The compatibility of zoo conservation programs and animal welfare issues

✍ Scribed by Michael D. Kreger

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 439 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0733-3188
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2361(1997)16:1<95::aid-zoo12>3.0.co;2-c

✦ Synopsis

Over the past 10 years, the zoo world, like biomedical research and animal agriculture, has become more introspective about animal welfare. The reasons for this include societal criticism, new legislation, and the desire of those who work with animals to take advantage of developing sciences such as applied ethology to improve the quality of life of their charges. However, given the rapid rate of extinction and loss of biodiversity, zoos have had to make tough decisions about which species deserve priority for population management in captivity, reintroduction, and other conservation roles, including education and research. These decisions may be beneficial to wild populations in the long run, but they may also compromise the welfare of the individual animals within the collection.