Pros and Cons of Zoos

Zoos. Love them? Or hate them? Personally, I don’t love them, and I don’t hate them. I fall somewhere in between. This stance will attract the distaste of people on either side. However, I often find the gray areas in life. Let me explain my thinking on this one. 

What Got Me Thinking

What got me thinking about this topic was seeing an episode of The Zoo: San Diego on Animal Planet. I happened to catch episode 4, A Lion’s Tale, when it aired on TV, and I was struck by the emotional connection displayed between the staff and the animals in their care. In this episode, a 15-year-old lion, who has lived beyond his life expectancy in the wild, begins to show signs of physical decline. The animal keepers and the veterinarians involved in his care need to determine the best course of action for him. They conduct tests and scans to figure out what’s wrong with him and what can be done about it. From the looks of things, this zoo has extensive medical facilities and well-trained staff to provide the best medical care possible.

At one point in the episode, one of the keepers tearfully mentions that the team does not want the lion’s last day alive to be his worst day. This comment struck a chord with me, for it reminded me of my own concern for my pet cat Bailey as she declined physically in her old age. Although I ultimately decided with my veterinarian to euthanize her to end her incurable physical suffering, in the several years that have passed since then, I have continued to struggle with whether I did the right thing for her at the right time. The fact that the animal professionals at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park showed the same level of care and concern for the animals in their facility spoke volumes to me.

Bailey Cat (Personal collection/Karen P. Peirce)

Nonetheless, I’m still conflicted over zoos. I’m not alone. Even PBS is conflicted over zoos. PBS has a legacy of leadership in educational children’s programming, such as Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers (who was an alum of my alma mater Rollins College—check out its tribute page to him). Therefore, if even PBS sees both sides when it comes to zoos, there must be merit to both stances. In case you worry that my reasoning here is just an appeal to false authority (what does PBS know about zoos, anyway?), let me summarize what PBS’s research-based web series Above the Noisehas to say about zoos and provide some additional research as well. 

The Human-Animal Connection

As Above the Noise explains, one of the pros about zoos is that people are able to get up close and personal to animals they would likely never see in person otherwise. After all, not everyone can afford to go to Africa to see elephants in their natural habitat, or to Australia to see kangaroos, or to China to see red pandas. But many people live near a zoo where at least some of these animals are on view. In this sense, zoos promote personal connections to animals. And, as I mentioned in my previous post about birding, building a personal connection to animals can inspire people to take positive action to protect them. 

In fact, one research study published in Zoo Biology and undertaken at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park found that visitors to the zoo who experienced an up close interaction with elephants as well as the chance to see active elephant behavior in person reported the greatest positive changes to their intent to promote the conservation of elephants. Furthermore, Above the Noise refers to a study published in Conservation Biology that found visitors to 26 zoos reported learning about specific actions they could take to help protect animals. These examples of research show that by providing opportunities for personal connection with animals, zoos help create a mindset among their visitors that animals deserve protection.

Concerns about Animal Welfare

But maybe this information about human-animal connectedness is not enough to outweigh your concerns about the welfare of animals in zoos. Above the Noise also tackles this topic. The show explains that some animal behaviors in zoos, such as pacing, hair pulling, and self-hitting, result from boredom, inadequate physical space, and stress. But the show also explains that these behaviors can be found to different extents in different zoos, as some zoos are run more effectively than others.

Indeed, a study published in the journal Animals reviewed the methods used for assessing the health of animals in zoos. The researchers found a variety of approaches in use. This research highlights the challenges that exist in understanding what healthy bodies and behavior look like for a wide range of animals in captive environments.

Such a finding may lend support for the idea of an accreditation process for zoos, although without standardized, scientifically-based guidelines for animal welfare in zoos, it’s hard to find much comfort in an accreditation process that at this point is only based on hypotheses. Still, to ensure you’re attending a zoo that practices the best possible treatment of animals based on current knowledge, you can look for accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). According to the AZA website, today there are 239 accredited zoos and aquariums in 12 countries.

PETA’s Stance

Despite zoos’ animal welfare efforts and their emphasis on educating people to care about animal conservation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is not convinced there’s anything positive about zoos. As a result, the PETA website offers several arguments against zoos. Among these arguments is the claim that by displaying animals in enclosures, zoos perpetuate the idea that human domination of nature, particularly animals, is acceptable. I can see both sides here, for while I think some people who visit zoos might unquestioningly accept the domination of humans over animals, I’m also persuaded by the research studies I mentioned earlier that show some people who visit zoos are called to action to help animals survive in the wild.

PETA also questions the emphasis on conservation that zoos tend to claim. PETA points out that many of the animals owned by zoos are not members of endangered species. PETA also points out that captive breeding of animals for the purpose of releasing them into the wild is largely an unsuccessful effort, and the Above the Noise episode mentions this as well.

Concluding Thoughts

So what’s my final verdict? As I said at the start of this post, I see both pros and cons to zoos. I think it’s important to consider each particular instance rather than making blanket statements about all zoos or all animals or all people. What do you think?