Zoos & Aquaria: FAQs

In a word – yes! We are calling for zoos – which include dolphinaria and aquaria – to be phased out.

We appreciate that some zoos have improved dramatically since the launch of our pioneering Zoo Check campaign in 1984. However, we believe that the whole concept of zoos is outdated and flawed.

The conservation, education and research justifications do not stand up to scrutiny (see below) and while some of the enclosures may be bigger and some of the bars may have been replaced by landscaped moats, glass and discreet electric fences, the animals remain confined and compromised for our entertainment.

The biological needs and instinctive behaviours of wild animals cannot be fully catered for in a captive environment, whether they are wild-born or captive-bred.

Our well-fed domestic cats still feel the urge to hunt, after thousands of years of domestication. For wild animals, many natural behaviours and instincts, and their complex social interactions, can never be expressed in a captive environment; their lives are compromised at every turn.

Phasing out the keeping of wild animals in zoos will require a phased process, starting with an end to captive breeding and animal imports, as part of a strategic and humane winding down of the industry.

As the numbers of animals reduces, those remaining could be consolidated in facilities where welfare standards can be upgraded, to ensure suitable social groupings are maintained and that they continue to receive lifetime care until their passing.

In facilities where welfare standards are poor, the animals could be relocated to suitable sanctuaries to receive lifetime care.

HOW WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO PHASE OUT ZOOS?

Some people express a view that life in the wild is dangerous, and that animals are safer in captivity. While no one can deny that the wild is a dangerous place, and human activities such as poaching and habitat destruction are making things ever more dangerous, life in captivity comes with different challenges.

Socially complex, specialised and wide-roaming species fare particularly poorly within the constraints imposed by even the most advanced zoos. Behavioural, reproductive, nutritional, physical and psychological health issues are very common.

The challenges animals face in the wild are replaced by a lifetime of restriction, compromise and suffering in captivity. While zoos might provide the basics – food, water, shelter, and security – they deprive animals of that most essential prerequisite for a life worth living – freedom.

Many zoo animals are shut in tiny night-time accommodation for 12 hours or more every day. Even in some of the leading zoos, they spend their whole lives in enclosures which may look attractive and spacious to human eyes, but these enclosures are far removed from the wild environment they have evolved to live in. Every element of their lives is controlled – from what they eat to whom they must live and mate with.

We can pause at their enclosure, blissfully unaware of what goes on behind the scenes, and then we move on. But the animal remains.

Some animals may live longer in captivity, which is hardly surprising, given the access to veterinary care and specialised diets, and the lack of threats from competitors, predators or poachers.  However, we consider the quality of the animal’s life to be more important than its longevity.

Other captive animals such as elephants and giraffes generally die much younger than their wild counterparts, or endure miserable, life-threatening health problems related directly to their captive surroundings such as painful, chronic lameness and arthritis.

Many animals in zoos are routinely killed because they are surplus to the zoo’s requirements and are not needed by international breeding programmes or other zoos. These include young and healthy animals, along with elderly individuals. Animals frequently escape from their enclosures or from zoo grounds, often resulting in them being killed.

In the wild, much of an animal’s waking hours are filled with hunting prey, searching and foraging for food, or grazing.  However, just because zoo animals are provided with food, this doesn’t take away their deeply ingrained and instinctive need to hunt, forage or patrol territories, or the need to be engage in other meaningful activities.

Species which spend the majority of their time foraging in the wild, like giraffes, frequently develop abnormal behaviours in captivity as a result of unnatural feeding regimes.  Our well-fed domestic cats still feel the urge to hunt despite food being provided for them and after thousands of years of domestication.

In terms of space, some animals in so-called safari parks may have more room than in zoos, but this greater space may not provide greater environmental complexity.

Animals have evolved to survive and thrive across habitats that can, for some species, be measured in tens, hundreds or in some cases thousands of miles, and their complex behavioural and social needs cannot be met by life in a safari park. As in zoos, many animals in safari parks are shut in small night accommodation for 12 hours or more when the visitors go home, and at a time of day when many species would be most active.

Inclement weather can also result in grassy areas freezing or turning into muddy swamps with animals struggling to walk, ending up knee-deep in mud, or being confined to indoor areas.

In addition, safari parks share with zoos many of the damaging management practices associated with breeding animals in captivity, such as the production of ‘surplus’ animals.  Individuals or whole groups of animals are routinely killed to control numbers.

Claims by zoos that they contribute to species conservation can be very misleading and require careful scrutiny. Our research has shown that conservation claims by the zoo industry are questionable, overstated, and in many cases apply only to a tiny proportion of all zoos.

For example, the majority of species kept by zoos are not considered to be threatened with extinction in the wild, and of those that are, captive breeding as a conservation strategy is recommended for only a tiny proportion.

For the overwhelming majority of animals in zoos, the prospect of being released into the wild is zero – almost every animal in every zoo is there for visitor entertainment and will remain in captivity for its entire life. Where successful reintroductions of captive-bred animals have taken place, the captive breeding centres have typically been located in semi-wild conditions within the species natural range; zoos have, at best, contributed a tiny number of animals for reintroductions.

Most zoos focus on charismatic and popular animals that they know will encourage visitors. We believe that keeping and breeding wild species in zoos is inefficient and expensive, as well as being detrimental to animal welfare, and distracts from efforts to conserve wild animals in their natural habitats.

Read our report

Zoos are expensive to operate, and the vast majority are commercial operations that are run for profit.  Few people realise how little of their entrance fee may actually go to help conserve threatened species in the wild.

While some larger zoos may contribute funding to conservation programmes in the wild, this is by no means universal and typically represents only a tiny proportion of the money spent by zoos.

Providing day-to-day animal care and operating captive breeding programmes is a massive expense. Many zoos spend staggering sums building new, or extending existing, animal exhibits and enclosures. These substantial funds could be used more effectively to protect threatened species in their natural habitats, with knock-on benefits for thousands of other species.

Read our report

We believe that zoos present a distorted view of the lives and behaviour of wild animals. It is not necessary to subject an animal to life in captivity to teach children and adults about wildlife.

It is clear from the behaviour of zoo visitors that most do not typically linger long enough at the enclosures to gain any insight or understanding of the animals on show. Most visitors go to the zoo for a good day out, enjoying being in the fresh air, and the trips to the coffee and gift shops.

We don’t believe it is necessary to see or smell a confined and compromised wild animal in the flesh, as many zoos claim, to stimulate a passion for wildlife and conservation. Many children are knowledgeable about and fascinated by dinosaurs, yet most have never even seen skeletons in museums; the fascination has instead been inspired by books, films, and online resources.

BORN FREE’S UK EDUCATION WORK

Although people have become accustomed to the idea of seeing animals in zoos, we should bear in mind that seeing exotic wild animals is a privilege, not a right.

However, not being able to see something should not stop a person’s enjoyment, connection or imagination. There are many incredible ways to connect with nature that do not require animals to be held in captivity, including wildlife in our parks and backyards, books, TV documentaries, virtual reality and online streaming services.

Many zoos claim that they conduct critical research: studying animal health, behaviour, physiology, their response to environmental enrichment or visitor presence, or problems with reproduction in captivity.

People may assume that this research helps threatened species or habitats in the wild. But too often research studies only focus on problems created by captivity and how they affect animal behaviour and welfare.

Whilst some studies may result in a benefit to the health and welfare of individual captive animals, these are studies that are only needed because of the existence of zoos and the many problems they create.

Born Free frequently receives enquiries from parents and carers asking us for advice, concerned that their child’s school has planned a trip to a zoo or visit from a mobile zoo, or are feeling under pressure to take their children to activities or places that involve captive wild animals.

We have prepared two template letters that you can download and send to the school to let them know of your concerns.

VISITING ZOOS: INFORMATION FOR FAMILIES     UK EDUCATION RESOURCES

Genuine sanctuaries are there to give a home and provide care, temporary or permanent, to animals in need. Unlike zoos, sanctuaries are not there to buy, sell, trade, borrow, loan out, breed or display animals. Good sanctuaries have a no-breeding policy, preferring instead to allocate available resources to animals already in need.

Where possible, sanctuary enclosures are designed to give the animals’ privacy, and an opportunity to escape from view. In most zoos animals have no choice but to remain on show to the public.

Many facilities calling themselves sanctuaries offer opportunities for the public to experience direct contact with their animals, encouraging them to become more accustomed to humans. This is not in the animals’ best interests (unless for the administration of veterinary or neonatal care).

Direct contact with wild animals also poses a significant risk to human health and safety through potential disease transmission or injury.

ANIMAL INTERACTION      GUIDANCE: VOLUNTEERING WITH WILD ANIMALS

In Britain, local authorities (councils) are responsible for the licensing and inspection of zoos.

Government-appointed zoo inspectors, who may work for or be closely associated with another zoo, carry out formal inspections every three to four years and assist local authorities in considering zoo licence applications and renewals. Operating licences are renewed every six years.

Zoo inspection reports should inform the local authority of the inspector’s opinion on whether the zoo is meeting legislative requirements.

Informal inspections are conducted by relevant council staff in years between formal inspections, however the council staff carrying out these informal inspections may also be the same people responsible for licensing gambling establishments and tattoo parlours, and may not have the experience or expertise to effectively evaluate zoos against their licence requirements.

In England, there are regulations called The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations, which cover the use of animals in mobile animal exhibits that visit schools, private parties, fairs and other events where an audience is present.

Although mobile zoo companies or individuals are required to hold a licence to operate, they are not subject to regular inspections. The welfare of animals used in mobile zoos is a real concern. Frequent transportation is known to be stressful for animals, and stress levels are likely to increase further when they are exposed to strange, new environments, where the handlers often have no control over noise levels or other stressful factors.

There is no guarantee that the welfare of these animals is met on a day-to-day basis. When not being used in mobile zoos, the animals are typically kept in cages at the homes or premises of their owners.

In Scotland and Wales, legislation covering ‘mobile zoos’ is even less stringent, simply requiring a business to register that it is operating, with no requirement for welfare inspections.

MOBILE ANIMAL EXHIBITS