Are Zoos Are Good?

For example, zoos are good for the protection of endangered species. According to Dr. Dave Hone in his article “Why Zoos are Good” he states, “Zoos protect against a species going extinct. A species protected in captivity provides a reservoir population against a population crash or extinction in the wild” (Hone). Hone is stating the claim that zoos are relatively safe and can provide a place for the species to breed to provide a foundation population. This will allow a nearly extinct species to slowly bounce back and survive for future generations. Also, stated by Ben Minteer in the article “How Zoos can save our Animals” “The goal is to create healthy and genetically diverse animal populations of these species across the zoo community, an

He claims in his article, “A Zoo is a Great Educational Tool”, that “The educational potential is at its greatest with a professional educator designing a learning activity to use at the zoo. The zoo is a great tool and it’s at its best when a real artisan is using it, a classroom teacher who has designed focused activities connected to a long-term curriculum.” (Ettlin). Zoos provide a tangible experience for children and reinforces what they have learned in class. The type of learning environment a zoo can provide accommodate all the learning styles. Jeremy Hance gives a few statistics to enforce the fact that zoos help children learn in the article “Do kids learn anything a zoos?”, “A new study shows that zoos aren’t just a fun place for kids to visit; they are also a teaching opportunity. Interviewing more than 3,000 children between 7 and 14, the largest study of its kind found that just over half of the kids (53 percent) showed improvement in at least one of three areas: conservation-related knowledge, concern for endangered species, or desire to participate in conservation efforts.” (Hance). This way children do not get just the school environment version but also the kinesthetic learners have a way for the information to sink in and be reinforce by the experience at

According to Jason Goldman in his article, "The Little-known Downsides to captive breeding programs". "Breeding over multiple generations in captive settings will inevitably lead to small biological changes between the captive and wild lineages, and those tweaks can become magnified over time" (Goldman). These inbreeding can become detrimental to the animal 's health and the longevity of the population of the species. It is seen in dogs; it can cause the animal to become sterile over many generations or it will at least cause many health problems for the animals. An unnamed college professor with a master in biology in her article "What are disadvantages of captive breeding" "Inbreeding can become a problem especially in zoos or aquaria as there may be a very limited gene pool in such a small population." (Professor). When an animal is kept with few mates this makes a population not as diverse as ones in the wild. Random breeding in the wild leads to a healthier population with greatly diverse gene pool in offspring. This genetic diversity is good for evolution. Evolution will ensure a species of animals can survive as their environment