research essays on zoos

REVIEW article

What is the zoo experience how zoos impact a visitor’s behaviors, perceptions, and conservation efforts.

• 1 Museology Graduate Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
• 2 School of Behavior Analysis, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, United States

Modern zoos strive to educate visitors about zoo animals and their wild counterparts’ conservation needs while fostering appreciation for wildlife in general. This research review examines how zoos influence those who visit them. Much of the research to-date examines zoo visitors’ behaviors and perceptions in relation to specific exhibits, animals, and/or programs. In general, visitors have more positive perceptions and behaviors about zoos, their animals, and conservation initiatives the more they interact with animals, naturalistic exhibits, and zoo programming/staff. Furthermore, zoo visitors are receptive to conservation messaging and initiatives at zoos and are more likely to participate in on-site conservation opportunities as opposed to after their visits. The research also suggests that repeat visitors are even more inclined to seek out conservation efforts compared to those visiting zoos for the first time. While current research suggests that repeat visitors are more likely to engage in conservation efforts, little is known about causal factors related to such findings, and almost no research exists to-date comparing the conservation efforts of visitors vs. non-visitors. This latter comparison will likely play a greater role in future zoo visitor research, since it poses one of the most important metrics for evaluating the specific effects visiting a zoo can have on people engaging in conservation efforts in general.

Introduction

Modern zoos have a variety of functions both relative to the species exhibited and the conservation of wildlife in general. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), some of these goals are: (1) the care and welfare of the animals they exhibit; (2) educating and engaging public, professional, and government audiences; (3) species/habitat conservation; and (4) internal and academic research that increases our knowledge of animals and promotes AZA’s other goals ( Reade and Waran, 1996 ; Fernandez et al., 2009 ; Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 2013 ). In addition, zoos have a legacy of being a form of entertainment and are primarily a destination for visitors to attend in their leisure time ( Carr and Cohen, 2011 ). Approximately 700 million people visit zoos and aquariums worldwide annually ( Moss et al., 2014 ), with a 2011 survey indicating that participating zoos and aquariums spent at least $350 million on wildlife conservation internationally ( Gusset and Dick, 2011 ). In a 2012 report by the AZA, 2,700 conservation programs spent approximately $160 million on field conservation for 650 individual species, in addition to ecosystems ( Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 2012 ). It is these high attendance levels and their associated income that gives accredited zoos the ability to fulfill their mission statements.

While zoos are expanding their missions and welcome a large number of visitors, these institutions also have their critics. Animal rights activists and others argue that many zoos contribute little to conservation efforts and also impair zoo animals’ welfare by placing them in captive environments ( Hancocks, 2001 ; Rose et al., 2009 ; O’Connor, 2010 ). It is crucial to measure the impact of zoos’ education and conservation initiatives to both indicate the extent of how these organizations are fulfilling their missions and continue to demonstrate the importance of the role of zoos in society despite their critics.

Ultimately, whether an opponent or a supporter of zoological institutions, it is critical to ask: How effective are zoological environments for meeting the welfare, conservation, education, and research goals of accredited zoos? More specifically, what can we learn about how particular captive environments help or hinder these goals? And what can visitors tell us about our ability to successfully meet these goals?

The following paper is a literature review of many peer-reviewed studies that examine how the zoo environment impacts visitors, as well as how these visits impact conservation efforts, both within and outside the zoo. We accomplish this by looking across a variety of disciplines and bodies of work that examine zoological institutions and visitor studies including psychology, museology, animal welfare, and environmental education. Keyword searches of “zoo visitor behaviors,” “zoo visitor perceptions,” “zoo visitor conservation,” “zoo visitor learning,” “animal-visitor interactions,” and other terms occurred in the University of Washington Library’s search engine, in Google Scholar, and in search engines of major publications across these fields. We specifically looked for articles where different factors of the zoo environment (the animals themselves exhibit design, programming/interacting with staff) affected visitor behaviors and perceptions. Articles that examined conservation awareness, attitudes, and behaviors with zoo visitors were also prioritized. In addition, reviewing references cited in relevant articles aided in compiling the studies cited in this literature review. Articles that did not look at visitor learning, post-visit outcomes, or observable zoo visitor behaviors were deemed irrelevant. Specifically, we examine (1) what visitors learn from their zoo experience, with an emphasis on how their behaviors and perceptions are changed and (2) how such visits change those visitors, specifically their conservation efforts. Specifically, we examine how visit frequency affects conservation actions and the need for more research on comparisons between visitors and non-visitors in terms of overall conservation support.

What Do Visitors Learn at the Zoo?

Zoos are by design an informal learning environment; unless visiting as part of a formal programmatic experience like a school tour, visitors are coming to zoos during their free time and choose which aspects of the zoo they engage with. Visitors to zoos come in with particular motivations like entertainment, bonding time with their families and friends, and also educational experiences ( Falk, 2005 ; Roe and McConney, 2015 ). For learning to occur, attention is an important pre-cursor for learning ( Altman, 1998 ), as well as connecting with visitors based on their prior knowledge ( Dove and Byrne, 2014 ) and providing entertaining or enjoyable experiences ( Spooner et al., 2019 ).

In order to establish the effectiveness of zoos as a learning environment, it is important to look at a variety of factors that influence visitor learning. Several studies have examined observable behaviors, as well as verbal responses from zoo visitors. These studies have looked at a variety of factors, including the social makeup of visitor groups, educational programming, and the animals in exhibits.

It is also important to understand how visitors cultivate perceptions and attitudes, in addition to studying their behavior, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a zoo’s education, conservation, and recreation goals ( Anderson et al., 2003 ). Clayton et al. (2009) support the point that educational goals can be improved via perceptions. Specifically, positive perceptions can lead to a visitor who is interested in learning more about animals.

Effects of the Zoo Environment on Visitor Behaviors

One way to examine a visitor’s response to a zoo exhibit is by measuring observable behaviors displayed by visitors. Specifically, (1) time spent in front of or near an exhibit; (2) attention toward an exhibit (e.g., facing and/or talking about an exhibit); and (3) overall crowd size has been used as measures of interest and satisfaction ( Anderson et al., 2003 ; Margulis et al., 2003 ; Fernandez et al., 2009 ; Godinez et al., 2013 ). Attention is an important measure for visitor studies for which attention can suggest what information visitors are potentially processing and is a precursor to learning ( Altman, 1998 ).

Previous studies suggest that visitor behaviors are influenced by both the presence of a zoo animal and the behaviors it displays. These studies have analyzed and tested the “visitor attraction model”; the theory that active animals attract visitors and have used observable measures such as pointing, stopping, and length of time is facing the exhibit. Results suggest visitors attend more to animal behaviors the more visible and active the animal is and also tend to spend more time in exhibits when an animal is visible and active ( Bitgood et al., 1988 ; Altman, 1998 ; Anderson et al., 2003 ; Sellinger and Ha, 2005 ; Davey, 2006a ; Godinez et al., 2013 ).

Debate over visibility of an animal and its influence on visitor behavior has risen from previous research. Bitgood et al. (1988) found that zoo visitors stopped more often and spent more time at exhibits where the animal was more visible. Whereas Philpot’s (1996) study (as cited in Davey, 2006a , pp. 94–95) found that visitors spent more time searching for animals in naturalistic enclosures, which turned the exhibit and observing animal behaviors into an interactive experience.

In addition to the debate, over animal visibility is the size of the animal. Some studies suggest that visitors prefer larger-bodied animals ( Bitgood et al., 1988 ; Ward et al., 1998 ). These findings have the potential to influence zoo decisions on the types of animals they display, even considering larger species typically cost more to care for and exhibit. However, Balmford (2000) re-analyzed the results of the Ward et al.’s (1998) study at the Zurich Zoo, which suggested that zoo visitors preferred viewing larger-sized animals. After re-analyzing the data along with additional data collected from the London Zoo, Balmford argued that in terms of visitor length of time at exhibits, there was no discernible difference between time spent at large-bodied animal exhibits and small-bodied animals. Balmford cautions that measures of visitor attention such as time spent attending to an exhibit and crowd size are not necessarily indicators of popularity or preference; smaller animals are typically housed in smaller exhibits, which may make the exhibit itself less appealing, as well as making it difficult for larger visitor groups to form.

Visitor conversations have also been studied in order to examine the influence of animal presence on visitor attention. Altman (1998) analyzed zoo visitor conversations at three bear exhibits as an indirect measure of attention. Conversations were recorded and later categorized as one of four types: (1) animal-directed; (2) human-focused; (3) animal behavior (directed); and (4) other. The study found that animal activity levels appeared to influence visitor conversations, particularly highly animated behaviors. Animal behavior conversation increased and human-related conversation decreased when animals were “highly animated” and the opposite occurred when the animals were pacing or not visible.

Studies examining the impacts of exhibit designs suggest that the transition to naturalistic exhibits in recent decades improves the animal’s well-being as well as visitor behaviors ( Nakamichi, 2007 ; Fernandez et al., 2009 ). Although the majority of zoo visitors do not interact with signage ( Clayton et al., 2009 ), the context in which an animal is displayed can convey a wealth of information, increase visitor interest, and potentially create a more enjoyable experience. Research also suggests that naturalistic exhibits can increase visitor length of time at an exhibit ( Shettel-Neuber, 1988 ; Davey, 2006a , b ). These stay times are constant, even without the presence of an animal ( Davey, 2006a ; Nakamichi, 2007 ).

Effects of the Zoo Environment on Visitor Perceptions

While interacting with the zoo environment, visitors form perceptions of their surroundings. Previous research argues that zoos can encourage empathy in visitors for the care of zoo animals and, in turn, their wild counterparts and the ecosystems where these animals live. The catalyst for this empathy is positive experiences with animals in zoo environments ( Clayton et al., 2009 ; Kutska, 2009 ).

Previous studies examining visitor perceptions suggest that perceptions can be influenced and changed by their experiences at zoos. Factors that influence visitor perception can include exposure to and interactions with zoo animals, the exhibit’s design, and elements found within the exhibit space (e.g., signage, enrichment items, and feeding stations), public programming around the exhibit, the ability of visitors to interact with volunteers and staff, and preconceived notions of what certain behaviors (e.g., pacing and other potential stereotypic activity) suggest about the overall welfare of that animal. These aspects have the potential to equally foster or hinder respect and appreciation for zoo animals and the institutions that care for them.

Reade and Waran (1996) conducted a study of how zoo visitors and non-zoo visitors perceived zoo animals in general. The results of this study provided baseline data when examining visitor perceptions across many aspects of zoo operations. The study found that there were significant differences between non-visitors and zoo visitors’ perceptions of animals in zoos. Zoo visitors viewed zoo animals more positively in all questions in the study and thought of them as more attractive, happy, and well-kept. Non-visitors tended to have more negative views of zoo animals across all questions and were significantly more likely to perceive zoo animals as “bored.” In addition, non-visitors also viewed enrichment as less important than zoo visitors. The authors therefore concluded that this difference in perception suggests that the general public is not fully aware of the physical and psychological benefits enrichment has for zoo animals.

Exhibit design also appears to influence visitor perceptions. Zoos have undergone a substantial transformation over the past few decades in exhibit design, with a greater emphasis on naturalistic exhibits, both in terms of their appearance and functionality for the exhibited animals (e.g., ability to hunt and forage). Much of the support for displaying zoo animals in natural contexts is based on behavioral science and theory. In an article about achieving optimal visitor experiences in zoos, Coe (1985) argued that designs, or contexts, of zoo exhibits can reach visitors on both conscious and unconscious levels. These carefully planned contexts can grab the visitor’s attention, and strong multi-sensory exhibit environments have the potential to create strong behavioral responses, such as greater empathy and desire to conserve the exhibited species. This transition to naturalistic exhibits improves visitor perceptions and encourages appreciation and respect for zoo animals ( Maple, 1983 ; Finlay et al., 1988 ; Reade and Waran, 1996 ; Nakamichi, 2007 ).

Visitor perceptions can also be influenced by animal, keeper, and overall exhibit interactions they have while visiting a zoo. When analyzing how visitor perceptions were influenced by small-clawed otter activities, Anderson et al. (2003) found that public animal training and public animal training with interpretation produced more positive zoo experiences and perceptions of exhibit size than passive exhibit viewing or interpretation-only sessions. The educational approach to animal training programming has also been found to be an important factor in influencing visitor learning. A study by Visscher et al. (2009) found that after being told the same facts about Black Rhinoceros during two different types of animal training programs, the school group who received the interpretive presentation (i.e., audience encouraged to ask questions and could touch training tools) answered more post-program questions correctly than the students who attended a less interactive, fact-based presentation. In addition, a study by Lindemann-Matthies and Kamer (2005) found that visitors who attended a staffed “touch table” at a Bearded Vulture exhibit at the Goldau Nature Park and Zoo were more likely to know more about the biology, ecology, and conservation of vultures both immediately after their visit and 2 months post-visit than those who visited the exhibit but only had access to exhibit signage. In addition, educational zoo theater programming performed by staff with no animals present resulted in both children and adult visitors answering more survey questions correctly after attending the performance than answering the same questions before the theater program began ( Spooner et al., 2019 ).

How visitors perceive their experience, as well as the overall welfare of exhibited animals, can be greatly influenced by what behaviors they see the animals engaged in. Captive animal behavior is often broadly defined as positive, healthy behaviors (e.g., searching, foraging, and non-repetitive activity), and negative, “abnormal” behaviors (e.g., hiding, inactivity, and repetitive behaviors, such as pacing). While an operational classification and functional understanding of these behaviors goes beyond the scope of this paper, how such behaviors affect the visitor experience is critical to an overall understanding of what visitors learn at the zoo.

Bexell et al. (2007) examined visitor perceptions of Giant Pandas while playing or not playing. Those who witnessed Giant Panda play were significantly more likely to rate their experience more positively and have a more satisfying experience than those who did not observe playing. As noted previously, Altman (1998) found visitor conversations changed based on bear behaviors, with animal behavior conversations occurring the most when the bears were active compared to pacing and out of sight.

Another factor that influences visitor perceptions of animal behavior is stereotypic activity, broadly defined as repetitive, invariant behavior patterns with no obvious goal or function ( Ödberg, 1978 ; Mason, 1991 ). In a study by Godinez et al. (2013) , the researchers examined how different jaguar behavioral categories correlated with visitor activity and their ratings of the animals’ predominant behavior displayed, well-being, exhibit quality, and the visitor’s enjoyment. Overall, visitors were able to accurately describe a jaguar’s behavior as inactive, active, or out of sight. However, approximately half of all visitors questioned (~47%) defined pacing and other repetitive behaviors as stereotypic, while the other visitors questioned simply described those behaviors as active and non-repetitive. For visitors who described a pacing pattern or other repetitive behaviors as stereotypic, they were also significantly more likely to rate the jaguar’s well-being, exhibit quality, and visitor enjoyment lower than those who described the behavior as non-repetitive, active behavior. Therefore, it appears that acknowledgement of a behavior as a stereotypy can negatively impact multiple perceptions of a zoo visitor’s visit. Similarly, Miller (2013) found that participants rated the overall care of a tiger as lower when the animal engaged in pacing than inactivity. In addition, the participants who observed a tiger pacing were significantly less likely to support zoos after witnessing this behavior when compared to those who observed an inactive tiger. Furthermore, visitors reported have the most positive emotions regarding zoo animals they observed after experiencing up-close animal encounters with animals displaying active behaviors compared to when the animals were out of sight or engaged in other behaviors ( Luebke et al., 2016 ).

While zoos have made significant strides in reducing stereotypic activity displayed by their animals, these studies suggest that public education about such efforts is also necessary. It may be that part of the bias against such stereotypic activity on the part of the observing visitor is due to a lack of knowing what zoos and similar facilities do to deter such activity. Future studies could examine how educating visitors about behavioral enrichment and other welfare-oriented procedures affects their views of exhibited animals, in terms of both how they view the displays of potentially adverse behaviors and how they view the ability of zoos to care for animals.

Zoo Visitors Conservation Behaviors

Recent studies have focused on quantifying the effect of zoo visitation on the conservation efforts of those visitors. Most studies to-date have examined a visitor’s conservation knowledge related to a specific exhibit or program before and after interacting with those programs ( Hayward and Rothenberg, 2004 ; Lindemann-Matthies and Kamer, 2005 ; Lukas and Ross, 2005 ; Bexell et al., 2007 ; Chalmin-Pui and Perkins, 2017 ), as opposed to greater conservation awareness or analyzing a variety of exhibits and programs ( Reade and Waran, 1996 ; Yalowitz, 2004 ; Falk et al., 2007 ; Adelman et al., 2010 ; Moss et al., 2017a , b ). Research is emerging to suggest that visitors can have a relatively extensive awareness of human impacts on biodiversity conservation, even when they hold misconceptions regarding concepts about biodiversity and ecosystems ( Dove and Byrne, 2014 ).

When analyzing how zoo visitors respond to conservation efforts within zoos, several studies suggest that one of the most significant factors influencing zoo visitors’ conservation knowledge, attitude, and behaviors is repeat visitation. Repeat visitors retain significantly more conservation information, have more positive attitudes about conservation, and conduct more conservation-related behaviors than visitors who are attending the same zoo for the first time ( Yalowitz, 2004 ; Lukas and Ross, 2005 ; Miller et al., 2013 ; Clayton et al., 2017 ; Moss et al., 2017a ). Thus, while we have some knowledge about how repeat visitors differ from first-time visitors, the extent to which this occurs is not known.

In order to evaluate the overall impact zoos may have on increasing visitor interest and activity in conservation efforts, we examine (1) the conservation perceptions, behaviors, and actions taken by the visitor during a given visit; (2) what type of conservation behaviors and perceptions visitors have after their visit; and (3) how do all of these conservation-related efforts differ in zoo visitors compared to those who do not attend zoos.

Visitor Conservation Opportunities at the Zoo

In situ opportunities for conservation activities provide visitors with a tangible way to contribute to conservation efforts, especially since previous work suggests that visitors are uncertain how to become involved beyond donating money ( Ojalammi and Nygren, 2018 ). On-site conservation activities may also reaffirm conservation behaviors and encourage long-term changes in zoo visitors. When comparing visitors’ conservation actions on-site versus off-site, Stoinski et al. (2002) found that visitors were 20 times more likely to do on-site conservation activities than after their visit to the zoo. Furthermore, facilitating conservation actions via staff and programs as opposed to passive visits may increase the potential for visitors to participate in conservation efforts during a visit. In a study conducted during an elephant program at Zoo Atlanta, 350 of 471 visitors studied signed petitions and took solicitation cards. Those who had the highest levels of interaction with the exhibit and elephant program were significantly more likely to return the solicitation cards than those who had lower interaction ( Swanagan, 2000 ).

Another way to encourage in situ conservation behaviors is by offering sustainably made items in zoo gift shops, where proceeds go to support conservation efforts (see Sigsgaard, 2009 , for a case study of one such effort, and the sustainability issues to consider when stocking souvenirs and other goods in zoo gift shops). An additional on-site conservation action is at the point of admission through the “Quarters for Conservation” program. In this program, the zoo adds 50 cents onto the price of admission and gives their visitors a chance to choose which conservation project they would like their quarter to support. This simple program can help frame the visitor’s entire zoo experience and has been implemented in over a dozen US zoos since the program was founded in 2007 ( Hance, 2015 ).

If zoos continue to strive to demonstrate their effectiveness as conservation organizations, then it is crucial that zoos provide on-site opportunities for their visitors to participate in conservation. In situ conservation actions allow zoos to fulfill their missions and demonstrate their impact now. This can also be of great importance when justifying the role of zoos as conservation contributors when critics and others question the effect of zoos on various conservation efforts.

Zoo Visitor Conservation Post-visit

When analyzing conservation knowledge retention, some studies have found that visitors’ conservation knowledge and interest persisted after a zoo visit ( Jensen, 2014 ; Moss et al., 2015 ), but this new understanding rarely results in new conservation actions ( Adelman et al., 2010 ; Miller et al., 2013 ). However, other studies suggest zoos prompt visitors to rethink their roles in conservation issues after their visit ( Falk et al., 2007 ; Clayton et al., 2017 ; Jensen et al., 2017 ). While this is an emerging area of research interest, several studies support that the level and type of engagement with conservation and animals during the zoo experience affect not only visitors’ knowledge retention but also post-visit behavior. Visitors who engaged with films and signage about biodiversity and conservation scored higher on biodiversity knowledge and intent to take part in post-visit conservation actions than those who did not interact with these elements ( Moss et al., 2017b ). Similarly, a study by Hacker and Miller (2016) indicated up-close encounters with elephants and witnessing active behaviors from the animals had positive effects on visitors’ intent to engage with conservation actions post-visit. In a multi-institutional study of dolphin programs in zoos and aquariums by Miller et al. (2013) , participants who witnessed dolphin programs retained much of their conservation knowledge learned from the shows and reported doing more conservation-related behaviors 3 months after witnessing the show than 3 months prior to their visit. Another study examining the effectiveness of touch tables on visitor’s knowledge of bearded vulture biology, ecology, and conservation issues found that visitors who used the touch tables knew more about these items both immediately after their visit and 2-month post-visit than visitors who had not attended the table ( Lindemann-Matthies and Kamer, 2005 ).

In a 2014 study by Jensen analyzing the conservation concerns and conservation self-efficacy of school children both pre- and post-visit, Jensen found an increase in students’ personal concerns about the extinction of species, but marginal differences in if the students felt they could do something about it. Furthermore, a study by Skibins and Powell (2013) suggests that visitors are more inclined to take conservation action for an individual species they connect with, as opposed to conservation of biodiversity on a larger scale. To combat this issue of awareness but lack of action (or widening the impact of said action), others who recommend zoos can take on stronger approaches to motivating visitors to do pro-conservation behaviors that are relevant and easy to implement for a diverse range of zoo visitors ( Smith et al., 2012 ; Grajal et al., 2018 ). However, providing materials for visitors to participate in post-visit conservation actions has occurred in only a few studies. Analysis that has been conducted to-date suggests that materials that coincide with visitors’ daily lives tend to be more effective in encouraging conservation-related behaviors than those that are less frequent and more in-depth actions. For example, at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, 51% of visitors who picked up a Seafood Watch Pocket Guide tried to use the guide when purchasing seafood after their visit to the aquarium. On the other hand, only 10% of visitors tried to use an “Ocean Allies Card” (a list of conservation organizations to join) after their visit, and no participants joined an organization ( Yalowitz, 2004 ).

Zoo Visitors Versus Non-visitor Conservation Actions

To understand fully the degree of impact zoos has on visitors’ conservation efforts, comparisons between zoo visitors and non-zoo visitors are necessary. However, most studies look at zoo visitors alone ( Swanagan, 2000 ; Yalowitz, 2004 ; Falk et al., 2007 ; Miller et al., 2013 ). At least one study to-date indicated that non-zoo visitors viewed zoos as playing an important role in conservation, although non-zoo visitors’ conservation knowledge and attitude were not measured ( Reade and Waran, 1996 ). Because of the importance of comparing differences between zoo visitors and non-zoo visitors to determine the impact zoos have on increasing conservation efforts in general, our final section draws on directions zoos could go in to make such assessments.

Future Research

Much of the studies done to-date examine changes in visitor behaviors and their perceptions in regard to exhibit design, the presence of animals and their displayed behaviors, and how visitors engage with singular exhibits and/or programs in individual zoos (see “Zoos and Visitors” section of this paper for examples of these studies). This work has laid the foundation for a variety of in-depth questions to be examined moving forward. Specifically, the nuances of how the zoo environment may influence zoo visitors’ appreciation for the animals exhibited, their species’ associated conservation needs, and how the zoo visitors themselves can take conservation actions to support conservation initiatives for the animals’ wild counterparts and their habitats.

As studies continue to examine the conservation impacts zoos have on their visitors, much of the research done to-date can be summarized in an assumed paradigm that zoo visitors go through that are a series of sequential steps with the intended outcome to be conservation-related actions.

Visit → Knowledge → Concern → Intent → Post-visit action

However, this paradigm assumes that knowledge is strongly linked to conservation actions. Recent research indicates that other factors like where you live and demographically related factors are more strongly correlated with conservation behaviors than knowledge ( Moss et al., 2017a ). Based on what studies cited in this literature review indicate, the paradigm could be reframed as follows:

Visit with in situ action → Knowledge → Concern → Intent → Post-visit action

Given the variety of factors influencing visitors in the free-choice learning environment of zoos and the variety of methodologies used to examine the impact zoos have on their visitors, there is a question beckoned to be asked: Is it possible to empirically measure the impact zoos have on their visitors? Many studies mentioned in this review have taken great strides in answering this question—especially when examining how the environment of the zoo (e.g. exhibits and programs) affects behavioral learning and general knowledge of both animal species and the individual animals housed.

Our recommendations are to continue measuring the impact—or to begin measuring the impact—of the following:

1. having a true control group (non-visitors) to understand the full impact zoos may or may not have on zoo visitor knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors;

2. increasing opportunities for on-site conservation activities that visitors can do during their visit; this could potentially improve their conservation knowledge and future conservation actions, as well as be a measurable impact of how zoos are contributing to conservation efforts;

3. providing more opportunities for tangible takeaways for visitors that directly contribute to conservation initiatives post-visit (i.e., Seafood Watch cards, pre-drafted letters to send to legislators, take-home electronic recycling kits) – and then measure the effectiveness of these tools; and

4. studying the phenomena of repeat visitors being more conservation-oriented than one-time visitors. Also begin to study how repeat zoo visitors compare to those who do not visit zoos at all.

On this last point, knowing that research to-date suggests that repeat visitation is a significant factor in conservation knowledge and appreciation for wildlife, we wonder: are repeat visitors continuing to visit zoos because they are already conservation-oriented and see zoological institutions as places to fulfill this area of interest? Or do they become more concerned with conservation issues over time as a result of the information and experiences they have in zoos? Additional studies that delve deeper into motivations of repeat visitors, and how these attitudes and behaviors develop, could shed light on these questions. Regardless of their motivation, these studies suggest that zoos are fostering conservation with this key group of visitors and that those who come to zoos appear to be receptive to and interested in conservation in the first place ( Falk et al., 2007 ).

Zoo membership is a key tool that is readily available to all zoological institutions to help foster the transition from infrequent to frequent visitors. Looking at the motivation, visitors have when signing up for zoo memberships (cost saving, entertainment, interest in animals, interest in conservation, etc.,), and comparing these motivations to conservation-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of members could provide a critical insight into the field.

Although we have described an array of studies for this review, most of them do not address an important aspect to the effectiveness of zoos—how visitors compare to those who do not attend these types of institutions. With the exception of the few studies mentioned earlier in this paper, we have not been able to find peer-reviewed, published research that compares zoo visitors to non-visitors. A plethora of topics, including conservation attitudes, knowledge of wildlife, and other environmental resources, or how these two groups perceive zoos themselves beckons further examination. We suspect that future visitor research will focus more directly on comparisons between zoo visitor and non-visitor conservation efforts, since this is one of the most important metrics for assessing the impact zoos have on increasing the conservations efforts of their visitors, and a necessary measure for evaluating the effect zoos have on the public supporting conservation efforts in general.

Author Contributions

AG and EF co-wrote and edited the manuscript, as well as researched literature for this review. AG formatted the manuscript in accordance with Frontiers in Psychology guidelines. EF submitted the manuscript for publication.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We thank Kathryn Owen of Kathryn Owen Consulting for her recommendations on potential sources for this manuscript.

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Keywords: human-animal interactions, zoo visitors, zoo research, visitor perceptions, visitor behaviors, visitor education, conservation

Citation: Godinez AM and Fernandez EJ (2019) What Is the Zoo Experience? How Zoos Impact a Visitor’s Behaviors, Perceptions, and Conservation Efforts. Front. Psychol . 10:1746. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01746

Received: 01 May 2019; Accepted: 15 July 2019; Published: 30 July 2019.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2019 Godinez and Fernandez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Eduardo J. Fernandez, [email protected]

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• Published: 28 June 2018

Evaluating the Contribution of North American Zoos and Aquariums to Endangered Species Recovery

• Judy P. Che-Castaldo   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9118-9202 1 ,
• Shelly A. Grow 2 &
• Lisa J. Faust 1  

Scientific Reports volume  8 , Article number:  9789 ( 2018 ) Cite this article

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• Biodiversity
• Conservation biology

The challenge of recovering threatened species necessitates collaboration among diverse conservation partners. Zoos and aquariums have long partnered with other conservation organizations and government agencies to help recover species through a range of in situ and ex situ conservation projects. These efforts tend to be conducted by individual facilities and for individual species, and thus the scope and magnitude of these actions at the national level are not well understood. Here we evaluate the means and extent to which North American zoos and aquariums contribute to the recovery of species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), by synthesizing data from federal recovery plans for listed species and from annual surveys conducted by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. We found that in addition to managing ex situ assurance populations, zoos frequently conduct conservation research and field-based population monitoring and assessments. Cooperatively managed populations in zoos tend to focus on species that are not listed on the ESA or on foreign listings, and thus it may be beneficial for zoos to manage more native threatened species. Our results highlight the existing contributions, but also identify additional opportunities for the zoo community to help recover threatened species.

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Introduction.

Due to the magnitude and complexity of the global extinction crisis, successful species conservation will require the engagement of all potential partners: state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, local communities and resource users, industry stakeholders, and wildlife managers 1 . These diverse partners each bring unique perspectives, expertise, and resources, not all of which will be appropriate or necessary in every case. However, a clear understanding of the potential contributions of each partner will help to identify the most relevant entities to call upon in each case.

Zoos and aquariums (hereafter, “zoos”) are becoming more broadly recognized as important partners for conserving threatened species 2 , 3 . There is a long history of zoos engaging in species recovery, from the American bison and California condor to the black-footed ferret and Panamanian golden frog 4 . However, the role of zoos in species conservation has often focused on ex situ species management, in particular ex situ breeding 5 , 6 . For example, the Conservation Measures Partnership’s Actions Classification 7 identifies 30 distinct types of conservation actions, but specifies a role for zoos in only two of those ( ex situ conservation, outreach and communications). The conservation value of ex situ breeding has also been somewhat controversial, with views ranging from it being a last resort that diverts resources from in situ efforts 8 , to part of a continuum of management actions for threatened species 9 . Even when ex situ breeding is acknowledged as part of the conservation strategy, the ability of zoos to sustain demographically and genetically viable populations for the long-term has been questioned 10 , 11 . Undoubtedly these issues and concerns must continue to be explored, but zoos also contribute to other conservation efforts beyond ex situ breeding 12 , 13 , 14 .

Several publications have explored generally how zoos contribute to species conservation, discussing both in situ and ex situ actions. Ex situ actions can directly target the species ( e . g ., ex situ population management, rehabilitation, gene banking) 7 , or indirectly support conservation through public outreach, biological and veterinary research, and fundraising for other organizations and projects 3 , 14 , 15 . In situ actions can include engaging and educating communities in the species’ native range, protecting and restoring habitat, supplying animals and/or staff for reintroductions, and field-based monitoring 3 , 15 . Although there are many case studies of these individual actions, the extent to which zoos contribute to conservation through these actions is not well understood. One study has evaluated the impacts of a subset of in situ conservation projects branded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums 16 , and another summarized the number of breeding and reintroduction projects for threatened species conducted by four Canadian zoos 12 . Thus far, no study has quantified both the in situ and ex situ conservation actions conducted by zoos at a national scale.

In the U.S., all institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) include species conservation as a key part of their missions, in accordance with accreditation standards. To fulfill this part of their missions, zoos carry out an array of in situ and ex situ initiatives 4 , and collaborate with other conservation organizations and government agencies. This includes the agencies [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries] that implement the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), which was enacted in 1973 to protect threatened species through both extinction prevention and recovery actions 17 . However, the extent and scope of these zoo conservation efforts have not been systematically evaluated beyond annual reports within the zoo community.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the contribution of zoos to the recovery of threatened species in the U.S. by quantifying and summarizing their conservation activities. Our analysis consisted of three parts: (1) Summarize the management actions for which zoos are the responsible parties, based on data from federal recovery plans for listed species; (2) Summarize the recent conservation activities reported by AZA-accredited facilities in responses to the association’s annual field conservation and research surveys; and (3) Quantify the number of listed species that currently have managed populations in AZA facilities in order to identify additional opportunities for species conservation. Using multiple datasets allowed us to compare the contributions as self-reported by AZA facilities against those as recognized by the agencies responsible for implementing the ESA. Due to the scope of our study, we did not aim to quantify the impacts of these conservation activities, although it would be a valuable assessment that could be implemented following the methods of Mace et al . 18 .

In this study we focused on the terrestrial (including invertebrate and amphibian) and avian species listed under the ESA as of February 2017. Therefore, the large number of zoo conservation projects on marine and aquatic species, and the small number on plant species, were outside the scope of this assessment. Zoo conservation projects involving species with other risk statuses ( e . g ., Candidate, Under Review, or Proposed status under the ESA; state-listed; those ranked as Threatened (VU, EN, CR) or Extinct in the Wild (EW) under the IUCN Red List but not listed under the ESA) were also not represented in this assessment. Additionally, we focused on listed species whose native range included the U.S. ( i . e ., U.S. or U.S./foreign listings under the ESA; “U.S. listings” hereafter) in the first two parts of our analysis, but explored the overlap between both U.S. and foreign listings with managed zoo programs in the last section.

Roles of Zoos and Aquariums in Recovery Plans

The ESA requires every listed species to have a recovery plan, which documents the management actions and the criteria that determine when the species can be delisted. We gathered recovery plan data from the USFWS Recovery Plan Ad Hoc Report database ( http://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/ore-input/ad-hoc-recovery-actions-public-report-input ), by querying all recovery actions that list a zoo, aquarium, or AZA (“zoos”) as the responsible party. As of September 2016, the recovery plans for 73 listed species (15.1% of the 482 listings that have recovery plans) named zoos as responsible for at least one recovery action. Of these, we focused on the 54 terrestrial and avian animals (6 amphibians, 31 birds, 7 invertebrates, and 10 mammals) for this analysis. Forty-two of these species are currently listed as Endangered and eight as Threatened, one is not listed due to extinction but was a species of concern at the time of recovery planning ( Moho bishopi ), and three have been delisted since the plan was written due to recovery ( Urocyon littoralis subspecies littoralis , santacruzae , and santarosae ).

In total, there were 38 recovery plans (some plans included more than one species) that described 468 recovery actions for which zoos were the responsible party. These actions involved 39 individual zoos or aquariums, or else listed AZA as the responsible party (see Table  S1 for complete list of institutions). We determined 11 keywords to represent the major types of conservation activities attributed to zoos (Table  1 ), which were derived through an iterative process. We started with 52 keywords used by AZA to categorize zoo conservation and science projects (see next section), and condensed them into 9 categories ( e . g ., anti-poaching/patrolling, disaster/emergency response, human-wildlife conflict, and wildlife trade were grouped into “threat mitigation”). We assigned these broader keywords to each recovery action based on the action descriptions from the plans, and added two keywords (fundraising, management/planning) to describe recovery actions that did not fit into existing keywords. In some cases multiple keywords were assigned to an action, resulting in a total of 605 keywords assigned.

The majority of recovery actions related to managing and/or maintaining an assurance population (36.1% of keywords), research (27.4%), and population augmentation (23.5%; Fig.  1A ). Research included a broad range of topics relevant to species recovery, from investigating the impacts of contaminants, to modeling disease dynamics, to evaluating methods for habitat restoration. Besides population augmentation, other in situ recovery actions primarily consisted of population monitoring and assessments (12.4%), but there were also a small number of projects related to mitigating threats (1.7%) and to protecting and restoring habitat (0.9%). An unexpected type of zoo recovery action was management and planning (8.3%), which included projects that either involved or supported decision-making by the recovery team, such as coordinating program components, prioritizing tasks, or evaluating existing strategies. These tasks help to improve efficiency and flexibility and therefore can contribute greatly to the success of a conservation program. Other previously recognized contributions from zoos such as education and outreach 7 , 19 and husbandry knowledge and veterinary care 13 were also represented in recovery plans (7.5% and 7.1%, respectively). Finally, zoos contributed to conservation by providing project funds (4.5%), which were raised not only through visitor fees 8 but also by securing state, federal, and private grants. The keyword related to providing rescue, rehabilitation, or sanctuary facilities did not apply to any zoo-based recovery actions described in these plans. However, they may be more likely to be included in plans for ESA-listed marine species ( e . g ., sea turtles).

Conservation activities carried out by North American zoos and aquariums for species listed under the Endangered Species Act, sorted by type using 11 keywords. The number of instances of each keyword is shown at the base of the bars. ( A ) Distribution of the 468 recovery actions for which zoos and aquariums are the responsible party as described in recovery plans; a total of 606 keywords were assigned. ( B ) Distribution of the 644 field conservation and research project submissions by zoos to the 2013–2015 Annual Report on Conservation and Science (ARCS) survey; a total of 786 keywords were assigned.

Recovery actions were distributed unevenly across taxa (Fig.  2A ), with the majority of actions pertaining to birds (357 out of 468 actions). This was because the Revised Hawaiian Forest Birds Recovery Plan 20 included a very similar set of up to 19 recovery actions for each of 19 different bird species (for a total of 289 recovery actions) that involved either the San Diego Zoological Society or the Honolulu Zoo. To compare recovery action types among taxonomic groups, we further clustered the 11 project keywords into three broader categories: ex situ , in situ , and knowledge/capacity. Ex situ included the projects related to animal care and management at zoos (i.e., assurance population, husbandry/veterinary care, rescue/rehabilitation/sanctuary), whereas in situ included projects that took place at the species’ native range (i.e., population augmentation, monitoring/assessments, threat mitigation, and habitat creation/restoration/protection). The remaining project types all focused on increasing biological knowledge or the capacity for conservation (i.e. research, education/outreach, management/planning, fundraising). For birds, all three categories of projects were similarly common, with a slightly lower proportion of in situ projects (Fig.  2A ). In contrast, in situ projects were the most common category for invertebrates. Knowledge and capacity-building projects (primarily research) were the most common type of zoo recovery action for mammals and amphibians, accounting for 56% and 40% of their action keywords, respectively.

Conservation activities carried out by North American zoos and aquariums for species listed under the Endangered Species Act, by taxonomic group. Activities were aggregated into three categories based on the activity type keywords: conservation knowledge or capacity (research, education/outreach, management/planning, fundraising), ex situ (assurance population, husbandry/veterinary care, rescue/rehab/sanctuary), and in situ (population augmentation, monitoring/assessments, threat mitigation, and habitat creation/restoration/protection). The total instances of keywords for each taxonomic group are shown in parentheses. ( A ) Distribution of the 468 recovery actions for which zoos and aquariums are the responsible party from recovery plans; a total of 606 keywords were assigned. ( B ) Distribution of the 644 field conservation and research project submissions by zoos to the 2013–2015 Annual Report on Conservation and Science (ARCS) survey; a total of 786 keywords were assigned.

In addition to working with federal agencies in recovery programs, zoos also collaborate with other partners, including academic institutions, research institutions, or universities (collectively “academic institutions”) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Thus we also examined the involvement of these two types of partners in the recovery actions that specified zoos as a responsible party. All four recovery actions related to habitat creation/restoration/protection listed either academic institutions (2 actions) or other NGOs (2 actions) as additional responsible parties, suggesting such field projects may require larger collaborations to implement. Academic institutions were involved in nearly half of the actions with research as a keyword (54 out of 128 actions), but did not collaborate with zoos as much on other types of recovery actions (<13% for all other types). Other NGOs partnered with zoos most frequently on actions related to assurance populations (26 out of 169 actions) and research (26 out of 128 actions), but proportionally they collaborated primarily on actions related to education and outreach (14 out of 35 actions) and threat mitigation (2 out of 8 actions).

Although recovery plans provide an official documentation of the extent to which zoos participate in recovery programs when the plans were created, they do not provide the full picture. Nearly one-third of all U.S. listed animals do not have a recovery plan (482 out of 710 listed animal species had plans as of September 2016), and finalized plans are rarely updated and therefore tend to exclude more recent or current projects. Additionally, a zoo’s involvement may not have been explicitly described as a recovery action, or only the primary holding facilities may have been identified when multiple institutions are involved.

Conservation Activities Reported by Zoos and Aquariums

We next summarized zoo conservation activities based on the AZA’s field conservation and research surveys from 2013–2015. These surveys are used to produce the association’s Annual Report on Conservation and Science (ARCS; http://www.aza.org/annual-report-on-conservation-and-science ). In the field conservation survey, AZA member institutions report only their conservation efforts that have direct impacts on animals and habitats in the wild. In the research survey, they report on any hypothesis-driven research conducted at these institutions or by their staff and the resulting publications. Response rates differed between surveys and years, with 86–92% of institutions responding for the field conservation survey and 52–64% responding for the research survey between 2013–2015. Although this dataset likely underrepresents the conservation and research projects in zoos for listed species, it still provides the most comprehensive current summary of these activities across AZA. Because of the specific focus of these surveys, the responses would also exclude education programs that do not directly target the local communities in the species’ native range. Therefore our analysis leaves out many of the conservation-oriented education projects carried out by zoos, which can also have significant impacts on achieving biodiversity conservation 21 .

We queried the database of field conservation and research survey responses for references to ESA-listed species in the project titles, descriptions, or the selected focal species. We tallied the number of conservation project submissions, representing unique combinations of institutions, projects, and species. That is, the same project may involve multiple institutions, and we count these as unique projects for each institution. This is because each institution may submit the project under a different name or description, thereby making it difficult to consistently delineate unique projects. Between 2013–2015, 142 AZA institutions reported a total of 644 active conservation projects involving 74 ESA-listed, U.S. terrestrial and avian species (23 mammals, 21 birds, 12 amphibians, 11 reptiles, and 7 invertebrates). Of these, 50 are currently listed as Endangered and 24 as Threatened. Although 54 of the 74 listings have finalized recovery plans, only 18 of those plans mentioned zoos as responsible parties for recovery actions.

Similar to the actions from recovery plans, we assigned each zoo project from the survey data to one or more of the 11 keywords representing different types of conservation activities (Table  1 ). Of the 786 keywords assigned, most were related to research (25.2%), monitoring/assessments (17.6%), population augmentation (16.0%), and managing assurance populations (12.7%; Fig.  1B ). Fundraising directed to recovery programs or conservation organizations (for purposes unspecified in the survey response) accounted for 11.3% of the keywords. Projects related to education and outreach (targeting local communities in the species’ native range) accounted for 5.2% of the keywords, and all other keywords were used fewer than 3% of the time. Compared to the conservation actions described in recovery plans, zoos reported a smaller proportion of activities related to assurance populations, but a larger proportion related to monitoring and assessments, and to habitat creation/restoration/protection. This suggests that zoos are contributing more to in situ conservation projects than is recognized in recovery plans. Zoos also reported more fundraising projects than represented in recovery plans, and additionally reported several projects related to providing rescue, rehabilitation, or sanctuary facilities. Both data sources agreed that research made up a large proportion of the conservation activities in zoos, and that there was great variation in the types of research conducted. Research projects reported by zoos ranged from understanding the genetic structure of Hawaiian petrel ( Pterodroma sandwichensis ) populations, to measuring stress levels of Guam kingfishers ( Todiramphus cinnamominus ) in human care, to developing gene banking methods for black-footed ferrets ( Mustela nigripes ).

Comparing among taxonomic groups, the majority of zoo conservation projects involved listed mammal species (318 of 644 projects), and only 25 projects involved invertebrates. Although the distribution of projects among taxa is similar to a previous assessment of in situ conservation efforts by zoos around the world 16 , none of the mammalian species in our dataset were primates due to our focus on U.S. species. Based on the keyword categories we assigned to each project, we found in situ projects were most common for listed amphibians and invertebrates (Fig.  2B ), and they primarily consisted of population augmentation projects. Knowledge and capacity projects were least common for amphibians and invertebrates, but they made up the largest proportion of projects for mammals, birds, and reptiles (consisting primarily of research projects). Ex situ projects made up less than 20% of all conservation projects reported by zoos for listed mammals, birds, and reptiles. Compared to the actions from recovery plans, a larger proportion of in situ projects were reported by zoos for all taxonomic groups, and a smaller proportion of ex situ projects were reported for all taxa except amphibians (Fig.  2 ).

We estimated the amount that AZA zoos spend on listed species by summing the project expenditures reported in the ARCS surveys. From 2013–2015, total spending on the reported field conservation and research projects specifically targeting the 74 ESA-listed species summed to $28.9 million, or on average $9.6 million per year. For context, the reported average spending per year on the same set of species in 2013–2015 was $146.4 million by all federal agencies, and $7.9 million by all state agencies 22 , 23 , 24 . Among the different types of conservation activities, the majority of funds were spent on assurance populations, followed by population monitoring and assessment and research (Fig.  3A ). Comparing across taxa, expenditures were greatest on conservation projects for bird and mammal species (Fig.  3B ).

Spending by North American zoos and aquariums on conservation projects for species listed under the Endangered Species Act, as reported in the 2013–2015 Annual Report on Conservation and Science (ARCS) survey. The proportional spending (out of the total $28.9 M spent across 3 years) is shown by ( A ) project keyword and ( B ) taxonomic group.

Listed Species with Managed Populations in Zoos and Aquariums

The recovery plans and AZA surveys provide an overview of the extent to which zoos currently contribute to recovering listed species. However, additional opportunities for conservation may exist, as a number of ESA-listed species have ex situ populations in zoos that are cooperatively managed. Since the 1980s, zoos have collaborated in managing the animals in their care through goal setting, cooperative breeding, and exchanging animals across institutions, with the aim of improving the health (e.g., demographic viability, genetic diversity) of those zoo animal populations 25 , 26 . In North America, cooperatively managed populations are those with a Species Survival Plan ® (SSP) program, which is implemented by AZA member institutions. SSPs may also coordinate the conservation, research, and educational initiatives among institutions to support in situ species recovery. These programs therefore represent opportunities for zoos to contribute further to conservation efforts, because they have an established management structure and working partnerships across institutions. Cooperative management also generates a great deal of species-specific knowledge on breeding, veterinary care, behavior, and demography, which can inform or facilitate conservation actions. For example, knowledge on how to breed animals successfully and to care for and rear offspring may be important for helping to improve reproduction of a threatened species. Further, the establishment of an SSP program demonstrates a long-term commitment to the species by multiple AZA institutions, which may be leveraged to promote engagement in and support for wild populations of the same species.

Overall, 143 of the 482 SSP programs (29.7%) were for ESA-listed species, representing 154 listings (which included separate listings for Distinct Population Segments or subspecies of the same species). The majority of these were for species listed as Endangered (83.4%) and as foreign (77.9%). Of the 387 listings for U.S. terrestrial and avian species, 36 (9.3%) currently have zoo populations managed by an SSP program. Interestingly, only 14 of the 54 species whose recovery plans specified roles for zoos had SSP populations, and 24 of the 74 species identified in the AZA surveys had SSP populations. Only 10 species overlapped across the three datasets, meaning they have recovery plans that specified a role for zoos, conservation projects reported by zoos in AZA surveys, and zoo populations managed by an SSP program. This finding suggests that an SSP program is not required for zoos to participate in recovery programs, and many zoos work with listed species outside of the SSP framework. On the other hand, there are additional SSP programs that could participate in that species’ recovery but currently do not.

Most of the SSP programs for listed species involved mammals, with existing programs for 21 of the 74 (28.4%) U.S. mammal listings (Fig.  4A ). All other listed taxa were much less represented, especially invertebrates, for which the American burying beetle was the only listing (out of 148) with an SSP program. The picture was similar when including both U.S. and foreign listings, with 84 additional SSP programs for foreign-listed mammals, and a smaller number of additional SSP programs for foreign-listed birds and reptiles (14 and 13, respectively; Fig.  4B ). In summary, the majority of SSP programs did not manage listed species, but those that did tended to focus on species that were more at risk (listed as Endangered rather than Threatened). There was also a taxonomic bias for SSP programs to focus on mammals and a geographic bias for non-U.S. species, many of which were native to African and Central American countries. Our results parallel findings from a previous study that zoo and aquarium collections favor larger vertebrate species 5 . However, the bias of SSP programs toward non-U.S. species contrasts with an earlier finding that zoos tended to focus on mammal and bird species that are native to economically developed countries 27 .

The proportion of terrestrial and avian animal species listed under the Endangered Species Act that have cooperatively managed populations in AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums, by taxonomic group and listing status (T = Threatened, E = Endangered). ( A ) The proportion of U.S. listings with managed programs for the listed species. ( B ) The proportion of U.S. and foreign listings with managed programs for the listed species. ( C ) The proportion of U.S. listings with managed programs for a congener of the listed species. ( D ) The proportion of U.S. and foreign listings with managed programs for a congener of the listed species.

Zoos have the potential to contribute even further to species recovery, as shown by the number of listed species that have a congener with a managed SSP population in zoos (Fig.  4C,D ). Management of a closely related species in the same genus produces valuable husbandry and biological information that may be useful for informing the conservation of the listed species. Institutions holding the congeners may also develop education programs or design exhibits to promote conservation actions for the closely related listed species. Additionally, since zoos already have the resources and facilities to house a closely related species, it may be possible for those institutions to house the more threatened species instead, if ex situ breeding or rehabilitation is deemed beneficial (of course, species-specific behaviors and requirements will determine the extent to which that would be feasible, while threats and recovery strategies will determine the appropriateness of an ex situ breeding program). Across all taxa, there were SSP programs for the congeners of 70 out of 387 (18.1%) U.S. listings, and 299 out of 969 (30.9%) U.S. and foreign listings of terrestrial and avian species. In particular, there were managed programs for the congeners of 36.5% and 41.4% of U.S. listings for mammals and reptiles, respectively (Fig.  4C ), and 51.5% and 53.2% of total (U.S. and foreign) listings for mammals and reptiles, respectively (Fig.  4D ). This represents a significant body of knowledge and resources that could greatly enhance species recovery efforts, but have yet to be broadly utilized.

Our evaluation showed that zoos contribute to a diverse array of in situ and ex situ conservation efforts, and serve as important partners in the recovery of threatened species in the U.S. Zoo conservation activities (Table  1 ) spanned many of the conservation actions previously described 7 . Beyond maintaining ex situ populations 5 and increasing public understanding of biodiversity 21 , zoos carry out many more in situ projects than typically recognized (though see Olive and Jansen 12 ), including a large number of monitoring projects. We also found that zoos conduct a range of field- and zoo-based conservation research projects, which were nearly as numerous as ex situ breeding efforts (Fig.  1 ). Biodiversity monitoring and research both help to support successful species recovery, but they are not commonly viewed as significant ways in which zoos contribute to conservation. Our findings support earlier studies that showed these critical conservation actions are increasingly being funded or conducted by NGOs 28 , 29 , including zoos.

However, additional opportunities exist. We found that similar to zoo holdings overall 27 , managed SSP populations currently focus on non-threatened species. Among listed species, however, managed programs do tend to prioritize species that are more at risk of extinction. There are many considerations that determine the selection of species for zoo exhibits, and management programs are increasingly including conservation status in their decision-making. However, if a species is especially difficult to house, cannot reproduce successfully, or has low survivorship in zoos, then establishing ex situ populations may not be feasible or worthwhile. Further, there are ways to contribute to conservation even if zoos are managing the less at-risk species that are closely related to a threatened species, as discussed above.

U.S. zoos may also increase their conservation efforts by managing more native threatened species, as our results showed a tendency for SSP programs to focus on foreign-listed species. Ex situ populations would ideally be established in the species’ native range 2 , but currently >90% of the U.S. listed avian and terrestrial species do not have an SSP population in North American zoos. Further research is needed to evaluate whether and the extent to which those listed species would benefit from ex situ population management. Zoos are also carrying out relatively few education and outreach programs that directly impact listed species in the wild (Fig.  1B ). By including more native threatened species, zoos could develop associated education and outreach programs to engage the community most likely to impact the species and promote direct conservation actions. Of course, zoo education programs that do not directly affect wild populations are still valuable 21 , and we reiterate that our review did not summarize the magnitude of those existing efforts.

Finally, our findings suggest a need for greater coordination across zoos and better engagement with other conservation science partners. For example, 40 institutions reported working on various field conservation and research projects for the polar bear in the AZA surveys, but it is unclear the extent to which these efforts were coordinated to maximize their effectiveness. Only 5 recovery plans (for 5 species) named two or more zoos as the responsible party for any recovery action, suggesting such coordination among zoos is infrequent or poorly represented in plans. Only a quarter of the recovery plan actions conducted by zoos involved either academic or NGO partners, although integrating efforts into larger collaborations could lead to better outcomes 29 . However, coordination with other conservation partners may be increasing, as more partnerships between zoos and academic institutions are being formed ( e . g ., Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, the Phoenix Zoo - Arizona State University conservation partnership, the Living Earth Collaborative). Other zoo partnerships supporting species recovery include concentrated breeding centers and consortiums such as the Conservation Centers for Species Survival (C2S2), and AZA’s SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction, a conservation framework launched in 2015 that prioritizes collaboration 14 . There are also efforts to integrate ex situ and in situ species management through the IUCN Conservation Planning Specialist Group’s One Plan Approach 30 , 31 .

In this assessment we focused on terrestrial and avian species listed under the ESA. Thus, the role of zoos in helping to conserve marine animals, plants, and species with other risk statuses remain to be examined. Additionally, further research is needed to evaluate the impacts of the many zoo conservation projects 18 , which could inform and improve future efforts. In summary, our study highlights the wide-ranging conservation actions conducted by North American zoos, and identify opportunities for better integration with the broader conservation community. By evaluating the current role of zoos in species conservation, our study provides a better understanding of the expertise, resources, and opportunities that zoos can offer as one of the many necessary partners in recovering threatened species.

Data availability

The recovery plan data analyzed in the current study are included in the Supplementary Information (Table  S2 ). The AZA survey data, except financial information, are available on AZA’s website ( http://www.aza.org/field-conservation ; http://www.aza.org/research-and-science ). Additional data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all of the AZA-accredited zoos, aquariums, and certified facilities that submitted information about their field conservation and research to AZA’s annual surveys. We also thank AZA’s Field Conservation and Research and Technology Committees for helping to refine surveys, review data submissions, and work with AZA members on their submissions. We thank A. Ahmad and S.Y. Kim for assistance with data compilation.

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J.P.C., S.G. and L.J.F. co-developed the project. S.G. compiled and analyzed the AZA survey data, and J.P.C. compiled and analyzed the recovery plan and managed program data, and prepared the manuscript and figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Judy P. Che-Castaldo .

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Che-Castaldo, J.P., Grow, S.A. & Faust, L.J. Evaluating the Contribution of North American Zoos and Aquariums to Endangered Species Recovery. Sci Rep 8 , 9789 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-27806-2

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The Case for Zoos: A Scientist’s Perspective

Andrew Cunningham

Deputy Director of Science

Andrew Cunningham, Deputy Director of Science, considers why zoos are important... and whether we actually need them at all any more. 

How can zoos justify their ongoing existence in this modern age, when information and images of any species under the sun is just a click of the mouse away?

Certainly this is a question that even I still ask myself occasionally, two years away from my 30 year anniversary as a veterinarian and conservation scientist within the Zoological Society of London’s academic faculty, the Institute of Zoology.

Working for a research institution linked to one of the world’s most famous zoos means we’re able to see first-hand the impact zoos have on conservation, with global research projects benefitting from the input and support from zoos.  

Do all zoos deserve to keep operating?

Certainly standards of animal welfare, enrichment and conservation work in the zoos of many developed countries have come on leaps and bounds in recent decades, but there are still sadly zoos in some parts of the world where radical improvements in animal welfare and management are required.

All zoos should not be tarred with the one brush, however. 

The positive effects of zoos

Let’s also consider the many positive impacts that well-managed, scientific zoos can have.

For example, there are few more effective ways to demonstrate the amazing diversity of life on Earth to those who don’t have the privilege of seeing the huge range of wild animals in their natural habitats around the world.

Enabling visitors to see animals up close has a lasting effect on how they view the natural world.

The concepts of zoos as ‘arks’ can be overblown at times but, speaking as someone with a background in wildlife veterinary science, I can personally vouch for how important insights gained in zoos can be for the conservation of wildlife in the field, both in terms of understanding animal behaviour and for exploring best-practice in managing threatened species in their natural habitats. 

The project I was involved in to save vultures from extinction in Asia was just one field conservation project that very clearly benefited from insights gained in zoos – the design and management of breeding centres was informed by the zoological world, and knowledge gained from investigating and treating disease in zoo animals proved invaluable in the wild.

Other examples include the ongoing battle against the chytrid fungus that’s currently devastating amphibian populations worldwide.

Again, zoos like ZSL and our partners around the world have a definite role to play in terms of maintaining breeding populations in captivity for species facing imminent extinction in the wild and in bringing this important story to the public through our exhibits.

Public knowledge and pressure inform human behaviours and government policies which, in turn, impact the conservation of animals in the wild.  

Modern zoos maintain high animal welfare standards while also running conservation projects in the field. They do, however, need to keep pushing themselves to demonstrate and communicate the impacts their work is having on the ground, including the incorporation of public outreach both locally and at conservation field sites.

There is a need for greater collaboration between those at the coal face of zoological science and those managing animal collections, to ensure this connection between zoos, field conservation and public education is as tangible, genuine and widely-understood as possible.

But given the dramatic and accelerating collapse in biodiversity currently being witnessed all around the world, the case for responsibly-managed zoos remains strong.

We know we can, and we will, find the solutions to create a better future, because the possibilities to revive nature are endless if we stand together.

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Dilemmas for Natural Living Concepts of Zoo Animal Welfare

Simple summary.

This ethical discourse specifically deals with dilemmas encountered within zoological institutions, namely for the concept of natural living , and a new term— wilding . Wilding refers to extrapolation of the natural living concept to treating an animal as wild, residing in a wild habitat . The problems associated with wilding are detailed. Complexities of natural living versus natural aesthetics as judged by humans, as well as the possibility of innate preference for naturalness within animals are examined. It is argued that unintended and unavoidable genetic and epigenetic drift favouring adaptations for life in a captive environment may still occur, despite zoos best efforts to prevent this from occurring. This article further discusses the blurred lines between natural and unnatural behaviours, and the overlaps with more important highly-motivated behaviours , which may be better predictors of positive affective states in captive animals, and thus, better predictors of positive well-being and welfare. Finally, as we are now in the Anthropocene era, it is suggested that human-animal interactions could actually be considered natural in a way, and notwithstanding, be very important to animals that initiate these interactions, especially for “a life worth living”.

This ethical discourse specifically deals with dilemmas encountered within zoological institutions, namely for the concept of natural living , and a new term— wilding . It is agreed by some that zoos are not ethically wrong in principle , but there are currently some contradictions and ethical concerns for zoos in practice . Natural living is a complicated concept, facing multiple criticisms. Not all natural behaviours, nor natural environments, are to the benefit of animals in a captive setting, and practical application of the natural living concept has flaws. Expression of natural behaviours does not necessarily indicate positive well-being of an animal. Herein it is suggested that highly-motivated behaviours may be a better term to properly explain behaviours of more significance to captive animals. Wilding refers to extrapolation of the natural living concept to treating an animal as wild, residing in a wild habitat . This definition is intrinsically problematic, as quite literally by definition, captivity is not a wild nor natural environment. Treating a captive animal exactly the same as a wild counterpart is practically impossible for many species in a few ways. This article discusses complexities of natural living versus natural aesthetics as judged by humans, as well as the possibility of innate preference for naturalness within animals. Zoos nobly strive to keep wild animals as natural and undomesticated as possible. Here it is argued that unintended and unavoidable genetic and epigenetic drift favouring adaptations for life in a captive environment may still occur, despite our best efforts to prevent this from occurring. This article further discusses the blurred lines between natural and unnatural behaviours, and the overlaps with more important highly-motivated behaviours , which may be better predictors of positive affective states in captive animals, and thus, better predictors of positive well-being and welfare. Finally, as we are now in the Anthropocene era, it is suggested that human-animal interactions could actually be considered natural in a way, and notwithstanding, be very important to animals that initiate these interactions, especially for “a life worth living”.

1. Introduction

To preface this article, I would acknowledge and address the implicit assumptions about animal welfare science and philosophy that have brought us to the ethical position herein. I would refer the readers to other published articles which explore the history of animal welfare and ethics in much depth, as these are used as a basis for our understanding and arguments [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. This article specifically deals with competing ideals of optimal animal welfare within zoological institutions, namely concepts of natural living , and a new term— wilding . This discourse does not necessarily apply to other captive animal industries such as farms or laboratories.

As other ethicists have written, I agree that zoos are not ethically wrong in principle , but there are currently some contradictions and ethical concerns for zoos in practice [ 5 ]. It should be understood that I am a supporter of zoological institutions and their betterment, although I may disagree with some zoo practices, and between myself and other researchers in ethical views of the specific dilemmas herein. It is also acknowledged that zoos are not going away any time soon (see [ 5 ]), so it is the pragmatic duty of researchers and philosophers to work with zoos constructively. I would also like to acknowledge the positions of other researchers in the field, such as Weary and Robbins [ 9 ], and Yeates [ 10 ]. This article is not intended as a refutation of these other recent articles about natural living and holistic welfare, but rather to present an alternate conception of one part of overall animal welfare that may have been misconstrued in certain zoo environments, leading to in practice incongruence and dilemmas. I acknowledge that my arguments are formulated from my moral and ethical position that humans have an obligation for special protection of captive animals , especially zoo animals, and I subscribe to many (but not all) elements of compassionate conservation ethical theory of contemporary philosophers such as Bekoff [ 11 ] and Gray [ 12 ] over purely utilitarian or consequentialist approaches. At the moment compassionate conservation remains very anti-zoo in its position, however, as Gray [ 12 ] posits, there is much merit in using this ethic to work with zoos constructively, to enhance zoos’ ethics and practices.

I acknowledge the currently accepted academic focus on the three conceptual frameworks (orientations) of animal welfare: biological functioning, affective states, and natural living [ 2 , 13 ]. This is how the science of animal welfare is commonly taught to undergraduate and postgraduate learners in our discipline. It is acknowledged, however, that this not the only way to conceptualise the entire picture of captive animal welfare [ 3 , 9 ], and that these three conceptual frameworks do not encompass all relevant information in all situations. I acknowledge that a predominant model for characterising and assessing good welfare, especially within zoos, is the Five Domains Model of Mellor and Reid [ 14 ] and Mellor and Beausoleil [ 15 ]. Whilst incorporating pluralistic scientific elements of welfare, at its core the Five Domains Model assumes a hedonistic priority of animal welfare, that is, what the animal feels about its life and environment is the most important factor in holistic welfare. In this article a pluralistic basis of welfare is acknowledged, though for the sake of argument a hedonistic basis is prioritised. It is understood, however, that a hedonistic priority also misses some of the whole picture [ 3 ]; hedonism-based welfare conceptions are not dogma. The two scientific concepts of biological functioning and affective states will only be touched on in this article, as my primary focus is to shine a light on how the concept of natural living may have been pushed past its useful bounds in zoo situations.

It should be stated that whilst hedonistic conceptions of welfare are mostly concerned with “how the lives of sentient animals are going, for the sake of, and from the perspective of, the animals themselves” [ 6 ], it is strongly suggested here that (as written by Weary and Robbins [ 9 ]) relationships matter . That is, not only are the self-derived internal states of the individual highly important, but also those emotion-inducing relationships that are important to the individual—such as relationships to conspecifics, other animals, and humans including carers and visitors— and some relationships that others have with that individual may also be important to welfare outcomes (for example, the specific values and attitudes a person holds will affect their relationship with an individual animal, and reinforcers to this relationship create a bi-directional, perpetual feedback loop). These relationships may then be reflected by the internal affective states of both (or all) agents in that interaction [ 16 , 17 ]. This has been characterised by the general Hemsworth-Coleman model of human-animal interactions [ 18 , 19 ]. The general model has been specifically adapted for zoo visitor-animal relationships [ 20 ], pictured below ( Figure 1 ). A very similar model has been proposed for zookeeper-animal interactions as well [ 20 ]. Human values and attitudes towards animals, and the relationships formed between them, can strongly influence subjective (hedonistic) experiences of welfare.

Proposed visitor-animal interaction model (adapted from Hemsworth-Coleman model (2011) by S. Chiew and L. Hemsworth, pers. comms. , 2016) [ 20 ].

2. Natural Living

Natural living is a (sometimes) useful key concept in the assessment of animal welfare, often defined as “providing opportunities for animals to engage in natural, species-specific behaviours” [ 1 , 2 , 10 ]. As a concept, it suggests that animals’ well-being may be considerably improved if they are able to perform species-specific behaviours from their natural repertoire , especially innate behaviours. In practice, this has often been achieved by removing restrictions to these behaviours (whether they are physical or environmental restrictions) and by providing appropriate objects, resources or enclosures with/in which to perform the behaviour(s). Often, definitions of the concept also include phrases about housing animals in natural environments . However, not all natural behaviours, nor natural environments, are to the benefit of animals in a captive setting, and practical application of the concept has many flaws. A main criticism of the use of natural living has been that “the concept of natural is usually too poorly defined to provide a sound basis for animal welfare assessment, and thus when applied uncritically it may lead to poorer welfare instead of an improvement” [ 21 ]. This criticism has been expressed quite commonly in the past few decades [ 1 , 2 , 10 , 19 , 22 ].

Articulation of the concept, and its transposition to practical application in many captive settings have somewhat missed the point entirely. Natural behaviour , natural living and naturalness are poorly-defined key terms that are too often conflated with other concepts and measures of an animal’s overall well-being, such as feelings (affective state) or function (biological functioning) [ 10 ]. Expression of natural behaviours does not necessarily indicate positive well-being of an animal; likewise absence of some natural behaviours does not necessarily indicate suffering [ 23 , 24 ]. Nor should the term natural behaviour be used when actually referring to other conceptual types of behaviours, such as highly-motivated behaviours , which may be natural or unnatural, however there is often significant overlap between these two terms. Herein I will suggest that highly-motivated behaviours may be a better term to properly explain behaviours of more significance to captive animals, and discuss where boundaries between harmless and harmful highly-motivated behaviours may lie (as we still have an ethical obligation to protect animals from harming themselves, whether intentionally or accidentally, in captivity).

3. Wilding: The Natural Living Dilemma

Natural living has been a useful tool for improving welfare, but its practical application, especially within zoos, has been extended beyond its theoretical usefulness, and in many instances has been misinterpreted as what I will herein refer to as wilding . Wilding is a new term created to refer to extrapolation of the natural living concept to treating an animal as wild, residing in a wild habitat . Wild here refers to “living or growing in the natural environment; not domesticated or cultivated” [ 25 ]. From a decade of first-hand experience within the zoo industry, this wilding conception of natural living has been encountered often enough to be considered pervasive amongst many zoo personnel’s implicit beliefs and taught knowledge about how zoos should approach animal welfare, though actual prevalence rates have not been systematically investigated. Indeed, many welfare assessment and monitoring tools deployed by zoos focus somewhat on natural environments and natural behaviours [ 26 ]. This wilding conception is intrinsically problematic for any captive animal industry (especially zoos) as, quite literally by definition, captivity is not a wild nor natural environment [ 27 ]. To place a wild animal in an artificial environment (no matter how accurate a recreation of a natural setting) and still presume to treat it exactly the same as a wild counterpart is practically impossible for many animal species, in a few obvious ways.

Firstly, truly wild animals in nature are not treated by humans in a particular way—they are not under the direct care of humans, however, they may yet be influenced by humans [ 28 ]. These wild animals may be exposed to humans in multiple situations, and even have interactions with humans, but their lives are not solely dictated by humans as captors/guardians. This does not preclude the possibility of interactions (both positive and negative) or conflicts arising between humans and animals, animals venturing into “human spaces”, or encroachment of humans into an animal’s native space [ 28 ]. However, as soon as an animal is placed in captivity, no matter how wild its behaviours or instincts, its care (and indeed its survival) is then determined and controlled by those humans that placed it there. A person cannot place an animal in a captive environment then refrain from providing basic cares or resources (such as food, water and shelter), and yet expect the animal to survive, let alone to thrive. Even in a highly accurate recreation of a natural environment, those basic resources must still be provided by the controlling humans—that is, the environment has been created and curated to provide those resources for the animal, through natural or artificial structures.

Secondly, even if it were the case that humans could provide a perfect replica of an animal’s wild environment with wild conditions, would it be morally or ethically permissible? Would it be (morally) right? Forgetting for a second that this perfect replica would still have been constructed upon another natural or wild environment (thereby destroying a natural habitat and causing displacement of many native species), if truly a replica of natural conditions, then the animals placed in this environment would be subject to both the boons and significant hardships of nature. Nature is often bountiful and has allowed the rise of an amazingly diverse array of living beings, but has also borne witness to countless extinctions and ecological changes. Wild animals often must endure very harsh conditions to survive—conditions that objectively lead to periods of very poor welfare, when measured through scientific welfare concepts (biological functioning and affective states) [ 10 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Inclement weather and natural disasters such as droughts, fires or floods, are all common occurrences in nature. Animals must endure a lack of shelter, food or water in many areas; they must avoid predation, injury, and disease; they may experience miscarriages, offspring mortalities or reproductive issues; they often have to compete with other animals (both of their own and other species) for access to resources; and they have to navigate oft-unfair social interactions and hierarchies. Often, living in nature leads to prolonged suffering and ends in premature death for individuals.

Many wild-type or natural behaviours are also maladaptive in a captive environment (such as fratricide or infanticide for extreme examples; to significant inbreeding in closed populations; group ostracism of certain individuals; or unfulfillable migratory behaviours/motivations) [ 12 , 30 , 31 ]. Thus, if it was indeed the objective of captive animal industries, such as zoos, to perfectly replicate natural environments so their animals may live wildly , it follows that all of the hardships of nature would also occur, or would have to be imposed. This is not a tenable ethical position that any zoo organisation is known to advocate. Instead, natural recreations of wild environments in zoos try to focus mainly on positive elements of nature, without imposition of events or states that may significantly diminish the animal’s well-being [ 5 , 26 , 30 , 32 ]. Ethically, one will not find much (or any) opposition to this mode of treatment of the captive animals. This also provides a pro-captivity argument against some anti-captivity, animal freedom -based philosophies—captivity does indeed curtail some freedom of the captive animal, but it also provides solace and shelter from significant welfare-affecting hardships, which may be especially of benefit to those animals whom are most vulnerable to suffering. Indeed, if captivity is providing all of the needs and wants of an animal (including positive affective experiences), but without liberty, then liberty is not necessarily a basic interest of the animal [ 5 ]. Zoos are often the last bastion of hope for many endangered species, as their wild homes have been irreparably damaged or overtaken by ever-expanding human populations [ 12 , 28 , 30 , 33 ]. This is an ever more salient point after the United Nations Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released a 2019 report which estimates that anthropogenic influences may cause the extinction of 1 million species of animals and plants [ 33 ].

It should be noted that whilst zoos tend to focus mostly on recreating positive elements of nature and reducing negative circumstances, many zoos also understand the impossibility of complete elimination of all negative circumstances, events, or negative feelings within an animal. In fact, many zoos will impose slight negative circumstances if it is believed that they may be of benefit to the animals’ health, fitness, or experience of life [ 34 ]. That is, harmless or minimally harmful negative circumstances are sometimes imposed to increase stress resilience and/or physiological arousal of an animal [ 35 , 36 ]. For example, it has been reported that reliably signalling startling husbandry events can improve stress resilience and welfare of zoo-housed capuchins ( Sapajus apella ), whilst still leading to physiological arousal within the animals [ 37 ]. However, where is the distinction drawn between harmless, minimally harmful and very harmful negatives? And who makes these categorical judgements?

Through collaborative practices shared between many zoos, a few common circumstances for imposing minimally harmful negative events include: rotational predator-prey housing (where predatory species and prey species are rotated into the same enclosure at separate times); predator-prey adjacent housing with visual proximity; olfactory proximity between predator-prey species or dominant-subordinate species (sometimes in the form of “enrichment”, like adding predator bedding material to a prey enclosure); or auditory proximity between predator-prey species (such as housing prey species within earshot of vocalising predators or dominant species, or playing recorded audio of predator/dominant animal vocalisations near prey/subordinate species) [ 26 , 31 ]. These circumstances are thought to confer some resilience to animals through arousal of certain fear and vigilance responses, which can have a wide range of beneficial physiological effects, if not experienced for prolonged periods (acute stressors versus chronic stressors) [ 35 , 36 ]. Therefore, some mild harms are actually of high instrumental value within a captive environment. However, there should be a trepidation of pushing such stress responses too far in prey species, or causing inadvertent frustrations to these animals, for example in adjacent predator-prey housing where predators can visually see prey in very close proximity, but not actually reach them. Repeated frustration of consummatory outcomes may lead to development of negative affective states, as indicated by frustration-type behaviours [ 24 , 34 ]. More evidence is needed of the overall effects of the imposition of these stressors on individual animals, to ensure that the intended arousal and stress resilience is being achieved whilst avoiding unintended frustrations or development of negative affective states in these animals.

4. Natural Living, or Just Natural Looking?

Erstwhile, when considering and implementing positive natural enclosures, zoos may tend to focus only on those that, aesthetically, lead people to believe that the environment is natural . For example, lush plant-life (or well-designed arid/desert habitats), water features, painted backdrops or “mock-rock” walls, absence of artificial structures, and/or limiting contact with visitors (or even staff/keepers) whether the limitations are visual, tactile or proximal. Much of the time, considerations of what is aesthetically pleasing may eclipse considerations of what is functional and appropriate, with respect to evidence-based practices [ 31 ]. More than just looking natural, zoo animals’ enclosures must be able to provide necessary features and structures to allow animals to display a range of important behaviours, provide access to perform positive husbandry practices, and allow ease-of-access for emergency procedures to be adhered to (for both animal emergencies, and other visitor or human emergency situations which may occur). If a natural look is considered forefront, this may lead to functional inadequacies in many enclosures. Sometimes artificial structures in enclosures may be more appropriate to facilitate specific animal behaviours—whereas natural structures may weaken, deteriorate or break (such as tree branches or vines), suitable artificial replacements may provide the necessary environment for the behaviour and be a considerably more durable, sturdy or clean provision, which would require far less maintenance (and therefore monetary cost). As is becoming apparent in novel affective state research, interactions with humans may actually be beneficial and rewarding for some zoo-housed species in some situations [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. If a zoo is too focused on wilding their animals, opportunities to truly provide the best positive welfare conditions for the captive animals may be missed or ignored. Therefore, mixed natural/artificial enclosures for animals in zoos, that consider function, aesthetics, appropriate contact with humans, and practicality, may be much more fitting than the natural-only enclosures of the recent past. Two questions we might ask ourselves of mixed natural-artificial environments are as follows:

• Does the animal have the capacity to know that the environment is (partly) artificial?
• Does the animal care if the environment is (partly) artificial?

These are open-ended questions that might be addressed in a separate paper, drawing from current knowledge of animal neurobiology and cognition, and their needs and wants for a “life worth living” [ 4 , 42 ]. There is some evidence that some species do indeed display an innate preference for naturalistic “enriched” enclosures as opposed to basic artificial environments without many features (barren environments) (Box Turtles [ 43 , 44 ]; Coal tits and blue tits [ 45 ]), suggesting that some animals may indeed have a capacity to identify natural environments. Alternatively, perhaps they just innately prefer non-barren , enriched environments—perhaps these animals would be just as likely to select enriched artificial environments over any basic or barren environments. Utilising current animal welfare research and expert consensus a new era of evidence-based enclosure design, natural or not, which consider the animals’ needs foremost, should be the next step forward for zoo institutions [ 46 ]. As will be explored later, unnatural or artificial environments can still be compatible with promoting the expression of natural behaviours.

A dilemma with wilding , then, is that attempts to treat captive animals as wild are partly or wholly incongruent with their actual situation. As has been said in this article before, captive animals are not, nor will they be, wild animals living in a wild environment . Their living environment is completely curated by humans, who must make many decisions for the animals for their best interests. This does not mean that we should attempt to treat all captive animals as we would extensively domesticated animals such as livestock or companion animals (i.e., dogs and cats). Zoos indeed strive to keep their wild animals as “undomesticated” as possible [ 12 ]. This, however, may be an unattainable ideal, due to unintended and unavoidable genetic and epigenetic drifts favouring adaptations for life in a captive environment, despite our best efforts to otherwise prevent this from occurring. Indeed, in a human-animal interaction review chapter, Hemsworth et al. [ 18 ] write about the possibility of unintended domestication in zoos, citing research such as Price [ 47 , 48 ]—“While zoo animals are generally not considered to be domestic animals, domestication can obviously occur with wild animals kept and bred in captivity, such as zoos, but the extent of the domestication process will depend on the rate of artificial selection” [ 18 ]. The chapter also highlights the distinction between domestication of a group of animals, and taming of an individual animal—domestication can be defined as “a process by which a population of animals becomes adapted to man and to the captive environment by genetic changes occurring over generations and environmentally induced developmental events reoccurring during each generation” [ 48 ]; whereas taming is simply “an experiential (learning) phenomenon occurring during the lifetime of an individual animal” [ 47 ]. Domestication is a process most likely to happen to animals that are purposefully kept in captivity, and artificially bred or selected, or genetically altered, by humans. Individual taming may more frequently occur in both captive and wild animals that are in regular contact with humans.

To unpack this, we should consider other historical animal domestications. The domestication process has taken thousands of years for those animals that we now consider domesticated. In that time, these animals have been subject to multiple selective pressures including artificially imposed selective breeding, turning them from a “wild-variant” into domesticated animals, specifically chosen for their desirable adaptations. A strong argument against the concept of natural living for these domesticated animals, therefore, is that these animals don’t actually represent or reflect any animal which may be found in the wild or in nature [ 10 ]. They have transformed into animals that don’t fill any natural ecological niche, whose existence is solely reliant upon human intervention and care, and their persistence is reliant upon humans’ continual propagation of that lineage. Of course, if all human interference or interaction were to cease, these “unnatural” animals are still a part of the biotic community of Earth, and they would be able to freely breed and propagate themselves. Yet still they would not be a part of the current natural ecosystem , they still would not have a natural ecological niche, and many cases of free-living livestock or pets (feral animals) in many inappropriate locations have led to irreparable habitat degradation or even ecosystem collapse [ 28 , 30 ].

Many researchers posit the co-evolution of wolves and humans, rather than the one-way domestication of the animal [ 49 ]. Both species adapted to working with each other (for the benefit of both) over tens or hundreds of thousands of years. Wolf-human co-evolution is now suggested to have happened at multiple historical intervals in different geographical regions, leading to the rise of an entire species (or sub-species), dogs ( Canis familiaris , or Canis lupus familiaris ), and a multitude of breeds [ 49 ]. This co-evolution theory may plausibly explain the domestication process of most modern livestock and pets. Novel research also suggests that the co-evolution of humans and many of our domestic species may have been modulated and propagated by the shared experience of bonding, through the ubiquitous neurotransmitter oxytocin [ 50 , 51 ]. While general consensus would not consider zoo-housed animals as domesticated, we must consider that humans have unintentionally started these animals down a similar domestication pathway, as we now approach the third century of keeping animals in zoos, with many captive animal lineages able to be traced back over 100 years in captivity [ 12 ]. This generational captive breeding (including artificial selection of mates) will certainly have profound effects on the prevalent adaptations of these captive animals—adaptations to life in a captive environment and in close proximity with humans. Speculatively, it is possible that close contact with humans may be activating oxytocin pathways in many captive zoo species, leading to positive affiliative (or bonding) human-animal interactions. Indeed, some researchers are starting to focus on reported keeper-animal bonds in zoos [ 52 , 53 ]. However, 300 years is still a shorter timespan than the domestication process for most other animals we keep today (with exception for some farmed species, such as rapidly “domesticated” mink and foxes), and most animals displayed in zoos still resemble and behave like their wild counterparts far more than any newly bred type of domesticated animal.

One of the core tenets of zoos is to display wild animals that have, and will retain, a certain wildness to visitors, not to breed new types of domesticated animals [ 12 ]. Therefore, many practices and safeguards are employed by zoos to try to maintain this wildness . However, the efficacy of our attempts to retain wildness may eventually be mooted by uncontrollable selective pressures of generational life in captivity. If zoos exist 1000 years from now, zoo animals may have significantly drifted from true representations of their wild counterparts (many of which will be extinct in the wild). But, zoos will still strive to maintain wildness. And for many animals, zoos’ careful management will at least succeed in slowing the rate of domestication, but inevitably some genetic or epigenetic drift (mitochondrial drift), or even morphological drift, might still occur regardless of our procedures and safeguards. Thus, these captive animals that still resemble wild species must have specific requirements for care and housing that may differ from common practices for domesticated animals. This is the care that zoos should, and do, provide. But zoos must also make many ethical judgements and decisions which will benefit the animal for a full and rich life in captivity, whether wild or domesticated or somewhere in-between.

There is significant pressure on zoos to exist to advance both animal welfare and wildlife conservation priorities. Indeed, the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) cite conservation as zoos’ core purpose , but fostering positive animal welfare is their core activity [ 32 ]. However, this animal welfare strategy document also quite plainly acknowledges that often conservation priorities may compromise optimal welfare, but zoos should always endeavour to minimise welfare-reducing conditions [ 32 ]. A strong priority of zoos is to avoid genetic drift towards domestication of their captive held wild animals, but, as explained above, there is still a risk that time will change these animals in unknowable ways. This is not written intentionally as an inflammatory argument against genetic selection and diversity processes utilised by zoos, but merely as an acknowledgement of the inherent entropy of many natural systems, and an acknowledgement that humans do not have absolute control of natural processes. But, we do our best with the science and technology that we have available. This ethical wildness dilemma has been explored in context of other arguments, such as human-controlled facilitated adaptation to climate change impacts [ 29 ]. It should also be considered that there may be negative impacts of zoos maintaining wildness in their non-releasable captive animals, especially in species known to have low behavioural plasticity [ 30 ]. For example, some wild animals may be very prone to negative welfare states due to captivity, manifesting in fear or anxiety responses and behavioural patterns [ 24 , 30 ], whereas domesticated or semi-domesticated species (or wild species with high behavioural plasticity) may potentially cope better in captive environments [ 30 ].

5. (Un)Natural Behaviours

Part of the natural living concept is a focus on allowing animals to express natural behaviours . As has been pointed out by many, however, the definition of natural behaviour is problematic, especially when referring to domesticated species with no natural or wild equivalent animal, and therefore, no known natural behaviours (for review, see [ 10 ]). Again, wilding runs into problematic territory here, by over-emphasising or reinforcing only those natural behaviours that are generally displayed by the species in the wild . Academics have suggested multiple alternative terms for natural behaviour that may better define what is intended, such as normal behaviours or species-typical behaviours [ 1 , 10 , 18 , 34 ]. However, these terms still struggle to articulate which behaviours are definitely included as natural, and behaviours classified in this way may be adaptive or maladaptive for a captive environment. For example, migratory behaviour would be considered normal or typical for a migratory bird species, but is maladaptive in captivity as the animal can not fulfill that motivation [ 30 ]. Many behaviours that are displayed by a species in nature have no function or purpose in a captive setting. Simply because a natural behaviour is not displayed in captivity does not infer that the animal is in a state of distress or suffering. If a natural behaviour serves no purpose for the animal in its captive environment, the motivation to perform the behaviour may be very low or non-existent [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 34 ].

Therefore, more important measures of welfare-positive behaviours for captive animals are highly-motivated behaviours , and highly-rewarding behaviours . These behaviours may be part of a natural repertoire, or wholly unnatural —only displayed in captivity. So-called unnatural behaviours may be the most adaptive for the animal’s captive environment, and may be important for positive affective experiences for that animal. Unnatural behaviours do not fit with the ethos of the concept of natural living or wilding , and attempts may be made to extinguish these behaviours. However, this may actually be of more harm to the animal than benefit—if the behaviour is highly motivated, frustration of that motivation may lead to a negative affective state, and possibly a negative welfare state [ 24 ]. Restricting an animal’s behaviours to only those which are considered natural may also significantly reduce that animal’s ability to make choices (reducing self-determined agency), which in turn leads to a perceived lack of control over their situation, which is known to negatively affect coping efforts and welfare of captive animals [ 31 , 54 , 55 , 56 ].

Another curiosity of nature is what I will term unexpected natural behaviours . These are behaviours that will be performed by wild animals in specific unnatural situations, such as interacting with artificial running wheels or mirrors placed in wild environments. Quite a few “popular science” documentaries and online videos show the effects of placing these sorts of objects in nature. Often animals in these videos will run in the artificial wheel, or stare at their reflection for long periods [ 57 ]. These are wholly wild animals that are interacting naturally with artificial ( unnatural ) objects. Following from this, many behaviours in captive animals may be incorrectly classified as unnatural , as they are behaviours that are also displayed by wild animals with access to the same or similar unnatural objects.

To increase well-being and assist positive welfare outcomes for captive animals, focus needs to shift from a fixation on what are considered natural behaviours to those behaviours which the animal appears highly-motivated to perform. Thus, rather than focus on treating animals as though they were wild , it would be more pertinent to focus on allowing animals to express highly-motivated behaviours , particularly if deprivation or frustration of these behaviours results in significant stress, reduced fitness and/or a negative affective state [ 24 ]. Expressing highly-motivated behaviours may also afford the animals more agency and choice within their environments [ 54 ], which should be allowed within reasonable limits—the allowed behaviours must not compromise the safety or health of the individual performing the behaviours, or of the other animal(s) or human(s) involved (i.e., allowing a predator to hunt for live prey does not consider the ethical obligations for the safety of the intended prey animal). This may be categorised into harmless and harmful wants of an animal. Harmless wants may include highly-motivated behaviours such as foraging, climbing, playing or resting. Harmful wants may include highly-motivated behaviours such as feeding, hunting or fighting without restriction . The important factor here is that harmful wants without restriction can lead to harmful consequences (negative, self-injurious or self-destructive outcomes) for the individual performing the behaviour, or for individuals that are the target of the behaviours. A classic example is allowing Labradors access to food ad libitum will often result in excessive overeating causing multiple long-term health problems, such as obesity and other related conditions. These limits need to be examined carefully and thoroughly, as they will be very species- and individual-specific behavioural limitations. Many zoos are already doing this, however consensus for an ethical and practical realignment towards promoting highly-motivated behaviours instead of natural behaviours needs to be agreed to and endorsed by zoological institutions, associations, workers and allies.

6. Are Human-Animal Interactions Natural?

Whether zoos focus on natural behaviours or highly-motivated behaviours, both of these may still include direct interactions with humans. It is often supposed or assumed that human-animal interactions in zoos are an unnatural phenomenon, however, there is one clear way to counter this presumption. In nature, wild animals encounter many other species around them, to which they must adapt, and often interact with, in positive, negative and neutral ways (from symbiotic relationships to parasitic or predatory relationships). Most wild animals now have to adapt not only to their historically natural ecosystem conspecifics, but also to a multitude of invasive species that were previously unknown to them or their ancestors [ 28 , 30 ]. Also, as we now live in the Anthropocene era, wild animals increasingly have to adapt to the ever-growing and ever-encroaching human population, in an increasingly human-affected world [ 28 , 30 , 33 ]. In captivity, then, are not humans one of those species to adapt to, and to interact with? Humanity often assumes some removal of our species from the rest of nature, that we are somehow a step apart from other animals. It is doubtful that this is how other animals view humans, however. Often one of the great curiosities of the natural world is how competing animal species may form symbiotic balances that benefit all, and actively help each other in interactions. These would be deemed natural behaviours . Therefore, if many species actively interact with other species as a mode of adaptation to their environment, would it not follow that human-animal interactions in zoos could actually be considered quite natural adaptations? And if those interactions are highly-motivated in the animal, should we encourage them?

Whether these interactions are deemed natural or unnatural , allowing for positive human-animal interactions may be one avenue of increasing positive affective experiences for animals, especially if those animals are highly motivated to interact with humans (whether it be zookeepers or zoo visitors) [ 39 ]. These interactions must be subject to rigorous safety evaluations for all participants, of course. However, the current status quo of wilding frameworks often view these interactions as undesirable in any and all situations, regardless of the animal’s motivations behind the intended behaviours. Again, frustration of these motivations may actually be detracting from an animal’s well-being. If an animal is highly motivated to interact with humans in or around its environment, and if those interactions are considered safe for all participants, then those interactions should be allowed to occur, or even promoted (through supervised offerings of such interactions). Obviously some interactions are exempt from these stipulations, when considering an animal’s overall health or best interests (such as veterinary procedures or restraint for medical treatment), though positive reinforcement training schedules can often remove some of the harshest penalties to the animals these situation might present (such as training for quick, mildly-aversive hand-injections, blood sampling, or “crate training” for restraint and transport) [ 37 , 58 ].

An animal’s motivation to engage in positive human-interactions may vary from day-to-day, based on other internal and external factors, but the animal should never be confined to, or negatively coerced into, an interaction scenario. The choice to interact should always be on an animal’s own terms. This may not be the case for all human-animal interactions currently deployed by zoos across the world. Often, many “encounter” or “interaction” animals are not afforded a choice of whether to participate or not, or are housed in inadequate areas that may increase their desire to escape that area, even if it means having to interact when they are unwilling [ 59 , 60 ]. Most industry-accredited zoos have their own welfare charter, and have processes and policies implemented to safeguard encounter animal well-being, and to try to offer as much choice as possible to the animals before being handled for interactions. Indeed, the guidelines published by WAZA [ 32 ] state that: “ Interactive experiences should be non-invasive, safe and non-stressful for animals. Monitoring of all animals involved in interactions must be ongoing and have professional oversight. Risks to animal welfare should be minimised by carefully considering whether interactive experiences are appropriate, and if they are, by accommodating the animals’ particular needs ” (p. 74).

7. Conclusions

Natural living may be a useful concept for developing robust measures of holistic zoo animal welfare, but care must be taken to avoid the pitfalls and dilemmas explored in this article. Specifically, wilding is a concept that may not truly be providing zoo personnel with an appropriate ethical or conceptual basis for optimizing evidence-based animal welfare. Zoos will continue existing well into the future, and so more appropriate measures of what is important to an animal for a “life worth living” in captivity should tend towards highly-motivated behaviours rather than just natural behaviours . Human-animal interactions in zoos are a source of debate and controversy, however, if implemented appropriately, they may significantly enhance animal well-being and holistic animal welfare (which may still be distinctly different concepts, even though the words are now often used interchangeably [ 10 ]), as they are often relationships of great importance to captive animals. Further exploration of what might constitute positive human-animal interactions, both scientifically and ethically, as well as ways of implementing such interactions without leading to unintended or “undesirable” human behavioural patterns emerging (such as an increased desire to “own” exotic wildlife) shall be forthcoming as a follow-up to this article.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge the immense help of Peter Sandøe in testing and tempering the ethical arguments presented within. Thank you, Peter. The author also wishes to thank Paul Hemsworth, Sally Sherwen and Jenny Gray for their critique, comments and guidance. This paper represents an ethical chapter of a broader ethical and experimental PhD thesis conducted through the University of Melbourne, Australia.

This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

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100 Zoo Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Zoos are fascinating places that offer a unique opportunity to observe and learn about a wide variety of animals from all over the world. If you're tasked with writing an essay about zoos, you might be struggling to come up with a topic that is both interesting and informative. To help you out, here are 100 zoo essay topic ideas and examples that you can use as inspiration for your next assignment:

• The ethical implications of keeping animals in zoos
• The role of zoos in conservation efforts
• The impact of zoos on animal behavior
• The history of zoos and how they have evolved over time
• The benefits of zoos for education and research
• The controversy surrounding captive breeding programs in zoos
• The importance of zoos in preserving endangered species
• The challenges of managing a zoo and caring for its animals
• The role of zoos in promoting awareness of wildlife conservation issues
• The impact of zoos on local communities and economies
• The role of zoos in promoting animal welfare and ethics
• The debate over whether zoos should exist in the modern world
• The cultural significance of zoos in different societies
• The impact of climate change on zoos and their animal populations
• The role of zoos in public education and outreach programs
• The challenges of balancing conservation efforts with visitor experiences in zoos
• The impact of captivity on animal behavior and well-being in zoos
• The role of zoos in promoting environmental awareness and sustainability
• The ethics of using animals in zoo entertainment shows and performances
• The impact of zoos on biodiversity and ecosystem health
• The role of zoos in promoting animal rights and welfare legislation
• The impact of zoo closures and budget cuts on animal populations
• The challenges of reintroducing captive-bred animals into the wild
• The role of zoos in supporting local wildlife conservation efforts
• The benefits of zoos for public health and well-being
• The impact of zoos on visitor attitudes towards wildlife conservation
• The role of zoos in promoting sustainable tourism practices
• The challenges of managing invasive species in zoos
• The impact of zoo design and architecture on animal welfare
• The role of zoos in promoting cultural exchange and understanding
• The benefits of zoos for scientific research and discovery
• The impact of zoo accreditation programs on animal welfare standards
• The challenges of breeding endangered species in captivity
• The role of zoos in promoting animal enrichment and mental stimulation
• The ethics of using animals in zoo breeding programs
• The impact of zoos on local ecosystems and biodiversity
• The role of zoos in promoting public awareness of wildlife trafficking
• The benefits of zoos for educating children about conservation
• The challenges of managing a zoo during a pandemic
• The impact of zoo closures on animal welfare and conservation efforts
• The role of zoos in promoting sustainable food and waste management practices
• The ethics of using animals in zoo education programs
• The impact of zoos on wildlife populations in surrounding areas
• The challenges of managing zoo populations and genetics
• The role of zoos in promoting animal welfare legislation
• The benefits of zoos for promoting public engagement with wildlife
• The impact of zoos on local economies and tourism
• The role of zoos in promoting wildlife rehabilitation and release programs
• The challenges of managing zoo populations in the face of climate change
• The ethics of using animals in zoo research and experimentation
• The impact of zoos on animal behavior and social dynamics
• The role of zoos in promoting public awareness of wildlife conservation issues
• The benefits of zoos for promoting sustainable tourism practices

With these 100 zoo essay topic ideas and examples, you should have plenty of inspiration to get started on your next assignment. Whether you're interested in the ethical implications of keeping animals in zoos, the role of zoos in conservation efforts, or the impact of zoos on biodiversity and ecosystem health, there's sure to be a topic that piques your interest. Happy writing!

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Research in the modern Zoo

Zoos have come a long way from their beginnings as menageries in the 19th century. Rather than showcasing exotic animals purely for profit and entertainment as early zoos did, modern accredited zoos are active participants in scientific research and wildlife conservation. Research and conservation go hand-in-hand: in order to protect wild animals and their habitats, we need to understand these animals and the threats they face. Our mission at Zoo Atlanta – to save wildlife and their habitats through conservation, research, education, and engaging experiences – drives our contributions to these efforts. Read on to find out how to connect your students to current research and inspire conservation action within your classrooms.  

There are two broad types of wildlife research: in-situ research and ex-situ research. In-situ research is conducted out in the wild. This type of research can directly study the threats facing wild animal populations. It allows scientists to monitor and evaluate animal behavior, population dynamics, and ecosystem processes. The benefit of this type of research is that you are studying wild animals in their wild habitats. 

Ex-situ research is that which takes place outside of an animal’s natural habitat, such as here at the Zoo. This type of research can focus on topics like veterinary medicine, animal training, and individual animal personalities and behavior. Ex-situ research allows researchers to study animals up close and evaluate individual animal behaviors, development, and physiology. Ex-situ research can help conservation efforts that help protect wild animals and their habitats by providing information that would be difficult to obtain in the wild. It also helps zoos learn how to take better care of their animals. 

Zoo Atlanta participates in both in-situ and ex-situ research projects. In-situ research efforts are conducted through field work by zoo teammates and by providing support for the research projects of trusted partners. One effort we have participated in is the discovery and  naming of new species of amphibians . Dr. Joe Mendelson, the Director of Research at Zoo Atlanta, is heavily involved in these efforts and argues that taxonomy is “central to our understanding of the planet and central to our efforts to conserve our increasingly threatened biodiversity.” The Zoo partners with the Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation and Auburn University to track and monitor re-released  eastern indigo snakes , many of whom were reared at Zoo Atlanta, in the Conecuh National Forest. We also work closely with the  Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International , an organization devoted to researching and protecting gorillas in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of our flagship projects focuses on studying a deadly fungus that has caused  Panamanian golden frogs  to become extinct in the wild. We care for a small population of these frogs at the Zoo with the hope that they can one day be re-released into the wild.  

Zoo Atlanta also conducts many ex-situ research projects on Zoo grounds. As one of the only zoos in the United States to house giant pandas, we have been able to  study giant panda  maternal behavior and sensory perception. These studies can help zoos take better care of panda cubs and provide better enrichment for pandas, while also providing insights that may aid wild panda conservation. The Zoo is the headquarters for the  Great Ape Heart Project , which aims to understand heart disease in great apes such as gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and chimpanzees. The project studies the causes, diagnosis, and treatment for heart disease in great apes. We also collaborate with researchers from Georgia Tech to study how  elephants can use their trunks  to delicately pick up objects and suck in large amounts of water.  Veterinary medicine ,  Komodo  dragon genome  sequencing, and  sidewinder snake  movement and biodesign are just a few of the other ex-situ research projects that Zoo Atlanta participates in. 

Both in-situ and ex-situ research efforts are vital to wildlife conservation. Zoos are particularly well-situated to conduct ex-situ research, which makes them valuable partners to conservation organizations seeking to learn more about how to protect wild animals. They also support in-situ research projects by contributing money, providing staff and expertise to assist with these efforts, and educating the public about the value of research. You and your students can learn more about Zoo Atlanta’s research efforts by visiting the  Research  section on our website or reading  Beyond the Zoo , which outlines more ways that Zoo Atlanta contributes to wildlife research and conservation efforts. Advanced students who are interested in pursuing biological research can peruse our list of  Zoo Atlanta scientific publications . If you want to visit the Zoo, meet some of the animals we care for and study, and talk to knowledgeable Zoo Atlanta staff members, check out our  Teacher Resources  to start planning your trip

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80 Zoo Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best zoo topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 good research topics about zoo, ⭐ simple & easy zoo essay titles, ❓ research questions about zoo.

• Zoos: Advantages and Disadvantages The expediency of zoos and similar institutions is controversial since no artificially created conditions correspond to the natural range of animals’ origin.
• Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species However, at the moment, they could be considered important scientific and research centers that investigate the current situation related to species and create conditions needed for their survival and further preservation.
• The Harm That Zoos Do to Animals The first argument against zoos to discuss is the lack of interesting activities, joy, and ways to get rid of stress that animals can access in the wild.
• The Effectiveness of Sustainable Practices, Plans, Programs and Initiatives Implemented by Australian Zoo The recommendations are going to be made about the additional initiatives which may be implemented in the industry paying attention to the failure to apply to one of the concepts in the sustainable development triangle.
• Negotiating About Pandas for San Diego Zoo The popularity of the San Diego Zoo as one of the top zoos in the country and the idea that the borrowing of pandas will be a significant tourist attraction could be highlighted by Myers.
• The Future for Zoos and Aquariums Bibliography If the rights and welfare of animals in zoos and aquariums are properly observed, the world association of zoos and aquariums will have no issues with these zoo fields.
• The Analysis of Siamangs’ Behavior in a Zoo Setting The results of the research disprove the hypothesis as it was assumed that siamangs would be less active in the zoo due to visitor’s attention and limited territory. Therefore, it is possible to note that […]
• The Australia Zoo Rescue Unit Project Being a rescue unit, the project is meant to provide the services of rescuing the ill and injured wildlife animals by offering them with veterinary services free of charge in all zoos of Australian territory.
• Animal Behavior in San Diego Zoo Based on the numerous remarks of scholars that claim that the animals are less active in the artificially created conditions in zoos, the hypothesis of the current write-up is as follows: Pandas tend to be […]
• Zoos: Cruel or Educational? The reality is that there is ambivalence whether zoos protect animals from the adversity of the wild or they violate the rights of animals to enjoy their freedom in the wild.
• Zoo Park’s Redundancy Management and Legal Issues Lastly, I have advised the management of the best ways to address the situation leading to the accident in the zoo park’s restaurant.
• Negotiating: Pandas in San Diego Zoo Case It is not the possible revenues of the zoo that need to be mentioned, but rather the revenues that the counterparty will have, as well as the influence of pandas on the promotion of support […]
• The Role of Zoos in Endangered Species Protection Adopting the endangered species requires the zoos to have sufficient funds to meet the needs of the animals and to maintain the facilities.
• Setting Up a Safari Zoo in the UAE The paper below focuses on the barriers to setting up a safari zoo in the UAE. Through this, the study will identify the animals that are more likely to be comfortable in the zoo.
• Endangered Animals and Zoo: How Zoos and Aquariums Protect Endangered Species
• Tourists Tours: The Bronx Zoo and the Botanical Garden
• Comparing the Behavior: Zoo Animals Versus Wild Animals
• Zoo Attendance: The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
• Let the Zoo Elephants Go: Movement for Retire Animals to Sanctuaries
• Operations Management: London Zoo and New Walk Tourism
• Appraising Employees at the San Diego Zoo
• Early Learning and Development: A Playground at the Zoo
• Tours in the Zoo Influence the Success of Extracurricular Educational Programs
• Social Enterprise: Zoos and Aquariums
• Hotel and Outdoor Petting Zoo
• Operations Management London Zoo and Nottingham Castle
• Planning and Building Housing for the Zoo
• The Future of Zoos and Animals in Them: Challenges Force Zoos to Change in Big Ways
• Animals and Statues Around the Zoo: Art Project
• Bronx Zoo Teen Summer Camp
• Akron Zoo Events Attendance Annual
• Tourist Management Strategies: Australia Zoo
• Bristol Zoo Business Objectives
• Cameron Park Zoo: The Perfect Place to Relax and Enjoy the Beautiful Day Outdoor
• The Zoo and Its Benefits: Conservation, Education and Research Programs
• Metropol Zoo Strategic Marketing Management
• Anthropology Zoo Observations
• Air-Cooling and Heating System for Tiger in Zoo Using Earth Tube Heat Exchanger
• Anthropology: Primate Behavioral Observation at San Antonio Zoo
• High-Tech and Tactile: Cognitive Enrichment for Zoo-Housed Gorillas
• Taronga Zoo Marketing Research
• The Morphology and Behavior of Zoo Animals: Gorillas, White-Handed Gibbon, and Golden Lion Tamarin
• Marketing Strategy for Zoo and Marine Park
• The Modern Zoo: Saving Species From Extinction
• Promotional Collateral for the Oakland Zoo
• SWOT Analysis and Marketing Mix for Zoo and Aquarium
• Animals and the Zoo: Zoo Animals and Their Wild Counterparts
• Captive Tiger Management Activity in Zoo
• The Competitive Environmental Forces of the San Antonio Zoo
• Analyzing the Marketing Strategy of Singapore Zoo Tourism
• Zoo: Project Planning and Behavioral Issues
• Zoo and Cruel Towards Animal
• Nightmare Zoo: The Surabaya Zoo of Indonesia
• Growth Strategies for John Ball Zoo Society
• Should Animals Be Kept in a Zoo?
• Which Is the World’s Largest Zoo and What Is Its Area?
• Where Is Largest Zoo in India?
• What Does a Zoo Do With an Animals Remains Once It Dies?
• When Is the Weekly off for Delhi Zoo?
• When Is the Best Time of Day to Visit the Zoo?
• Is It Ethical to Release Live Prey Into the Enclosure of a Carnivorous Zoo Animal?
• What Is the Difference Between a Zoo and a Wildlife Sanctuary?
• What Kind of Toys Do Large Predators Get at the Zoo?
• What Is It Like to Work at a Zoo?
• How Do People Perceive Zoo Animals?
• What Zoo Animal Is Most Likely to Become Depressed?
• What Factors Influence Stereotyped Behavior of Primates in a Zoo?
• How Should the Well‐Being of Zoo Elephants Be Objectively Investigated?
• What Is the Value of Zoo Experiences for Connecting People With Nature?
• What Is the Frozen Zoo Concept?
• How Old Is the Oldest Zoo?
• What Effect Do Visitors Have on Zoo Animals?
• What Is the Main Purpose of Zoo?
• Where Did the Word Zoo Come From?
• What Is the First Zoo in Asia?
• Which Is the Oldest Zoo in India?
• What Is the Most Visited Zoo in the World?
• Which Zoo Has the Most Animals?
• Why Is San Diego Zoo So Famous?
• Deforestation Research Ideas
• Animal Testing Topics
• Dog Essay Ideas
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• Cloning Questions
• Archaeology Research Ideas
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Zoo - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

Zoos, places where animals are kept in enclosures for public display, are venues of education, research, and conservation, albeit with ethical concerns. Essays on zoos could explore the role they play in wildlife conservation, education about biodiversity, and in providing a recreational resource for the community. The discussions might delve into the ethical implications regarding animal welfare, the varying standards of zoos worldwide, and their efforts towards conservation and breeding programs. Additionally, the impact of zoos on public awareness about endangered species and ecosystems could be analyzed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the multi-faceted aspects of zoo establishments. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Zoo you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Should Zoos Exist or be Banned?

 Bang! Boom! Clinking! Rattle! Zoos have millions of animals, but there are kids who bang on the glass of exhibits and shake the animals cages, when the animals are in them. There are also animals dying in zoos. Even zoos with to little space. That’s horrendous for animals who live in zoos. Zoos should be banned for eternity because; the animals have barely any space, zoos are killing innocent animals, people taunt/ abuse them. To begin, people taunt and abuse […]

Keeping Animals in Zoos is Cruel?

How would you feel if you had bars surrounding you, faces peering in every minute of the day, and being taken out of your natural habitat? Having animals in a zoo is simply cruel to the animal. Most people get entertained by watching animals in zoos and knowing more about their behaviors. However, others believe that it is not right to keep animals trapped in zoos because that is not where they belong. One argument in favor of keeping animals […]

Animal Lover and Visit to the Animal Park

For the longest time, I never thought I would one day opt to go to the animal park. I am a true animal lover who has never been to animal park. Phenomenon One day, several years back, a friend of mine wanted to visit the zoo and so asked if I could accompany him. At first, I was a bit resistant but then I later gave in to his idea because there was not much to lose. My parents gave […]

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Should Animals be Kept in Zoos and Aquariums?

For years animals have been kept in zoos and aquariums for the sole purpose of entertainment. These animals have no choice when it comes to deciding weather they are kept in captivity or not. This is because when it comes to animal welfare in the United States there is no laws in place to protect them. The only thing close to it the animal welfare act ""which requires a minimum standards of care and treatment be provided for certain animals […]

Different Types of Animals at the Zoo

There are many types of animals at the zoo. Giraffes are one of the most loved animals at the zoo. Giraffes are the tallest animal on planet Earth. Their legs are about 6 feet long, and they can run as fast as 35 miles an hour. Giraffes only need to drink water every few days, and a giraffe's neck is too short to reach the ground, so they have to spread its front legs to reach groundwater. Giraffes feed off […]

It’s Wrong to Use Animals in Zoos and Circuses

We think of wildlife as running on the prairie, or swimming through the forest, or swimming in the ocean - but in reality, it's more of a picture on the TV screen. Zoos and circuses are ""animal prisons"" set up to satisfy human curiosity by exploiting animals freedom, this can never be ethical. Though the animals cannot talk, they are suffering silently in captivity. They are far from their natural surroundings, humans turned their natural habitats to entertain us in […]

Housing Animals in Zoos is Inhumane

In the recent times, the practice of housing animals in zoos has become a major problem and a point of debate among different stakeholders, zoo advocated and animal rights advocates across the world. Everybody has a different opinion on the issue with some advocating for the act while others are against it. For instance, in the article Increasing Legal Rights for Zoo Animals, the author stated that, animal rights activists, have been arguing that, housing animals in zoos violates their […]

Freeing Animals from Zoos

Picture living in a cage from birth to death. Those are the types of things animals go through every single day until they die. Zoos may seem like these amazing places where tourists get a chance to learn about these animals. Inside of these exhibits, animals are either tortured, abused, or even killed. Many zoos are known for taking animals from their families to either impress a crowd or train to be in a circus. Animals have been on this […]

Is Staying in a Zoo Safe for Animals

Many people have always questioned If being captive behind a cage is good or bad for animals. According to National Geographic, ""zoos have been around since before 2500 BC, but the first U.S. zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, opened in 1874""(Andrew). Americans have been keeping wild animals in captivity for almost 150 years (Andrew). There has always been day to day controversial situation involving animals in zoos. For example, some people say zoos are an amazing way for people to learn […]

Animals in Zoos

Animals shouldn't be kept in the zoo. Tigers and lions have around 18,000 times less space in zoos than they would in the wild. ” 75% of elephants were overweight and only 16% could walk normally, the remainder having various degrees of lameness. Lions in zoos spend 48% of their time pacing, a recognized sign of behavioral problems. Zoos spend millions on keeping animals confined, while natural habitats are destroyed and animals killed as there is insufficient funding for protection. […]

Zoo Animals

The unfair treatment of zoo animals is heartbreaking. People capturing wild animals and keeping them in captivity is inhumane and cruel. These animals are used to natural spacious environments, so forcefully taking them from their homes and putting them into secluded cages is harmful to their physical, social, and emotional health. The zoo enclosures offer no natural predator or food sources to hunt, so the animals will lose their instincts that are necessary for survival in the wild. This bounds […]

The Euthanizing of Zoo Animals in European Zoos

In Europe, zoos have been euthanizing healthy animals. The zoos are killing animals because the zoos want to prevent inbreeding between animals and help with gene control. Zoos want to make sure that not too much of one gene is over represented. The euthanization of a healthy zoo animal helps to prevent inbreeding and gene control. However, there are many other ways to approach the issue without euthanization. The zoos are concerned about inbreeding between animals because it can lead […]

Beyond Borders: the Zoo Enigmatic World of Menageries

In the rich mosaic of our language, one finds a gem that sparkles with the allure of the exotic: the menagerie. Like a whispered secret from ages past, this word carries within it the essence of mystery, adventure, and the untamed beauty of the animal kingdom. But to define a menagerie solely as a collection of creatures would be akin to describing a symphony as mere notes on a page; it is a multidimensional tapestry woven from the threads of […]

A Walk on the Wild Side: your Guide to the Fort Worth Zoo Map

Heading to the Fort Worth Zoo? You're in for a treat, and the map you clutch in your hands is your ticket to a wild adventure. Think of it as your treasure map, leading you through a jungle of fun and discovery. This isn't just any zoo; it's a sprawling sanctuary where animals from around the globe call home. Let’s dive into what makes this map your best buddy for a day of animal exploration. First up, let’s talk about […]

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Environmental Protection — Zoo

Essays on Zoo

Hook examples for zoo essays, anecdotal hook.

"The moment I gazed into the eyes of a majestic lion at the local zoo, I felt a profound connection to the wonders of the animal kingdom. Yet, the debate over the ethics of zoos has left me questioning the boundaries of our fascination."

Rhetorical Question Hook

"Do zoos serve as vital educational tools that inspire conservation efforts, or are they prisons that confine innocent creatures? The controversy surrounding zoos raises important questions about our relationship with wildlife."

Startling Statistic Hook

"It's estimated that over 10,000 species are currently housed in zoos worldwide, but a staggering one-third of them are considered threatened or endangered in the wild. What does this say about the role of zoos in wildlife preservation?"

"'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.' Mahatma Gandhi's words remind us that the treatment of animals in zoos reflects our values and ethics."

Historical Hook

"From menageries of ancient civilizations to modern zoological parks, the history of zoos is a journey through our evolving attitudes towards wildlife. Examining this history provides context for the current debate."

Narrative Hook

"Imagine being a young child, wide-eyed with wonder, as you witness exotic animals up close for the first time. This narrative explores the impact of zoos on childhood experiences and environmental awareness."

Contrast Hook

"In a world increasingly concerned with animal welfare and habitat conservation, the existence of zoos seems paradoxical. Contrasting the mission of zoos with their ethical challenges sparks a thought-provoking discussion."

Emotional Appeal Hook

"The joy of seeing a rare animal and the sadness of witnessing captivity—zoos evoke a spectrum of emotions. Understanding the emotional complexities of zoos is key to appreciating their impact."

Conservation Focus Hook

"Zoos claim to be champions of conservation, but do their efforts truly benefit wildlife in the wild? Exploring the role of zoos in species preservation sheds light on their significance in the global ecosystem."

Educational Purpose Hook

"What can we learn from zoos, and how do they contribute to our understanding of the animal kingdom? Delving into the educational value of zoos reveals their potential to inspire future conservationists."

Animals Should not Be Kept in Zoos

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Zoos and Aquariums: How Animals Suffer in Captivity

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Dangers of Captivity: The Issue of Animal-welfare in Zoos

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The Painful Experiences of Animals in The Zoos

Why people captivate wild animals for their own purposes, the negative consequences of keeping animals in captivity, study on how to better design healthier and more effective exhibits for otters, questioning god: bengal tiger at the baghdad zoo, hostage animals: the reasons behind keeping animals in captivity, the way zoos helps to protect endangered species, the ethics and controversies of zoos, why animals should be kept in zoos, zoos: exploring advantages and disadvantages, do zoos help or harm animals, pros and cons of zoos, the evolutionary marvel of sloths: a study in adaptation and survival, the secret life of bees: race, family, identity, endangered species extinction paper, analysis of the tortilla curtain, do animals die prematurely in zoos, exploring the distinction: zoo vs. zoos, relevant topics.

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