The ‘Zoos, conservation & education vs. animal rights & welfare’ debate
This is a topic that almost everyone already has a strong, long-established opinion on. There is an abundance of information available on the internet. A simple Google search will turn up a huge array of individual opinions, and scientific comparisons & research.
Despite this, I thought I would give a brief insight into the debate in my most recent blog post because it is an issue that I have been confronted with and challenged by a lot recently. Animal rights and welfare in my opinion should be of top concern, however I also believe that conservation of vulnerable species should be considered as a ‘bigger cause’. Furthermore, I truly believe that the experiences I had as a malleable young child, such as growing up in a city with a zoo, owning pets, and having the opportunity to pet or handle certain species, shaped the person I am today and instilled in me a passion for protecting wildlife and a respect for all creatures. I still believe that conservation and education should be carried out in a certain way, making the welfare of the animals involved the top priority if we are to validate their captivity and any stress caused by human interaction. Despite this ‘disclaimer’ of my own opinion, I have strived to make my blog post on the matter as unbiased and middle-ground as possible!
A few points to consider from all sides of this debate…
· ‘The welfare of captive animals (whether in zoos, aquariums or house pets) seems to be much more important to the general public than the welfare of wild animals.’
· Animal welfare in zoos is continually improving as the reputation of zoos (and therefore the profitable ‘business’ of zoology) is at stake.
· Zoos can act as safe-havens for certain persecuted wild animals.
· ‘Zoos play a huge educational role, instilling in children an interest in, and intrinsic respect and value towards, animals.’
· ‘Seeing animals in cages and ‘performing’ during educational talks teaches children that animals are commodities with little or no rights.’
· Zoos play a huge part in the conservation of suffering wild populations. They play a major role in protecting endangered species.
· ‘Zoos only carry out conservation programmes to meet the standards required to run. Their first thought is how they can exploit animals for profit.’
· Most zoos have educational signs informing visitors about each species, their natural habitat, conservation status and issues, etc.’
· Capturing animals and keeping them captive is cruel.
· No matter how impressive a zoo’s enclosures are and how much enrichment they provide, animals will still suffer negative psychological effects from being out of their natural range and habitat.
· Unless part of a breeding for reintroduction programme, most captive-bred animals will never see the wild.
· ‘No one visits the zoo with the mentality of visiting a museum (for education). They go for recreation, to see the captive animals, not to learn about them from talks and signs.’
· ‘While certain individuals may ‘exploit’ zoos, visiting just see these animals, some of the educational aspects may still rub-off on them, even if unintentionally.’
· ‘Most individuals campaigning for animal rights visited zoos as a child. Whether it was the zoo’s educational programmes itself that instilled a passion in them for speaking-up for animals, or whether it was the individual’s disapproval of the conditions there… that experience still led them to where they are.’
· ‘It will always ultimately be down to a person’s opinions, beliefs and empathy. While classroom dissections and other experiences may bring out dark instincts to harm animals in a few individuals, these interactions result in a respect and interest for animals in most children. For example most current veterinarians will have carried out a number of educational dissections, but they are vets because they care about animals and want to alleviate their suffering. Not because they are sadistic animal torturers!’
PETA have an uncompromising view on Animal Rights.
· On zoos: “PETA opposes zoos because cages and cramped enclosures at zoos deprive animals of the opportunity to satisfy their basic needs. The zoo community regards the animals it keeps as commodities, and animals are regularly bought, sold, borrowed, and traded without any regard for established relationships. Zoos breed animals because the presence of babies draws zoo visitors and boosts revenue.” why zoos
· On conservation: “When I hear that word (conservation), I know for sure that there is some sort of hunting, fishing, trapping, etc. and that there will be no mention of animal rights.” vs conservation
· On pets: “millions of unwanted animals are destroyed every year.” “The selfish desire to possess animals and receive love from them causes immeasurable suffering.” “Pet abuse occurs every day.” “What we want is for the population of cats and dogs to be reduced through spaying and neutering and for people to adopt animals from pounds and shelters.” why pets
· On education: “Animals are abused for cruel, archaic teaching exercises, despite the existence of superior non-animal teaching tools.” “Half of animals used in education are killed for classroom dissection and medical training.” “Sophisticated computer software teaches anatomy as well as animal labs.” “Animal dissection can traumatize, foster insensitivity towards animals, and dissuade pursuing careers in science.” classroom
Some points I would like to make, and questions I am raising purely to be volatile in this debate are…
Yes, research intended to improve the welfare of animals and conservation of their population often involves research (should we consider all research as experimenting and testing on animals?) and most conservation projects will involve some form of capture and/or release. And there are certain conservation projects to protect natural ecosystems that remove invasive species or reduce harmfully over-grown populations using methods such as hunting, and capture & extermination.
As far as I can tell from PETA’s financial reports they do not invest in any kind of ‘alternative’ animal-rights focused conservation projects, besides the neutering of pets. Their work focuses on using animal-rights to prevent over-population of pest species, but saving wild species from extinction is outside of their focus. peta financial report
I find it interesting that PETA take issue with capturing and breeding animals for the purpose of saving them from extinction. Yet spaying and neutering, processes that must be equally stressful for animals, is in their opinion necessary and humane.
The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums
When the federation was formed in 1966 there was a growing recognition that there was a need for standardized principles and practices to be adopted in animal husbandry. The federation implemented a zoo inspection process to ensure the highest level of animal welfare were achieved, and created a community that encouraged its members to share expertise and best practice with the aim of continuously improving standards. Today, modern zoological establishments are much more than places where the public can view a range of different animals. Members are declaring that they have the highest level of animal welfare, they participate in conservation projects, their discovery and learning programmes are continually being developed, and that they are actively contributing to a body of research that will, ultimately, help us to conserve species in the wild. biaza
Over 700 projects involving research and training are carried out by BIAZA members annually, and members support over 500 field conservation projects.
Although some UK zoos are not BIAZA members, the European Zoos Directive on the Keeping of Wild Animals in Zoos came in to force as early as 2002. This sets conservation, education and animal welfare standards for ALL zoos and aquariums in EU countries. Quite frankly no EU zoos can be solely for-profit anymore within the EU. Of course some zoos may do the minimum required to continue running, but this doesn’t change the fact that they are carrying out valid conservation and research despite their reasoning behind this good work. It is also easy to check which zoos are BIAZA members and have the best welfare or most conservation programmes. People have power! So boycott zoos you do not feel are up-to-scratch and demand change where you think it is needed! As we have all seen recently in the media, it is very easy to put zoos and their practices under the spotlight! Directive
I am aware that I have only covered UK and European zoos in an attempt to limit this post and not overwhelm. Obviously it is slightly harder to hold international zoos accountable, but I implore my foreign friends to scrutinize their own national zoos and strive for improvements which there is always room for.
In conclusion I feel that, like most meaningful debates, this issue is not black and white. Quite simply all zoos cannot be lumped together, some are as solely for-profit as possible, while others have a genuine interest in animal welfare and rights, and feel that animal rights should encompass conservation- not shun it because it is a much stickier topic. Similarly some ‘educational’ programmes simply let children handle animals and watch them perform, but many refuse to let children handle any animal more complex than a cockroach and make it clear during the presentation to teach children to respect and care for animals. Yes the methods and standards of zoos and educational programmes involving animals to have some influence on children whose perceptions and ethics are ‘malleable’, but many other experiences shape these children, visiting a zoo or carrying out a classroom dissection will not lead directly to a child’s amusement by torturing animals. Furthermore, not all ‘conservation’ projects are created equal. Some use methods that can be very invasive and harmful for the individuals involved, under the guise of it being for the greater-good. We should constantly review the programmes of conservation organization, and challenge them to consider the welfare and rights of each individual animal, while striving conserve a whole population.
I have very briefly touched on this subject, and have not been able to cover scientific research into wildlife perceptions and ethics. There really have been an abundance of studies….
Mutanga, et al. (2015) Community Perceptions of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism. Trop Con Sci, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 564-582.
Hacker & Miller (2016) Zoo visitor perceptions, attitudes, and conservation intent after viewing African elephants at the San Diego Safari Park. Zoo Biol, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 355-361.
Ballantyne & Packer (2016) Visitors Perceptions of the Conservation Education Role of Zoos and Aquariums. Visitor Studies, vol. 19, no. 2, pp.193-210.
