The ethics of captivity: a landmark gathering

Chris Lewis, Adeline Lerambert and Will Travers OBE at the event

This week, Born Free was honoured to co-sponsor and participate in the 10th Annual Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics Summer School. The sell-out event, held at Merton College, University of Oxford, had the theme ‘The Ethics of Captivity’ – a key concern for our wildlife charity.

This year marked the tenth instalment of the Summer School, drawing over 150 academics from more than 20 countries, including India, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Austria, Taiwan, Ireland, the USA, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

It was a decade milestone for the Summer School, reinforcing its reputation as the premier international forum on animal ethics, and it provided a platform for global, interdisciplinary inquiry.

Adeline Lerambert presenting

Participants explored captivity across a vast landscape — zoos, wild animals as pets, mobile zoos, aquaculture, fur production, experimentation and much more. Together we raised critical ethical questions, such as whether any form of confinement is justifiable, the harms of denying sentient beings health, welfare and freedom, as well as pathways for legal, cultural, and policy reform.

The 2025 Summer School at Oxford combined rigorous interdisciplinary debate with a critical examination of how and why humans confine animals. It offered both urgent ethical reflection and practical pathways for change in captive animal welfare, all while cultivating a collaborative spirit among a global academic community.

Born Free provided two presentations at the Summer School. Chris Lewis, our Captivity Research & Policy Manager, presented on ‘Elephants in Zoos: Past, Present, but what Future?, while Adeline Lerambert, International Policy Manager, presented on ‘An Ethical Critique of Sustainable Use Approaches.’

Chris Lewis presenting

“It was a pleasure to represent Born Free at such a prestigious event,” said Chris. “Such a great opportunity to discuss the challenges and successes experienced by individuals – from a broad range of backgrounds, who all share a common vision for a more compassionate future for animals.

“We thank the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics for selecting the subject of animals in captivity for this year’s Summer School. We now look forward to building on our relationship with the Centre in the long-term, as we collectively continue the ethical debate surrounding the keeping of wild animals in captivity.”

ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY: FIND OUT MORE