thesis topics on zoos

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Coming up with interesting dissertation topics about zoos.

Zoos have always been a world of fascination to every one of us as kids. To some, it is the place that made them familiar to another world beyond the grays and browns of city life, to others it is an inspiration to pursue a career centered on wildlife. Every child has grown up writing essays on zoos for once in his or her school life. Zoos, so widely discussed a topic that often it gets dull rehearsing the same topics related to zoos every time.

As a teacher, therefore, it is essential to be innovative in order to capture the attention of the students. Children do enjoy learning but only when the process is not monotonous. Zoo can itself be a topic of dissertation as a whole, but then, this is one topic that has been perhaps the most widely discussed.

Things to be kept in mind while deciding to perfect dissertation topic about zoos:

• The age and qualification of the writer- While “A visit to the zoo”, or “Your favourite zoo” sounds perfect for a kindergarten child, it becomes a joke for a higher secondary student or even worse when assigned to a graduate holding a degree in disciplines such as zoology.
• The challenge posed by the topic- Challenging topics are always a welcome change to writers unlike the general idea of “the easier, the better”. The zoo with its variety of animals actually has the potential of providing us with variety of topics. For example, one can focus chiefly on a particular animal like the tiger and set the dissertation topic with respect to the zoo. The topic can go as “Compare and contrast the tiger of the zoo to that of the wild” or similar ones.
• Make it interesting- Make the project interesting. For children, this can be a trip to the zoo itself. For older students, encourage them to visit the zoo and observe the habits of the animals they are working on.
• Some possible dissertation topic about zoos
• Snakes of the reptile house-Venoms or Victims?
• The canidaes
• Migrating birds
• The zoo-a photographer’s gold mine
• Zoo-wildlife conservation or animal captivation?

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Are Zoos Ethical? Arguments for and Against Keeping Animals in Zoos

Zoos, if done right, could be a good thing for the animals and the public—yet many so-called zoos get it terribly wrong.

• University of Southern California

• Ohio Wesleyan University
• Brandeis University
• Northeastern University
• Animal Rights
• Endangered Species

A Brief History of Zoos

Arguments for zoos, arguments against zoos, the last word on zoos.

A zoo is a place where captive animals are put on display for humans to see. While early zoos (shortened from zoological parks) concentrated on displaying as many unusual creatures as possible—often in small, cramped conditions—the focus of most modern zoos is conservation and education. While zoo advocates and conservationists argue that zoos save endangered species and educate the public, many  animal rights activists believe the cost of confining animals outweighs the benefits, and that the violation of the rights of individual animals—even in efforts to fend off extinction—cannot be justified.

Humans have kept wild animals for thousands of years. The first efforts to keep wild animals for non-utilitarian uses began about 2500 BCE, when rulers in Mesopotamia, Egypt kept collections in enclosed pens.  Modern zoos began to evolve during the 18th century and the Age of Enlightenment, when scientific interest in zoology, as well as the study of animal behavior and anatomy, came to the fore.

Early zoos were a dismal affair. Animals were kept in small enclosures with little if any, greenery. With a scant understanding of what the various animals needed, many perished relatively quickly. In accredited U.S. zoos (and elsewhere) things are better now, fortunately. Primates, for example, have gone from barren cages with little furniture to naturalistic and sometimes semi-free-ranging designs. But is it enough?

• By bringing people and animals together, zoos educate the public and foster an appreciation of other species.
• Zoos save endangered species by bringing them into a safe environment, where they are protected from poachers, habitat loss, starvation, and predators.
• Many zoos have breeding programs for endangered species. In the wild, these individuals might have trouble finding mates and breeding, and species could become extinct.
• Some zoos have conservation programs around the world that use the zoo's expertise and funding to help protect wildlife against poaching and other threats.
• Reputable zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums are held to high standards for the treatment of their resident animals. According to AZA, its accreditation guarantees that the organization has undergone strict evaluation by recognized experts to ensure the highest standards of "animal management and care, including living environments, social groupings, health, and nutrition."
• A good zoo provides an enriched habitat in which the animals are never bored, are well cared for, and have plenty of space.
• Seeing an animal in person is a much more personal and more memorable experience than seeing that animal in a nature documentary and is more likely to foster an empathetic attitude toward animals.
• Some zoos help rehabilitate wildlife and take in exotic pets that people no longer want or are no longer able to care for.
• Both accredited and unaccredited animal exhibitors are regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act, which establishes standards for animal care.
• From an animal rights standpoint, humans do not have a right to breed, capture, and confine other animals— even if those species are endangered . Being a member of an endangered species doesn't mean the individual animals should be afforded fewer rights.
• Animals in captivity suffer from boredom, stress, and confinement. No pen—no matter how humane—or drive-through safari can compare to the freedom of the wild.
• Intergenerational bonds are broken when individuals are sold or traded to other zoos.
• Baby animals bring in visitors and money, but this incentive to breed new baby animals leads to overpopulation. Surplus animals are sold not only to other zoos, but also to circuses and hunting facilities. Some zoos simply kill their surplus animals outright.
• Some captive breeding programs do not release animals back into the wild. The offspring may be forever part of the chain of zoos, circuses, and petting zoos.
• Removing individual specimens from the wild further endangers the wild population because the remaining individuals will be less genetically diverse and may have greater difficulty finding mates. Maintaining species diversity within captive breeding facilities is also a challenge. 
• If people want to see wild animals in real life, they can observe wildlife in the wild or visit a sanctuary. (A true sanctuary does not buy, sell, or breed animals, but instead takes in unwanted exotic pets, surplus animals from zoos, or injured wildlife that can no longer survive in the wild.)
• The federal Animal Welfare Act establishes only the most minimal standards for cage size, shelter, health care, ventilation, fencing, food, and water. For example, enclosures must provide "sufficient space to allow each animal to make normal postural and social adjustments with adequate freedom of movement. Inadequate space may be indicated by evidence of malnutrition, poor condition, debility, stress, or abnormal behavior patterns." Violations often result in a slap on the wrist and the exhibitor is given a deadline to correct the violation. Even a long history of inadequate care and AWA violations, such as the history of Tony the Truck Stop Tiger, does not necessarily ensure abused animals will be freed.
• Animals sometimes escape their enclosures, endangering themselves as well as people. Likewise, people ignore warnings or accidentally get too close to animals, leading to horrific outcomes. For example, Harambe, a 17-year-old western lowland gorilla, was shot in 2016 when a toddler accidentally fell into his enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. While the child survived and was not badly injured, the gorilla was killed outright.
• Petting zoos have been linked with numerous incidents of diseases including E. coli infection, cryptosporidiosis, salmonellosis, and dermatomycosis (ringworm).

In making a case for or against zoos, both sides argue that they're saving animals. Whether or not zoos benefit the animal community, they certainly do make money. As long as there is demand for them, zoos will continue to exist.

Since zoos are likely an inevitability, the best way to move forward is to ensure that zoo conditions are the best possible for the animals that live in captivity and that individuals who violate animal care health and safety sanctions are not only duly punished but denied any future access to animals.

One day we may look back at zoos and marvel at their barbarity. Or, one day we may look back at zoos and be grateful for the species they saved from extinction. Of these two scenarios, only time will tell.

Hosey, Geoff, et al. Zoo Animals: Behaviour, Management, and Welfare . Oxford University Press. 2013.

Hosey, G. (2023). The History of Primates in Zoos . In: Robinson, L.M., Weiss, A. (eds) Nonhuman Primate Welfare. Springer, Cham.

“ Species Survival Plan Programs .” Association of Zoos & Aquariums.

“ Accreditation Basics .” Association of Zoos & Aquariums .

“ Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations .” U.S. Department of Agriculture .

Meagher, Rebecca K., Georgia J. Mason. “ Environmental Enrichment Reduces Signs of Boredom in Caged Mink .” PLoS ONE , vol. 7, 2012, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049180

Kleiman, Devra G., et al. Wild Mammals In Captivity: Principles And Techniques For Zoo Management, Second Edition . University of Chicago Press. 2010.

Gunasekera, Crystal Allen. “ The Ethics of Killing “Surplus” Zoo Animals .” Journal of Animal Ethics , vol. 8, 2018, doi:10.5406/janimalethics.8.1.0093

Brichieri-Colombi, Typhenn A., et al. “ Limited Contributions of Released Animals from Zoos to North American Conservation Translocations .” Conservation Biology , vol. 33, 2019, pp. 33-39., doi:10.1111/cobi.13160

Krasnec, Michelle O., et al. “ Mating Systems in Sexual Animals .” Nature Education Knowledge, vol. 3, no. 10, 2012, p. 72.

“ 9 CFR § 3.128 - Space Requirements .” Cornell University Legal Information Institute .

“ Animal Welfare Act Enforcement .” U.S. Department of Agriculture .

Conrad, Cheyenne C. Conrad et al. " Farm Fairs and Petting Zoos: A Review of Animal Contact as a Source of Zoonotic Enteric Disease ." Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, vol. 14, 2017, pp. 59-73., doi:10.1089/fpd.2016.2185

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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Education in Zoos

--> Spooner, Sarah Louise (2017) Evaluating the Effectiveness of Education in Zoos. PhD thesis, University of York.

Increasingly, research has demonstrated that traditional zoo-only sites are meeting their overall mission to convey biodiversity and conservation messages to visitors. However, robust evaluations of specific zoo experiences and studies from non-traditional zoo settings such as theme park zoos are missing from the literature. This thesis investigates the impact of specific zoo experiences and tests whether a combined theme park and zoo is also able to meet the zoo mission. Theme park zoos represent the extreme entertainment end of the zoo spectrum, thus test whether learning can occur in commercialised entertainment settings. Data were collected at a combined theme park and zoo during peak season, May to October, 2013 through to 2016. A combination of paired and unpaired pre-post-surveys were collected to test the immediate effects of educational experiences and the overall impact of zoo visits. A single theme park zoo visit was found to lead to significant increases in visitors’ animal knowledge. In contrast, such a visit did not impact on conservation attitudes. Information signs were found to be the most important source of animal and conservation information for visitors. Additionally, whilst live animal shows effectively conveyed animal facts, the use of ‘trick’ behaviours appeared to cause confusion and hindered learning. Non-animal shows, which used theatre and puppets, were found to be a successful alternative to live animal shows and effectively conveyed animal and conservation information to both adults and children. This research indicates that zoos should provide information at a range of levels from factual knowledge through to practical opportunities for conservation behaviours. Currently, theme park zoos effectively convey factual information, thereby fulfilling part of the zoo mission. However, knowledge alone is not enough to influence visitor behaviour. For theme park zoos to meet the aims of modern zoo practice they must model sustainable behaviours and help visitors engage with conservation issues and solutions.

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Filename: Final Thesis Sarah L. Spooner. PhD. 2017.pdf

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Home > USC Columbia > HONORS_COLLEGE > SENIOR_THESES > 475

Senior Theses

An application of philosophical theories regarding animals and an argument for the replacement of zoos.

Kailey Houck , University of South Carolina - Columbia Follow

Date of Award

Degree type, director of thesis.

Christopher Tollefsen

First Reader

Brett Sherman

Second Reader

Animal ethics has emerged as a thoughtful discipline in philosophy over the last century. Animals were occasionally mentioned by thinkers such as Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham in the scope of deontology and utilitarianism. More recently, animal ethicists such as Peter Singer, Tom Regan, and Gary Francione have constructed arguments specific to animal interests in the hopes of determining just where they fall in discussions of ethics. Other contemporary schools of thoughts such as Christine Korsgaard’s Kantian approach and the environmental ethics discipline consider animals.

Zoos have entered the realm of controversy quite recently as well. Zoos today have evolved from their exploitative predecessors to become institutions devoted to conservation and education. With various incidents of alleged animal disrespect, many question if modern zoos are in fact as morally permissible as we once thought.

Animal ethics and zoos intersect at an interesting crossroads creating a real-world application of several contemporary philosophical theories. I summarize these theories and assess their impact on animal ethics. I then use the sufficient theories and apply them to the notion of zoos and determine that modern zoos are not morally permissible. Finally, I present a possible solution to reconcile the sufficient theories with the notion of zoos.

Recommended Citation

Houck, Kailey, "An Application of Philosophical Theories Regarding Animals and An Argument for the Replacement of Zoos" (2021). Senior Theses . 475. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/senior_theses/475

© 2021, Kailey Houck

Since December 03, 2021

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Are Zoos Good or Bad for Animals? The Argument, Explained

Debates about the ethics of zoos abound — but when it comes to animal welfare, there are certainly more cons than pros.

Explainer • Entertainment • Policy

Words by Björn Ólafsson

For many people, zoos are the only chance they’ll have in their entire lives to see beautiful animals native to far-flung ecosystems — lions, elephants, pandas, lemurs — the list goes on. And they’re popular — over 181 million people visit a U.S. zoo every year . But zoos face criticism from animal welfare organizations and environmental activists for inhumane treatment of the animals they claim to protect. Zoos maintain that they are important aspects of conservation and education. 

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of zoos ?  Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of these controversial organizations. 

What Are Some Pros and Cons of Zoos ?

First, not all zoos are created equal. While it is easy to imagine animal ethics as a binary of evil and moral, zoos can vary widely on how they treat their animals, how much space they are given and how the animals are obtained. Still, most zoos tend to have the same positives and negatives overall. 

Arguments Against Zoos

Poor conditions for animals.

Animals Often Only Have Quite Limited Space

Many zoos’ enclosures are too small, especially for animal species that are used to roaming, flying or swimming large distances in the wild. For example, polar bears are used to home ranges of about 1,000 square kilometers in the wild — large swaths of land and ice they enjoy exploring . In zoos, they get a couple hundred square feet. 

Zoos Are  Crowded

In addition to limited space, many zoos cram in as many animals as possible into the enclosures. Many visitors prefer seeing animals up close, instead of peering at them from afar, hidden in their dens or nests. This encourages zoos to increase the number of animals per exhibit,  increasing the likelihood of visitors seeing animals on the move near the boundaries of the enclosure. 

Animals Are Trapped in Unnatural Environments

Anyone who has visited a zoo knows the exhibits are a far cry from the natural landscape they are trying to imitate. Nearly all zoo enclosures contain fences, glass or other barriers for visitors to look through, which are inherently artificial. And the natural-seeming landscapes can sometimes be made out of astroturf, concrete or plastic.

Confinement May Alter the Behavior of Animals

The lack of space, unnatural environments and crowded conditions can directly affect the behavior of animals ; most notably in the form of what’s known as “stereotypy.” Stereotypy is a condition in which non-human animals engage in repetitive behaviors with no apparent purpose, such as pacing for hours on end, wagging tails abnormally or picking their own fur. 

The structure of zoos increases the likelihood of stereotypic behavior due to a lack of enrichment, mundane environments and boring, repetitive schedules. This prevalence of stereotypy in zoos even has its own name: “zoochosis,” or psychosis caused by zoos . 

‘Surplus’ Animals Can Be Killed

After an animal has reproduced successfully and the zoo no longer requires the animal to maintain an exhibit, the animal is deemed “surplus.” At this point, the animal’s welfare is no longer profitable . Zoos can sell the animal to private owners (who may keep the animal in tiny cages for amusement or kill the animal for taxidermy purposes), sell the animal to other zoos or enclosures, or “euthanize” the animal. 

Animals Are Often Mistreated 

Animal mistreatment is much more than hitting or beating an animal. It also includes harmful training techniques, separation from family members and forcing animals to behave in abnormal ways. 

In a report from World Animal Protection, three-fourths of zoos include human-animal interactions , many of which can be very stressful or physically harmful for animals. In some extreme cases, visitors rode on the backs of animals (causing injury) or encroached on the animals’ enclosure (causing stress).

Investigations into popular zoos sometimes reveal that caretakers don’t always clean the exhibits frequently , leaving the animals to live near their feces. The research also reveals many zookeepers hitting animals who “misbehave,” and not helping animals with injuries sustained in the enclosures. While not all animal caretakers behave this way, the reporting suggests many zoos around the world are lax with animal welfare. 

Animals Don’t Like Being Visited

The mere presence of human beings can negatively affect wild animals, especially in massive crowds that are common at zoos. Being bombarded by the sounds, smells and appearances of swaths of humans can trigger the stress responses of some animals . Some studies show that the number of visitors correlates with the amount of stress hormones in many animal species. 

Animals Struggle to Form Connections

Many animals are highly social creatures. Elephants, lions, pigs, cows and many more species are shown to have complex connections, hierarchies and relationships with members of their own kind — especially with friends and family. However, zoo animals rarely stay with the same herd or family for their entire lives. Instead, zoos opt to transfer, sell, buy or relocate animals throughout their lifespans, making it difficult for animals to form social connections . This lack of bonding can harm the animals emotionally. 

Zoos Are for Humans, Not Animals

Most zoos are for-profit enterprises, meaning they have one goal in mind: maximizing revenue. It is easy to see how making more money can come at the expense of animal welfare. For example, a zoo is unlikely to fund an exhibit expansion if it isn’t cost-effective, regardless of its benefits for the animals inside. While many zookeepers form real bonds with their animal companions, the animals still exist under a for-profit, human-centered organization. 

Zoos Promote Human Superiority

The aesthetic nature of zoos — animals in panopticon-like enclosures, viewed 24/7 by members of a different species — can reinforce human superiority. As moral philosopher Lori Gruen writes in her book, “visitors leave the zoo more convinced than ever of human superiority over the natural world.” Of course, zoos also reinforce the idea that humans have a right to take away animals’ freedom and bodily autonomy.

Zoos Don’t Always Help with Conservation — Some Wild Animals Have to Be Caught to Bring Them to Zoos

Many animals in zoos are born in captivity, but that’s not the case for all. Many animals are taken directly from the wild , often when they are babies, to make the transition to captivity a bit easier. At times, this is done in the name of conservation, or when a wild animal is very ill. But many zoos will take animals from the wild, or buy animals from unethical animal traders. 

It’s Often Not Possible to Return Animals to the Wild

Releasing an animal into the wild isn’t always successful, especially if the animal has spent time in climates different from their native regions, like jungles, savannas or ice caps. Properly preparing animals for success in the wild is a multi-stage process that can require thousands of dollars — and it doesn’t always work . Captive-born predator species — disadvantaged by being born and raised in an artificial environment — only have a survival rate after being released into the wild of 33 percent , according to one study. As a result, re-release is not a priority for many zoos.

Zoos Are Poorly Regulated

While there exist many laws that protect animals, such as the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Endangered Species Act , they only offer minimum protections . For example, the AWA excludes entire species of animals, like mice, farmed animals, birds and all cold-blooded animals. Its “minimum” standards of care usually ensure the animals’ safety, not their welfare or happiness. Many animal law experts say these regulations don’t go far enough . 

What Are the Pros of Having Zoos?

They Can Be Important for Researchers

Biologists and zoologists can benefit from studying animals in zoos. Some breakthroughs in animal behavior and treatment, like why elephants swing their trunks or how gorillas develop heart disease, have been made possible because of zoos’ ease of access . However, not all animals behave the same in captivity as they do in the wild, so not all research is possible in zoos. 

Zoos Are Educational — People May Behave “Eco-friendlier” After Going To the Zoo

Zoos can kickstart individuals’ interest in biodiversity, which is a critical aspect of environmental protection. Many zoos include calls to action in their exhibits, highlighting how endangered animals are being poached, driven away, or otherwise killed by human activity. This can inspire some people to behave more conscientiously. One limited survey found that 35 percent of eco-friendly people learned sustainable behavior from zoos . ‘

Zoos Can Help Educate Children About Animals

Zoos are a quintessential school experience for many young people. Children love learning about animals up-close in a safe environment — in fact, education is possibly the biggest advantage of modern zoos. Many programs, like school presentations, guided tours, informational exhibits, and talks with zookeepers can trigger a lifelong love of animals in children .  

But zoos aren’t perfect in this regard. According to a study of zoo visitors in the UK, only 34 percent of children learned more about animals at zoos (the result was slightly better when the children were given  a guided tour). Worse, children did not feel empowered to help with conservation efforts after visiting a zoo. This suggests that if zoos care about education, they need to more actively reach out to schoolchildren for empowerment and education. 

Going to the Zoo Is Affordable

More ethical ways of engaging with animals without removing them from their natural habitats — like whale watching, safaris, hikes, or excursions — are usually expensive or inaccessible for many people. Zoos tend to be relatively cheap for the average family that wants to learn about animals. 

Conservation

Zoos Can Protect Endangered Species from Extinction

Zoos often claim they can protect entire species from extinction through conservation programs that involve breeding more animals in captivity and then releasing them into the wild. This is especially important for endangered species like pandas. 

While these conservation efforts are truly important, they don’t represent the majority of a zoo’s activities, nor are zoos leaders in conservation worldwide. At the National Zoo, for example, only one-fifth of animals are endangered . In North America, zoos only contribute about 14 percent of all animals reintroduced into the wild as part of a conservation program. Zoos also tend to focus on headline-grabbing endangered animals to bring in visitors, like pandas, elephants or tigers, as opposed to lesser-known but crucial species, like tamarins, kakapos or wombats. 

Are Zoos Good or Bad for the Environment?

Zoos claim to support global biodiversity through conservation efforts like protecting endangered animals. This is somewhat true, although it varies greatly from zoo to zoo. 

On the other hand, zoos are big polluters and use up lots of resources , especially energy and water . Aquariums in particular use tons and tons of water. Zoo animals also generate waste that may or may not be composted or disposed of correctly.

Should Zoos Exist or Be Banned?

Given the many ways that zoos are unethical to animals, the flawed attempts to contribute to conservation, and the positioning of humans as superior to animals, many animal ethicists believe zoos should not exist — or at least, not exist in their current form . 

For example, animal philosopher Dale Jamieson says in his book Ethics on the Ark that zoos primarily “alleviate our sense of guilt for what we are doing to the planet, but they do little to help the animals we are driving to extinction.” He continues to argue that zoos exist for humans alone , and that it is very difficult to wave away the inherent immorality of depriving animals their liberty for the sake of human amusement. 

Instead, private conservation programs can benefit endangered animals without showcasing them to the public. Animal sanctuaries, which are  areas of land in which endangered and other animals are protected by humans, are also advantageous for both individual animals and global biodiversity . 

Zoos do have advantages — fostering curiosity and education chief among them. But experts believe there are other ways of accomplishing these goals without resorting to zoos with tiny enclosures. Excursions, nature documentaries, safaris, local gardens, hikes, boat tours and other ways of interacting with nature don’t involve taking animals out of their natural habitats. 

The Bottom Line

If you do choose to visit a zoo, opt for zoos that have certifications from independent animal welfare organizations. If you are interested in animal conservation, you’d be more impactful donating to a non-zoo animal protection organization instead. And if you do want to visit animals, consider an animal sanctuary or an ethical safari, where you can see animals in their native environments.

Independent Journalism Needs You

Björn Jóhann Ólafsson is a science writer and journalist who cares deeply about understanding the natural world and her inhabitants through stories and data. He reports on the environmental footprint of the meat industry, the alternative protein sector and cultural attitudes around food. His previous bylines include the EU Observer and Elemental. He lives in Spain with his two lovebirds.

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Animal Rights — Zoos Should Be Banned

Zoos Should Be Banned

• Categories: Animal Rights Conservation

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Published: Mar 25, 2024

Words: 685 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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Opinion Guest Essay

Modern Zoos Are Not Worth the Moral Cost

  Credit... Photographs by Peter Fisher for The New York Times

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By Emma Marris

Ms. Marris is an environmental writer and the author of the forthcoming book “Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World.”

• June 11, 2021

After being captives of the pandemic for more than a year, we have begun experiencing the pleasures of simple outings: dining al fresco, shopping with a friend, taking a stroll through the zoo. As we snap a selfie by the sea lions for the first time in so long, it seems worth asking, after our collective ordeal, whether our pleasure in seeing wild animals up close is worth the price of their captivity.

Throughout history, men have accumulated large and fierce animals to advertise their might and prestige. Power-mad men from Henry III to Saddam Hussein’s son Uday to the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar to Charlemagne all tried to underscore their strength by keeping terrifying beasts captive. William Randolph Hearst created his own private zoo with lions, tigers, leopards and more at Hearst Castle. It is these boastful collections of animals, these autocratic menageries, from which the modern zoo, with its didactic plaques and $15 hot dogs, springs.

The forerunners of the modern zoo, open to the public and grounded in science, took shape in the 19th century. Public zoos sprang up across Europe, many modeled on the London Zoo in Regent’s Park. Ostensibly places for genteel amusement and edification, zoos expanded beyond big and fearsome animals to include reptile houses, aviaries and insectariums. Living collections were often presented in taxonomic order, with various species of the same family grouped together, for comparative study.

The first zoos housed animals behind metal bars in spartan cages. But relatively early in their evolution, a German exotic animal importer named Carl Hagenbeck changed the way wild animals were exhibited. In his Animal Park, which opened in 1907 in Hamburg, he designed cages that didn’t look like cages, using moats and artfully arranged rock walls to invisibly pen animals. By designing these enclosures so that many animals could be seen at once, without any bars or walls in the visitors’ lines of sight, he created an immersive panorama, in which the fact of captivity was supplanted by the illusion of being in nature.

Mr. Hagenbeck’s model was widely influential. Increasingly, animals were presented with the distasteful fact of their imprisonment visually elided. Zoos shifted just slightly from overt demonstrations of mastery over beasts to a narrative of benevolent protection of individual animals. From there, it was an easy leap to protecting animal species.

The “educational day out” model of zoos endured until the late 20th century, when zoos began actively rebranding themselves as serious contributors to conservation. Zoo animals, this new narrative went, function as backup populations for wild animals under threat, as well as “ambassadors” for their species, teaching humans and motivating them to care about wildlife. This conservation focus “ must be a key component ” for institutions that want to be accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a nonprofit organization that sets standards and policies for facilities in the United States and 12 other countries.

This is the image of the zoo I grew up with: the unambiguously good civic institution that lovingly cared for animals both on its grounds and, somehow, vaguely, in their wild habitats. A few zoos are famous for their conservation work. Four of the zoos and the aquarium in New York City, for instance, are managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, which is involved in conservation efforts around the world. But this is not the norm.

While researching my book on the ethics of human interactions with wild species, “Wild Souls,” I examined how, exactly, zoos contribute to the conservation of wild animals.

A.Z.A. facilities report spending approximately $231 million annually on conservation projects. For comparison, in 2018, they spent $4.9 billion on operations and construction. I find one statistic particularly telling about their priorities: A 2018 analysis of the scientific papers produced by association members between 1993 and 2013 showed that just about 7 percent of them annually were classified as being about “biodiversity conservation.”

Zoos accredited by the A.Z.A. or the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria have studbooks and genetic pedigrees and carefully breed their animals as if they might be called upon at any moment to release them, like Noah throwing open the doors to the ark, into a waiting wild habitat. But that day of release never quite seems to come.

There are a few exceptions. The Arabian oryx, an antelope native to the Arabian Peninsula, went extinct in the wild in the 1970s and then was reintroduced into the wild from zoo populations. The California condor breeding program, which almost certainly saved the species from extinction, includes five zoos as active partners. Black-footed ferrets and red wolves in the United States and golden lion tamarins in Brazil — all endangered, as well — have been bred at zoos for reintroduction into the wild. An estimated 20 red wolves are all that remain in the wild.

The A.Z.A. says that its members host “more than 50 reintroduction programs for species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.” Nevertheless, a vast majority of zoo animals (there are 800,000 animals of 6,000 species in the A.Z.A.’s zoos alone ) will spend their whole lives in captivity, either dying of old age after a lifetime of display or by being culled as “surplus.”

The practice of killing “surplus” animals is kept quiet by zoos, but it happens, especially in Europe. In 2014, the director of the E.A.Z.A. at the time estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 animals are euthanized in European zoos each year. (The culling of mammals specifically in E.A.Z.A. zoos is “usually not more than 200 animals per year,” the organization said.) Early in the pandemic, the Neumünster Zoo in northern Germany coolly announced an emergency plan to cope with lost revenue by feeding some animals to other animals, compressing the food chain at the zoo like an accordion, until in the worst-case scenario, only Vitus, a polar bear, would be left standing. The A.Z.A.’s policies allow for the euthanasia of animals, but the president of the association, Dan Ashe, told me, “it’s very rarely employed” by his member institutions.

Mr. Ashe, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, suggested that learning how to breed animals contributes to conservation in the long term, even if very few animals are being released now. A day may come, he said, when we need to breed elephants or tigers or polar bears in captivity to save them from extinction. “If you don’t have people that know how to care for them, know how to breed them successfully, know how to keep them in environments where their social and psychological needs can be met, then you won’t be able to do that,” he said.

The other argument zoos commonly make is that they educate the public about animals and develop in people a conservation ethic. Having seen a majestic leopard in the zoo, the visitor becomes more willing to pay for its conservation or vote for policies that will preserve it in the wild. What Mr. Ashe wants visitors to experience when they look at the animals is a “sense of empathy for the individual animal, as well as the wild populations of that animal.”

I do not doubt that some people had their passion for a particular species, or wildlife in general, sparked by zoo experiences. I’ve heard and read some of their stories. I once overheard two schoolchildren at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington confess to each other that they had assumed that elephants were mythical animals like unicorns before seeing them in the flesh. I remember well the awe and joy on their faces, 15 years later. I’d like to think these kids, now in their early 20s, are working for a conservation organization somewhere. But there’s no unambiguous evidence that zoos are making visitors care more about conservation or take any action to support it. After all, more than 700 million people visit zoos and aquariums worldwide every year, and biodiversity is still in decline.

In a 2011 study , researchers quizzed visitors at the Cleveland, Bronx, Prospect Park and Central Park zoos about their level of environmental concern and what they thought about the animals. Those who reported “a sense of connection to the animals at the zoo” also correlated positively with general environmental concern. On the other hand, the researchers reported, “there were no significant differences in survey responses before entering an exhibit compared with those obtained as visitors were exiting.”

A 2008 study of 206 zoo visitors by some members of the same team showed that while 42 percent said that the “main purpose” of the zoo was “to teach visitors about animals and conservation,” 66 percent said that their primary reason for going was “to have an outing with friends or family,” and just 12 percent said their intention was “to learn about animals.”

The researchers also spied on hundreds of visitors’ conversations at the Bronx Zoo, the Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago and the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. They found that only 27 percent of people bothered to read the signs at exhibits. More than 6,000 comments made by the visitors were recorded, nearly half of which were “purely descriptive statements that asserted a fact about the exhibit or the animal.” The researchers wrote , “In all the statements collected, no one volunteered information that would lead us to believe that they had an intention to advocate for protection of the animal or an intention to change their own behavior.”

People don’t go to zoos to learn about the biodiversity crisis or how they can help. They go to get out of the house, to get their children some fresh air, to see interesting animals. They go for the same reason people went to zoos in the 19th century: to be entertained.

A fine day out with the family might itself be justification enough for the existence of zoos if the zoo animals are all happy to be there. Alas, there’s plenty of heartbreaking evidence that many are not.

In many modern zoos, animals are well cared for, healthy and probably, for many species, content. Zookeepers are not mustache-twirling villains. They are kind people, bonded to their charges and immersed in the culture of the zoo, in which they are the good guys.

But many animals clearly show us that they do not enjoy captivity. When confined they rock, pull their hair and engage in other tics. Captive tigers pace back and forth, and in a 2014 study, researchers found that “the time devoted to pacing by a species in captivity is best predicted by the daily distances traveled in nature by the wild specimens.” It is almost as if they feel driven to patrol their territory, to hunt, to move, to walk a certain number of steps, as if they have a Fitbit in their brains.

The researchers divided the odd behaviors of captive animals into two categories: “impulsive/compulsive behaviors,” including coprophagy (eating feces), regurgitation, self-biting and mutilation, exaggerated aggressiveness and infanticide, and “stereotypies,” which are endlessly repeated movements. Elephants bob their heads over and over. Chimps pull out their own hair. Giraffes endlessly flick their tongues. Bears and cats pace. Some studies have shown that as many as 80 percent of zoo carnivores, 64 percent of zoo chimps and 85 percent of zoo elephants have displayed compulsive behaviors or stereotypies.

Elephants are particularly unhappy in zoos, given their great size, social nature and cognitive complexity. Many suffer from arthritis and other joint problems from standing on hard surfaces; elephants kept alone become desperately lonely; and all zoo elephants suffer mentally from being cooped up in tiny yards while their free-ranging cousins walk up to 50 miles a day. Zoo elephants tend to die young. At least 20 zoos in the United States have already ended their elephant exhibits in part because of ethical concerns about keeping the species captive.

Many zoos use Prozac and other psychoactive drugs on at least some of their animals to deal with the mental effects of captivity. The Los Angeles Zoo has used Celexa, an antidepressant, to control aggression in one of its chimps. Gus, a polar bear at the Central Park Zoo, was given Prozac as part of an attempt to stop him from swimming endless figure-eight laps in his tiny pool. The Toledo Zoo has dosed zebras and wildebeest with the antipsychotic haloperidol to keep them calm and has put an orangutan on Prozac. When a female gorilla named Johari kept fighting off the male she was placed with, the zoo dosed her with Prozac until she allowed him to mate with her. A 2000 survey of U.S. and Canadian zoos found that nearly half of respondents were giving their gorillas Haldol, Valium or another psychopharmaceutical drug.

Some zoo animals try to escape. Jason Hribal’s 2010 book, “Fear of the Animal Planet,” chronicles dozens of attempts. Elephants figure prominently in his book, in part because they are so big that when they escape it generally makes the news.

Mr. Hribal documented many stories of elephants making a run for it — in one case repairing to a nearby woods with a pond for a mud bath. He also found many examples of zoo elephants hurting or killing their keepers and evidence that zoos routinely downplayed or even lied about those incidents.

Elephants aren’t the only species that try to flee a zoo life. Tatiana the tiger, kept in the San Francisco Zoo, snapped one day in 2007 after three teenage boys had been taunting her. She somehow got over the 12-foot wall surrounding her 1,000-square-foot enclosure and attacked one of the teenagers, killing him. The others ran, and she pursued them, ignoring all other humans in her path. When she caught up with the boys at the cafe, she mauled them before she was shot to death by the police. Investigators found sticks and pine cones inside the exhibit, most likely thrown by the boys.

Apes are excellent at escaping. Little Joe, a gorilla, escaped from the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston twice in 2003. At the Los Angeles Zoo, a gorilla named Evelyn escaped seven times in 20 years. Apes are known for picking locks and keeping a beady eye on their captors, waiting for the day someone forgets to lock the door. An orangutan at the Omaha Zoo kept wire for lock-picking hidden in his mouth. A gorilla named Togo at the Toledo Zoo used his incredible strength to bend the bars of his cage. When the zoo replaced the bars with thick glass, he started methodically removing the putty holding it in. In the 1980s, a group of orangutans escaped several times at the San Diego Zoo. In one escape, they worked together: One held a mop handle steady while her sister climbed it to freedom. Another time, one of the orangutans, Kumang, learned how to use sticks to ground the current in the electrical wire around her enclosure. She could then climb the wire without being shocked. It is impossible to read these stories without concluding that these animals wanted out .

“I don’t see any problem with holding animals for display,” Mr. Ashe told me. “People assume that because an animal can move great distances that they would choose to do that.” If they have everything they need nearby, he argued, they would be happy with smaller territories. And it is true that the territory size of an animal like a wolf depends greatly on the density of resources and other wolves. But then there’s the pacing, the rocking. I pointed out that we can’t ask animals whether they are happy with their enclosure size. “That’s true,” he said. “There is always that element of choice that gets removed from them in a captive environment. That’s undeniable.” His justification was philosophical. In the end, he said, “we live with our own constraints.” He added, “We are all captive in some regards to social and ethical and religious and other constraints on our life and our activities.”

What if zoos stopped breeding all their animals, with the possible exception of any endangered species with a real chance of being released back into the wild? What if they sent all the animals that need really large areas or lots of freedom and socialization to refuges? With their apes, elephants, big cats, and other large and smart species gone, they could expand enclosures for the rest of the animals, concentrating on keeping them lavishly happy until their natural deaths. Eventually, the only animals on display would be a few ancient holdovers from the old menageries, animals in active conservation breeding programs and perhaps a few rescues.

Such zoos might even be merged with sanctuaries, places that take wild animals that because of injury or a lifetime of captivity cannot live in the wild. Existing refuges often do allow visitors, but their facilities are really arranged for the animals, not for the people. These refuge-zoos could become places where animals live. Display would be incidental.

Such a transformation might free up some space. What could these zoos do with it, besides enlarging enclosures? As an avid fan of botanical gardens, I humbly suggest that as the captive animals retire and die off without being replaced, these biodiversity-worshiping institutions devote more and more space to the wonderful world of plants. Properly curated and interpreted, a well-run garden can be a site for a rewarding “outing with friends or family,” a source of education for the 27 percent of people who read signs and a point of civic pride.

I’ve spent many memorable days in botanical gardens, completely swept away by the beauty of the design as well as the unending wonder of evolution — and there’s no uneasiness or guilt. When there’s a surplus, you can just have a plant sale.

Emma Marris is an environmental writer and the author of the forthcoming book “Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World.”

Photographs by Peter Fisher. Mr. Fisher is a photographer based in New York.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species Essay

The last several decades could be characterized by the increased number of environmental problems that resulted in the alteration of climate and landscapes. These processes also had a great pernicious impact on animals living in different areas. For this reason, zoos became almost the only hope for the preservation and conservation of endangered species. If to compare with the past century, their role has altered greatly. In the 50s, zoos used to be fun centers where animals were kept just for entertainment. 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. Moreover, zoos also perform a great educating role by providing important information about endangered species to people and teaching them how to save animals. Therefore, they are also important conservation centers as a significant number of animals could be found only here.

Nevertheless, even though zoos are crucial for the modern world, they also face some challenges that might impact the final result and make their conservation efforts less efficient. For instance, the preservation of endangered species is rather costly, and not all zoos could afford it. There is a great need for space, specific conditions, investigations, care, etc. (Keulartz, 2015). The combination of all these aspects contributes to the increased complexity of the main task and zoos might experience economic pressure from the government or sponsors. However, it is crucial to remember that their functioning is vital in the modern environment and there should be no limits related to their development (Kobilinsky, 2016). If we want to see some species, we should sponsor zoos.

Therefore, we have already stated that zoos are responsible for the preservation of animals included in the Endangered Species List. Certain criteria are used when considering the character of a certain animal, population size, peculiarities of the area, etc. Besides, the first thing that is taken into account is the number of animal units and the tendencies that are observed at the moment. Therefore, scientists also consider the way they might impact endangered species. This process is extremely important as it helps people to preserve some kinds of animals and guarantee their survival.

For instance, in the Reid Park Zoo in Arizona, we can watch elephants.

The given chart demonstrates their main activities and distribution of time. We could see that elephants are not very active, but they still have some social life (“ Zoo cams ,” n.d.). They also like bathing, playing, and, of course, eating.

Altogether, I should say that my attitude to elephants has not changed. I am sure that they are wonderful animals that should be protected by all means. Unfortunately, people are killing them for their tooth. It is a horrible practice, and it should be stopped for our children to be able to enjoy these animals.

However, I used to see these animals before. That is why my feelings were not unique. Therefore, I believe that for those who have never seen elephants it could be a great experience and have a great impact on their feelings towards wildlife and conservation. They will be able to understand that a great threat exists at the moment and all efforts should be devoted to the attempts to save them.

Keulartz, J. (2015). Captivity for conservation? Zoos at a crossroads . Web.

Kobilinsky, D. (2016). New live cam technology might help conservation . Web.

Zoo cams . (n.d.). Web.

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IvyPanda. (2020, September 17). Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species. https://ivypanda.com/essays/zoos-for-conservation-of-endangered-species/

"Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species." IvyPanda , 17 Sept. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/zoos-for-conservation-of-endangered-species/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species'. 17 September.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species." September 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/zoos-for-conservation-of-endangered-species/.

1. IvyPanda . "Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species." September 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/zoos-for-conservation-of-endangered-species/.

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IvyPanda . "Zoos for Conservation of Endangered Species." September 17, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/zoos-for-conservation-of-endangered-species/.

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Zoos and Aquariums Argumentative Essay Sample

Can you imagine being stuck in a small, refined cage your whole life? A place where you sleep uncomfortably, eat scarcely, and are forced to entertain people out of your own will. These species of wildlife are being captured to make others “happy” and “excited” while secretly they’re the ones who are hurting the most. Animals across the world in zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries all deal with these horrific punishments every day, unaware of what they did to “deserve” this.

The idea of Zoos and Aquariums providing entertainment for people started thousands of years ago. From what was thought to be the first zoo in Ancient Egypt to now our modern-day San-Francisco Zoo, they were both created to amuse our society and make money. But what many people don’t realize is behind closed doors these animals are treated worse than inhumanely. The article titled “The Independent: Zoos Are Where the People Come First, Not the Animals' ' wrote, “these zoo enclosures are often built for a human-centric visitor experience rather than for the welfare of the animals' ' (Damian). The so-called safe places where these animals recover and help endangered species have quickly become a scheme to get money for the owners of zoos and aquariums.

My first point on why I believe zoos and aquariums are a terrible place for animals is because they fail to provide reasonable living conditions. They not only deprive them of their natural habitats but go the “cheap way” and get what’s going to cost them the least without taking the animal’s life into consideration. The website “Orlando Sentinel” talks about a well-known aquarium, Sea World, and its abuse towards marine life. The author, Marino, stated, “Kyara’s [a baby orca at Seaworld] mother, Takara, has lived her entire life in a concrete tank without ever knowing what it’s like to swim the ocean waters off the coast of Iceland from where her mother and father were captured.” When taking an animal like an orca away from their vast ocean home and sticking them in something as small as a “bathtub” for them you start to question what SeaWorlds “ main priorities” are. But, Kyra is just one example of the thousands of animals captured and put into captivity by SeaWorld. Their main intentions for these animals is to make money rather than help their animals live a somewhat “healthy life”.

But I can agree with many people with the fact that there are zoos and aquariums that do give their animals plenty of space to run freely and live similarly to how they normally would. In an article from “Boston Globe” stated “The executive director of the Detroit Zoo announced in 2004 that he was voluntarily sending his zoo's two Asian elephants to a California sanctuary, where the land was plentiful, the weather temperate, and the elephants could roam. The reason, Kagan said, was simple. To paraphrase: The zoo, despite its best efforts, was essentially ruining the elephants' lives.” To be clear, many activists against zoos do not believe that ALL zoos are bad and ALL zoos should be shut down, but from recent reports and history on zoos treating their animals horribly it inevitably ruins it for everyone. When certain popular Zoos start doing something wrong, it sets a precedent for all other zoos and makes us generally think very negatively of them. However a statement in the “New York Times” shows the overwhelming outweighing negatives which stated “the time devoted to pacing by a species in captivity is best predicted by the daily distances traveled in nature by the wild specimens." So although some zoos and aquariums do try and make their enclosures their “number one priority” in the end these animals will never truly experience what it’s like to be back in the wild again, or even ever. 

The second point on why zoos and aquariums should not be allowed is because they can cause stress and aggression within the animals. The reason that most zoos and aquariums even take in animals is because they are sick or are going to become endangered and they are trying to “save” them. But by keeping them in small spaces, alone, for so long there have been many signs that this has led to awful stress in the animals. In the article found in the “Boston Globe”, ____ States, “Gus's compulsive behavior, a growing pile of research suggests, is distressingly common among captive animals. The gorillas behind the glass are plucking their hair, and the orangutans are incessantly masturbating. Dolphins ram their heads into the sides of pools, and sea lion pups try to nurse from each other instead of adult females' ' (Scharfenberg). To clarify, these unusual behaviors of animals are showing signs of aggression and could be harmful towards others if we don’t stop zoos and aquariums fast. Wild animals were not brought into this world to be our “pets” and companions, but again and again we treat them that way, until they act in an irrational way back. A story in the “GlobalPost” called “'Lion Park' Where an American Was Mauled to Death…” states, “This wasn't the first such incident at the Lion Park. In March, an Australian tourist who had his window down was chomped by a lion. In December 2013, the father of a former South African rugby player was bitten on the shoulder” (Conway-Smith). All of these “incidents” have happened because they’ve been locked up in small cages and are going mentally insane. A regular wild lion might not show as much aggression to humans because they don’t find them as a threat but as lions live longer and longer in captivity, withering away, so do their brains. 

For example, when certain criminals are put in jail very few are obligated to be in solitary, where they have to spend time alone in a cell until their time is up. People who have experienced this have gone mentally insane and have shown signs of an illness in their minds. But what people fail to realize is that is exactly what most zoos/aquariums do to their own animals. There are many similarities between the 2 by keeping both “locked” up in cells, not allowing them to leave but there is one thing missing. The captured animals didn’t do anything to deserve to be in these cruel situations.

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Frede, David. "A tale of two zoos : a study in watching people watching animals." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3762.

Frede, David. "A tale of two zoos : a study in watching people watching animals." University of Sydney, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3762.

McDole, Erin. "Fish Introduction to Jaguars (Panthera onca): Response of Zoo Visitors and Jaguars." Thesis, Available online, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007, 2007. http://etd.gatech.edu/theses/available/etd-04062007-211443/.

McElroy, Michelle Lynn. "The role of zoos in educating visitors about conservation of wildlife and habitats: a design for Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas." Kansas State University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/19110.

Mony, Rachel Sheal Preethi. "An exploratory study of docents as a channel for institutional messages at free-choice conservation education settings." Columbus, Ohio : Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1186780088.

Scott, Katy. "Behaviour and endocrinology of meerkats in zoos." Thesis, University of Exeter, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16393.

Farrand, Alexandra. "The effect of zoo visitors on the behaviour and welfare of zoo mammals." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/300.

Byström, Kim. "Mobility Analysis of Zoo Visitors." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Reglerteknik, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-158522.

Turley, Sophie Kathleen. "Image and attraction : the case of traditional UK zoos." Thesis, Nottingham Trent University, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.241833.

D'Arcy, Rachel. "Chronic Kidney Disease in Non-Domestic Felids in Australian Zoos." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/19610.

Finlay, Theodore William. "The prediction of preference evaluations of zoo exhibits : a comparison of the informational and psychophysical theories of environmental preference." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/28675.

Finlay, Ted William. "The influence of zoo environments on perceptions of animals." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/30086.

Bonde, de Queiroz M. "How does the zoo soundscape affect the zoo experience for animals and visitors?" Thesis, University of Salford, 2018. http://usir.salford.ac.uk/48095/.

Allison, Donald Lee. "Building and using educational virtual environments for teaching about animal behaviors." Available online, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004:, 2003. http://etd.gatech.edu/theses/available/etd-04082004-180000/unrestricted/allison%5Fdonald%5Fl%5F200312%5Fphd.pdf.

Swank, Tonja M. "It's a jungle out there : zoo public relations and marketing." Scholarly Commons, 2011. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/782.

Roe, Katie. "Zoo education: A comparative international study of zoo intentions and the visitor experience." Thesis, Roe, Katie (2014) Zoo education: A comparative international study of zoo intentions and the visitor experience. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2014. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/27186/.

Barriault, Chantal Lise. "Visitor engagement and learning behaviour in science centres, zoos and aquaria." Thesis, Curtin University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/541.

Kenny, Heather A. "Monkeying Around: Examining the Effects of a Community Zoo on the Science Achievement of Third Graders." Connect to full text in OhioLINK ETD Center, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=toledo1260463456.

Dickie, Lesley A. "Environmental enrichment in captive primates : a survey and review." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.311767.

Swanagan, Jeffery S. "An assessment of factors influencing zoo visitors' conservation attitudes and behavior." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/28756.

Fuller, Grace Anne. "The Night Shift: Lighting and Nocturnal Strepsirrhine Care in Zoos." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1384463090.

Moar, Kathryn. "Determinants of visitors' perception of the Adelaide Zoo /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1987. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09SPS/09spsm687.pdf.

Torpie-Sweterlitsch, Jennifer R. "Captive nature| Exploring the influence of zoos on visitor worldview, knowledge, and behavior." Thesis, The University of Texas at San Antonio, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1565202.

Zoological parks are a complex place of human-animal, animal-environment, and human-environment interactions; as the global population becomes more urbanized, zoos are one of the only places in which urban dwellers can learn about and experience the "natural" world. Zoos now act as key purveyors of public conservation education, shaping the ways in which visitors understand and situate themselves within local and global conservation issues and natural environments. Zoos educate the public on these and other topics through the implementation of informal education programs (IEPs) within their institutions, but the effectiveness of these programs in positively altering visitor knowledge, attitude, and behavioral is not well understood. Through interviews, questionnaires, and participant observation conducted at the San Antonio Zoo I explored (1) how zoo visitors interacted with and perceived of a zoo animal species, the white-cheeked gibbon; (2) how zoo visitor perceptions of animals were influenced by visitor-animal interactions in various zoo contexts (e.g. within and outside of IEPs); (3) what zoo visitors were learning about animal and conservation within these various contexts; and (4) the effectiveness of an IEP in inspiring zoo visitors to actively participate in conservation initiatives. I framed my inquiry into visitor and zoo animal relationships within post-humanist theories and explored visitor perceptions of animals, the environment, and conservation through the lens of virtualism, resulting in a novel view of visitor experience and learning within the zoo setting. In this thesis I discuss the results of this research and their implications for conservation education efforts within zoos.

Draper, Christopher James. "Zoo licensing and inspection : using legislative requirements to assess animal welfare and conservation in British zoos." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2017. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.752746.

Whitman, Celia Stuart. "Creating a model curriculum for a certification program to train people to work in the field of exhibiting living arthropods." Thesis, Montana State University, 2004. http://etd.lib.montana.edu/etd/view/item.php?id=51.

Ottosson, Emily, and Rasmus Persson. "Från tropisk hetta till arktisk kyla : En kvalitativ studie av Parken Zoos kriskommunikation på Facebook." Thesis, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation, Högskolan i Jönköping, HLK, Medie- och kommunikationsforskning, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-25879.

Plaatsman, Michelle. "Zoo exhibit design : the influence of animal visibility on visitor experience /." Thesis, This resource online, 1996. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-09092008-063812/.

Townsend, Amanda. "Attitudes, perception and behaviour among visitors at the Adelaide Zoo /." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 1988. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ARPS/09arpst747.pdf.

Fahlquist, Karin. "Creating new experience for zoo visitors by using media techniques." Licentiate thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för tillämpad fysik och elektronik, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-87375.

Penn, Laura M. "An exploration of zoo theatre's contribution to the directives of zoos : a case study from the Central Park Zoo in New York." Thesis, University of Kent, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.432820.

Grover, Emily R. "Investigating the Influence of Zoo Exhibit Design on Visitor Empathy for Wildlife." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1515095282489716.

Bennett, Nadya J. "The Use of Video in Zoo Exhibits to Convey Conservation Messages to Adult Visitors." The Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1253470896.

Allison, Donald Lee Jr. "Building and using educational virtual environments for teaching about animal behaviors." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/5382.

Joseph, Stephanie L. "From visit to action how zoo visitor characteristics influence environmentally-responsible behavior /." Connect to this title online, 2008. http://etd.lib.clemson.edu/documents/1211391141/.

Cooper, Tara Claire. "The effect of visitors on the behaviour of zoo-housed chimpanzee and gorilla groups." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.579695.

Holdgate, Matthew Robert. "Applying GPS and Accelerometers to the Study of African Savanna (Loxodonta africana) and Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) Welfare in Zoos." PDXScholar, 2015. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2234.

Fraser, John Robert. "An Examination of Environmental Collective Identity Development Across Three Life-stages: The Contribution of Social Public Experiences at Zoos." [Yellow Springs, Ohio] : Antioch University, 2009. http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_num=antioch1244223241.

Baird, Bonnie Ann Baird. "Ambassador Animal Welfare: Using Behavioral and Physiological Indicators to Assess the Well-Being of Animals Used for Education Programs in Zoos." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1522956181121788.

Fragata, Marta. "Visitor behaviours and visitor effects: a case study on the white-crowned mangabey (cercocebus atys lunulatus) of ZSL London Zoo." Master's thesis, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/9195.

Gratke, Emily D. "Menageries Multiple: An Introduction to Zoological Multiplicity in the Modern American Zoo." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1059.

Pouillard, Violette. "En captivité. Politiques humaines et vies animales dans les jardins zoologiques du XIXe siècle à nos jours : ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, zoos de Londres et Anvers." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/209127.

Lindblom, Emelie. "The effect of visual barriers, outdoor housing and feeding enrichment on the behaviour of drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus) at Parken Zoo." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Biologi, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-114632.

Ridgway, Stephanie Clark. "Visitor behavior in zoo exhibits with underwater viewing: An evaluation of six exhibits in the western United States." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/278753.

Nimon, Amanda. "A method for studying cross-species interaction and communication in zoos and its application to human-siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) and human-corella (Cacatua tenuirostris) interactions at the Adelaide Zoo /." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 1989. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ARPS/09arpsn7136.pdf.

Ingram, Lindsay Jane. "Golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) acclimation to a new zoo habitat the effect of visitor presence on behavior /." [Ames, Iowa : Iowa State University], 2009. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:1473217.

Silva, Pedro Afonso das Neves Pereira da. "Precision evaluation of different flotation solutions in the results of four coprological techniques in ungulates : impact on detecting anthelmintic resistance." Master's thesis, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/19315.

Funk, Christina Lynn. "An Internship with Project Dragonfly." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1271901813.

Čulíková, Alžběta. "Ekonomické a kulturní aspekty provozu zoologických zahrad v ČR." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2015. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-262177.

Cerbin, Adriana Cerbin Linda. "In Situ Conservation Through the Eyes of the Zoo Visitor: Examining Visitor Awareness and Support of the North Carolina Zoological Parkâs Participation in In Situ Conservation Projects." NCSU, 2009. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03272009-144806/.

Hamilla, Rachel A. Hamilla. "Orangutan health and behavior: Implications for nutrition in captivity." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1524433293426808.

Brooklyn's Prospect Park Zoo set to reopen this month following storm damage

T he Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn will reopen to the public this month after closing nearly eight months ago due to flooding from Tropical Storm Ophelia.

The 400 animals weren't harmed, but the floodwaters damaged the zoo's boilers, HVAC, and electrical systems.

"We had flooding in the outdoor habitats," said Craig Piper, Vice President of City Zoos for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The repairs included measures to protect the animals and zoo equipment from future extreme weather.

The zoo recently posted a Mother's Day message to its patrons over the weekend featuring a baby baboon, Nyani, and her mother.

"We look forward to welcoming mothers and their families back to Prospect Park Zoo as soon as possible," the post on X (formerly Twitter) read.

Eyewitness News got a sneak peek at the zoo before it officially reopened and got to check out a few of the exhibits, like the red pandas.

"Well, we're enjoying this beautiful day on the Discovery Trail at Prospect Park Zoo, which was one of the most favorite exhibits for all of our guests to come here. Red pandas are rare. A special, you know, a unique animal, just a beautiful animal that's native to Asia, especially China. They're enjoying some bamboo as as we're talking today," Piper said. "But we have been so sad that we haven't been able to have guests joining us since last September when the flood hit."

They also showed Eyewitness News where the dingoes are housed.

"We were able to operate and take care of the animals during this entire time. No animals were impacted by the storm, thank goodness, but we were operating off of temporary generators that had to be fueled every day and that was not... we couldn't open at that time because they were all over the public areas," Piper said. "We're now back on grid power, which is a key thing to make it safe and stable, to be able to open the park. We've been doing repairs to all the exhibit buildings, so the good news is we're opening the entire zoo. All of our exhibits will be open."

The renovation and repairs to the Prospect Park Zoo are expected to cost $20 million. So far, they've spent a little more than a quarter of that.

"We've spent $6.5 million so far on the initial recovery. That gets us so we can reopen the public areas," Piper said. "But there's so much more still to be done."

FEMA has covered the repair costs so far, but the zoo is looking for fund flood mitigation so humans and their furry friends don't have to be separated again.

"We want people to come here and fall in love with animals, you know, the animals that are all around us because we know we'll protect the things that we care about," Piper said.

ALSO READ | Rutgers doctoral student gives birth on same day she defends dissertation

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Renowned Pa. sculptor creates larger-than-life animal art for Elmwood Park Zoo

GLENSIDE, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Zenos Frudakis has spent a lifetime crafting larger-than-life sculptures that have become icons around the world.

His latest sculptures will be roaring into the Elmwood Park Zoo this year as the zoo prepares to unveil their multi-million dollar renovations.

The Zoo's new Welcome Center and Veterinary Health Center is expected to open on June 27, 2024. Guests will be able to get an inside look at the zoo's veterinary team, which in turn will be able to provide even greater care to animals who come through their doors.

At the center of the plaza will be a fountain featuring four sculptures made by Frudakis. The piece will feature the buck and fawn at first and will be joined by the remaining doe and jaguar as they are completed.

Watch the video above to get a sneak preview of the animal art.

To learn more about Zenos Frudakis or the Elmwood Park Zoo , visit their websites.

RELATED: Traumatic brain injury survivor earns art exhibit at Stockton University

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