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But zoos are not perfect. Should they continue to keep large predators, or intelligent primates? Over the next few decades, probably not. Should large new animals be collected from the wild? No, unless there is a compelling case to develop a captive breeding program. But are zoos changing and developing? Yes! More than ever, good zoos are aware of their evolving role in conservation and responding to it.
Would I rather have a species in captivity, than not at all. One hundred times, yes. What we don’t need is knee-jerk reactions to tragic accidents.

It’s easy to attack zoos

It’s absolutely right that there are bad zoos too, both in the UK and around the world. But I would argue that it’s easy to criticise something with a visible and physical presence. What is much, much harder is taking action to support conservation in the field, to reduce the impact of climate change or tackle pollution.
These things are a lot less tangiable, a lot harder to get to grips with. It’s difficult for one individual to feel that they have made much of a difference, and so often we don’t get the same feeling of satisfaction or achievement. That I think is why so many animal rights groups attack zoos, when instead I would argue that they could achieve a much greater net good by working together and protecting natural habitats.
Zoos are run by people who love animals, but as with any passion project, we might differ in our views on how best to achieve what we want. So I would urge you to support the good ones, improve the bad ones, don’t tar them all with the same brush and remember: The focus should be on protecting natural habitats and that zoos can help achieve that.