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The role of a zoo in conservation
The role of a zoo in conservation
The role of a zoo in conservation
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Would You Support It?
Imagine never seeing a giraffe pluck leaves off a tree, or an elephant take a mud bath right in front of your eyes. Visualize never seeing these animals because the animals were extinct, or, there wasn’t enough research about them to maintain a sustainable population. But, if there was a way to prevent this, would you support it? Would you support zoos? Though some people believe zoos torture and cage animals for our entertainment, in actuality, there is another side of the story that no one else has seen. The Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s (AZA’s) Species Survival Plan (SSP) Program, which aims to manage the breeding of specific endangered species in order to help maintain healthy and sustaining populations are present in several zoos around North America. This program focuses on conservation breeding, habitat preservation, field conservation, and supportive research to ensure survival for many of the planet's threatened and endangered species. According to the AZA, the Species Survival Plan Program has brought back several endangered species that were once so close to extinction and now bountiful in population such as black-footed ferrets, California condors, red wolves, and many more in the past 3 decades.
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Modern zoos today however, provide great recreation for animals. According to the Guardian, safe and can be bred up to provide foundation populations. A good number of species only exist in captivity and still more only exist in the wild because they have been reintroduced from zoos, or the wild populations have been boosted by captive bred animals. Zoos protect endangered animals from extinction by enclosing them in zoos, producing more of them and then setting them
Zoos have been with us throughout our history, and can provide a good barometer of public beliefs and values at any given time. Therefore it seems necessary to explore whether in today’s society contemporary zoos are a means of educating and conserving or still seek to control and exhibit animal others for human benefit. In order to make this assessment there are a number of contributing factors. Firstly it is important to establish context by considering the history of zoos and looking at the changes from the early menageries to contemporary zoos who strive to be institutions of refuge for animals facing twenty-first century global challenges. This links into how the physical space of zoos has changed over time and whether these advancements have made any crucial difference to the welfare of animals. Following this conservation, education and scientific research will be explored in detail in order to assess whether they provide good enough motives for keeping animals in captivity. I will seek to argue that although attempts have been made to point zoos in the direction of conservation and education, in my opinion the concepts of dominance and human superiority are still at the core of modern zoos.
Even though zoos try to imitate the natural habitat of each animal, the area for the zoo might not be able to support the animals needed environment. When visiting a zoo many people fail to notice that the animals have living areas measuring an acre or smaller. “Their enclosures are often small, barren, and without shade or privacy” (Laws). “Animals also need to endure dirty living conditions, stagnant water, and hard floors to sleep on at night” (Laws). It’s obvious that in the wild any animal has almost unlimited space to live in. They catch and forage for food naturally and mate naturally.
Thousands of zoos worldwide are visited by citizens yearly to admire and satisfy their curiosity of the beautiful wild animals that mother nature has to offer. Zoos have been around for hundreds of years and have become a known tradition for numerous school field trips and family outings. The ongoing debate between animal rights activists and zoo officials remains, should wild animals be taken from their natural habitats to live in city zoos for education and entertainment purposes?
From a Ted Talk said by Gabriela Mastromonaco from the Toronto Zoo, she says “That zoos serve and important purpose beyond from this entertainment and are vital to the future of the animal world.” She tells us how the zoos today save many endangered species. “1. We care for and breed animals that have been wiped from the wild, or reduced to very small numbers. 2. We store genetic material, such as sperm and eggs, that can be used in the future to breed offspring.” She concludes by telling us how zoos save many species every year and how they can save a whole group of animals.
Tigers, lions, giraffes, and other exotic animals are rarely seen in the wild. However the public, without humans and/or animals being harmed at the same time, can see exotic animals when a zoo opens. Zoos for many are a wonderful experience, but to others they see the animals as being treated poorly and not able to roam free. These people do not consider the beneficial sides of zoos. Zoos around the world help species that have been endangered by protecting and caring for them. Otherwise they would have became extinct and killed for their valuable fur or feathers. Zoos were created for a purpose that needed to be filled. If there were no purpose for them they would have not been created. Zoos are needed and if there is a need in this world, the spot will most likely be filled without hesitation. Some zoos were not trained properly and do not treat their animals very well. Some bad zoos do not feed their animals enough and keep them in a confined cage. Although some zoos are harmful for both animals and people, many of them are good zoos and take care of their animals better than most people take care of them selves. It is amazing to be able to see such care and love are associated with zoos. Not only do zoos help the endangered animals they also help people learn to respect such amazing creatures. Zoos are a good attribute to society because they promote education, research, protect, conserve, and outlook.
I would argue that at the very least, there needs to be some form of triage implemented. The way the Endangered Species Act is currently allocating funds is mediocre at best and has many flaws. There is no denying there are limited resources so that makes efficient use of them even more important. Each of the systems of triage outlined in this paper have valid points and problematic components. Elements of each system could be combined into a nicely working plan that recovers the greatest number of species on a limited budget.
... Without these zoos, many animals such as the tortoises, American alligator, and the bald eagle would no longer exist. These zoos provide food, shelter, and the opportunity to recreate their species once more. Without zoos, many of these animals would have become extinct and many endangered animals argue that zoos are the perfect place to start a new life. With animal rights activists, scientists, parents, and animals being on different sides of the argument, this debate will continue.
They produce a safe place for dwindling species to thrive and reproduce. Dozens of zoos all over the country take part in a special program to help animals. The program is called species survival plans. This program has to do with the reproduction of many endangered species. The program helps keep a very healthy and self sustaining species. This program is very important in the fact that some animals become sick and have a very hard time reproducing. When you genetically breed the animals yourself it makes it like a new branch in the species. Then the animals are genetically unique and they are stable only to their own demographic area. The Species Survival Plan’s ultimate goal is to try to reintroduce some of the worlds endangered species back into the wild. When the Species Survival Plan is done the animals they reintroduce will all be in their native areas.
A web article on the pros and cons of zoos found on the website ‘Green Garbage Blog’ commented that: ‘Captive breeding programs are implemented to help preserve animals that have decreased in numbers.’ This means zoos can try to help animals that are endangered mate and attempt to bring up the numbers of that particular species. Zoos have to put animals together in an attempt to find them the right partner. This is a positive use of captivity as animals that might never meet in the wild due to the large areas they live in are put together so they can breed and keep their species out of extinction.
The park had animals such as deer, and grizzly bear and 120 other animals. Now, Henry Doorly Zoo is a home to over 17,000 animals, and different 962 species. However, with all of these different animals in the zoo, it upsets the animals’ native ecology. Even under the best circumstances at the best zoos, a zoo cannot start to replicate the wild animals’ habitat. Where a wild animal is free to roam and explore the world, one in a zoo is confined to a small area. Also, Zoos claim to want to protect species from extinction, but usually the zoos just want animals because they are exotic or popular. These exotic animals are put into an unnatural environment and upsets their native ecology. A zoo wants these exotic animals primarily for the purpose of promoting tourism and generating money. Zoos claim to want to protect species from extinction, which sounds good on the surface, but in reality only want to draw crowd and publicity. Also zoos claim that they are helping repopulate an endangered or exotic species, but the animals in the zoo are never going to return to the wild. Animals in the wild have to survive on a daily basis. They need to hunt, or gather food, and avoid predators. Animals in the zoos never experience any of this and would not survive in the
The ‘Role of Short-term Consolidation in Memory Persistence’ by Timothy J Ricker, in the AIMS (American Institute of Mathematical Sciences) Neuroscience journal, is a review article that informs and educates researchers in the neurobiological field, about short-term memory and its centrality to the conveyance of material to the brain. Ricker explains the requirement of short term memory in everyday activities e.g. problem solving and language. Directed towards professional researchers with a profound knowledge on the subject, laboratory research, empahsises the lack of knowledge available in areas of encoding, short term memory and short term consolidation. Thus creating a gap in the neurobiological field and hindering its progression. Moreover, the article goes into great depth on the issues raised in regards to identifying and describing the key differences between consolidating and encoding.
Even though some zoos have an endangered species exhibit with the intention of protecting and rehabilitating animals, many do not do an adequate job of protecting the animals. Zoos have been harmful to the very animals they have sworn to protect. Animals in captivity often suffer from anxiety, boredom and other severe issue related to prolonged confinement. Most animals are unable to thrive in small enclosure with unnatural weather and climates. For example elephants are known to walk as far as 30 miles per day, but the association of Zoos and aquariums only require a space the measures $0 feet by 45 feet, which is about the size of a three car garage, to house these large animals. (peta.org) the drastic difference in the amount of space their allowed ...
Some people believe that zoos are an essential part of our society and should continue to be open to the public. One reason people do not want zoos to be banned is because zoos provide protection for endangered species. For example, certain animals like the Arabian oryx, Corroboree frog, Bellinger river turtle, and Golden lion tamarin have been able to survive extinction because of zoo conservation (“10 Endangered Species Saved From Extinction By Zoos”). When well-known species are becoming endangered, it would make sense that people want to help protect these animals from disappearing forever by giving them an environment where they can interact with other animals and continue to increase the population of those endangered species. Another
Zoos are an unsuitable environment for wild animals and should, therefore, be abolished. Firstly, zoo animals are kept in a very confined area compared with their vast natural habitat. Secondly, breeding programmes are far less successful than zoos claim. Thirdly, zoo animals are exposed to many diseases and other dangers.
Zoos are defined as an establishment where people can go to view a wide variety of animals. Many people enjoy spending the day observing the animals in a replica of their natural habitat. While others do not condone the idea of animals being removed from their natural habitat and being kept in “cages.” Animal Rights activist, Tom Regan, insists that zoos are immoral. The Agnostic holds the opposite views and believes that zoos are not only moral, but beneficial for humans as well as animals.