zoos are ethical, and her response gave me a completely new perspective. She explained how animals in modern zoos have exceptional standards of care with animal welfare as the highest priority. The enclosures usually exceed the requirement for area, and all the animals are given forms of mental stimulation. The animals live with others of the same species, allowing social interaction, which is a form of stimulus. This also frees prey animals from the threat of predators. Although this prevents predators from hunting, it’s more ethical to protect the life of prey species and find other forms of enrichment for predators. Animals in zoos receive exceptional nutrition, preventative healthcare, and are safe from predators and many types of infectious disease. Zoo animals are encouraged, through operant conditioning and positive reinforcement training, to participate in their own healthcare. Many animals kept in zoos no longer have viable habitat in the wild due to urbanisation, loss of habitat, and other anthropogenic influences, so keeping these animals in zoos can prevent extinction of species, and generate sustainable, genetically healthy, insurance populations. Dr Guthrie stated that she believes the animals at London Zoo lead long, happy lives.
The benefits of zoos go further than increasing animal welfare: they also promote education, not just for professionals but for the general public. Dr Guthrie explained how people are more likely to change their behaviour to aid the environment and protect natural habitats when we see animals and learn about the effects our actions can have. The money brought in by zoos is also used for grants, allowing further research and understanding of wildlife health, disease, welfare and conservation.
Zoos also work to prevent the extinction of species. By studying animal breeding, they can breed endangered species in captivity. Due to the low population density of many wild species, these animals struggle to find mates, so are unable to breed, so are at risk of extinction. The research done by zoos is crucial to help ecosystems. Orangutans are threatened by habitat loss due to unsustainably grown palm oil. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums Saving Animals From Extinction orangutan program launched in 2018 to focus on these threats in order to aid the recovery of the species.
From a veterinary perspective, zoos enable us to learn more about fighting animal disease and advancing animal anaesthetics and other treatments so we will be able to help more animals, and with greater effect in the future. They conduct disease surveillance research in wildlife populations, as well as in their own captive populations, which can help prevent outbreaks of zoonotic disease.
However, it is important to note that Dr Guthrie did also mention that she cannot speak for every zoo, and there are still zoos where animals do not have adequate space, healthcare or enrichment. Some possible steps to prevent zoos having substandard welfare would be to encourage countries
with lax zoo regulations to make these more rigid and increase regularity of inspections. The majority of modern, reputable zoos today focus their daily activities around providing exceptional animal welfare and contributing significantly to saving species in the wild and to healthy captive insurance populations.
