B. Don't let good zoos go extinct

by Dave Hone

The days of the Victorian menagerie are over, but modern zoos are much more than a collection of animals and more important than ever.

I am a lifelong fan of good zoos (note the adjective) and have visited dozens of zoos, safari parks and aquaria around the world. I also spent a number of years working as a volunteer keeper at two zoos in the U.K. so it is probably fair to say I’m firmly in the pro-zoo camp.

What I would state with absolute confidence is that for many species it is perfectly possible to keep them in a zoo and for them to have a quality of life as high or higher than in the wild. Most zoo animals are born in zoos. The days of whisking them from the wild are long gone. Their movement might be restricted in an enclosure but they will not suffer from the threat of predators (and nor will they be killed in a grisly manner or eaten alive) or the irritation of parasites, injuries and illnesses will be treated, they won’t suffer or die of drought and indeed will get a varied and high-quality diet. A lot of very nasty things happen to truly ‘wild’ animals that simply don’t happen in good zoos and to cast a life that is ‘free’ as one that is ‘good’ is an error.

But what do zoos actually bring to the table for the visitors and the wider world?

Conservation. It’s not an exaggeration to say that colossal numbers of species are going extinct across the world. Moreover, some of these collapses have been sudden, dramatic and unexpected or were simply discovered very late in the day. A species protected in captivity provides a reservoir population against a population crash in the wild. Zoos breed wild animals co-operatively, internationally. Genetic software – ensuring diversity, building a hedge against extinction in the wild – decides which animals meet up. A good number of species only exist in captivity and still more only exist in the wild because they have been reintroduced from zoos, or the wild populations have been boosted by captive bred animals. Quite simply without these efforts there would be fewer species alive today and ecosystems and the world as a whole would be poorer for it. Although reintroduction successes are few and far between, the numbers are increasing and the very fact that species have been saved or reintroduced as a result of captive breeding shows their value.

Education. Many children and adults, especially those in cities will never see a wild animal beyond a fox or pigeon, let alone a lion or giraffe. Sure television documentaries get ever more detailed and impressive, and lots of natural history specimens are on display in museums, but that really does pale next to seeing a living creature in the flesh, hearing it, smelling it, watching what it does and having the time to absorb details. That alone will bring a greater understanding and perspective to many and hopefully give them a greater appreciation for wildlife, conservation efforts and how they can contribute. This was an area where zoos were previously poor and are now increasingly sophisticated in their communication and outreach work.

A recent National Trust report said that children suffer more in Britain than other developed countries from "nature-deficit disorder". A friend of mine once took a class of inner-city seven-year-olds to London Zoo. They exhausted the school's supply of black and yellow crayons beforehand; they studied The Tiger Who Came to Tea. After gazing into a live tiger's eyes and seeing it gaze back, Roxanna turned to her teacher: "You didn't tell us they were real," she said.

Research. If we are to restore and repair ecosystems we need to know about how key species live, act and react. Being able to study animals in zoos where there is less risk and less variables means real changes can be effected on wild populations with far fewer problems. Knowing say the oestrus cycle of an animal or their breeding rate helps manage wild populations. Things like capturing and moving at-risk or dangerous individuals are bolstered by knowledge in zoos about doses for anaesthetics, and experience at handling and transporting animals. This can make a real difference to conservation efforts and to reduce human-animal conflicts.

All in all with the ongoing global threats to the environment it’s hard for me to see zoos as anything other than being essential to the long-term survival of numerous species. Not just in terms of protecting them and breeding them for reintroduction, but to learn about them to aid those still in the wild, as well as to educate and inform the public about these animals and their world: to pique their interest so that they can assist or at least accept the need to be more environmentally conscious.

 

3. Find a partner from the other group and swap information using the vocabulary from the previous exercise.

4. Which points from the texts do you agree with? Which points do you disagree with? Express your opinion. Were you surprised by any of the ideas from the texts?

 

 

Text 3

1. Before reading the text discuss the following questions in groups of three.

- What is the number of people living on the planet today? What are the dynamics?

- Have you ever heard of Thomas Malthus and Malthusian catastrophe?

- What are the reasons and consequences of overpopulation?

- What countries suffer from overpopulation?

 

2. Match the words in columns to make word combinations. Then read part 1 and check your answers.

human carrying the root seminal driving exponential over longer outpace unchecked run out of fossil fuel low-hanging

improvements factor deposits growth capacity steam fruit cause timescales growth work impact