Imagining a
world without zoos seems pretty farfetched. They have been around for so many
generations that they are ingrained into our worldwide society. But Costa Rica,
it appears, is ready to pull the plug on all public funding of zoos, effectively
shutting them down entirely. According
to an article at the Guardian.com, Costa
Rica announced last month that it will no longer use public funds to keep
animals in cages. This means the Simón Bolívar zoo in San José and the Santa
Ana conservation centre will close when existing operating contracts run out.
What if other
countries follow suit and ban zoos? What if my city of Albany, Georgia decided
to stop funding Chehaw Wild Animal Park and we had to close our local zoo? That
would mean that next year, in 2014, thousands of children on school field trips
from South Georgia would not see a black rhino, a meerkat, or a lemur and learn
what extinction means. Nearly two hundred children between the ages of 5 and 12
would not have hands-on animal experience at summer camp; 80 teenage Junior
Zookeepers would need to find another way to spend their summer; and college
students from Albany State, Georgia Southwestern, and other colleges &
universities would not have internship opportunities at Chehaw Park.
People tend to
think of zoos as weekend venues where the family can gawk at exotic creatures. But modern, accredited zoos are much more
than that. They are places of science and of education. Zoo programs meet
Common Core Curriculum school standards that would hold up to the most rigorous
classroom instruction. College credit is issued for some zoo programs and zoo research
projects frequently satisfy requirements for university lab classes. University
research projects conducted at Chehaw Park include studies on wild populations
of bats, gopher tortoises, and frogs. Chehaw Wild Animal Park has even
participated in a multi-zoo, nationwide research study on cheetah reproductive
hormone cycles.
And the downside
of zoos where animals are held as captives? There are some, to be sure. The
humane care of elephants, apes, and whales in captivity is challenging at best
and, some would say, downright impossible. But in many cases, the animals held
in zoos are no worse off than my dogs at home who gaze longingly out from the
“cage” of my living room window. Would they like to roam the neighborhood,
chasing squirrels and getting into my neighbor’s garbage? I’m sure they would.
Would they be better-off? I think not!
Wild places and
wild animals are disappearing at an alarming rate and nobody is sounding the
alarm louder than zoos, but the Guardian.com notes that environment minister René Castro wants
Costa Rica’s end of state-financed captivity to be a turning point, saying "With this move, we are sending a message
that the state wishes to show biodiversity in its natural state, under a modern
and holistic integration of space, society and natural resources."
In 1989, my wife
and I observed “biodiversity in its natural state” as we sat at a waterhole in
central Africa watching a female sitatunga antelope cautiously step out into
the open and make her way to the water for a drink. It was not a remarkable
scene until someone pointed out two female lions lurking at the forest edge
nearby. We watched as they split up and were mesmerized as one lion chased the
antelope into the waiting jaws of her companion in a remarkable bit of
teamwork. The antelope never had a chance. We didn’t know whether to feel sorry
for the sitatunga as she was suffocated by the lion’s strangle hold on her
throat or cheer for the lions and their remarkable bit of hunting. You could
argue that these lions are better off in the wild because they get to hunt
antelope for dinner, but I am not so sure about the sitatunga.
Millions of
people are positively influenced by the collective conservation message of zoos
and the animals that live in them. Would these animals better-off in the wild?
They might be if humans had not evolved to dominate every corner of the planet
– but here we are. And how do you define better-off,
anyway?
