"Good" vs "Bad" Zoos: The Scientific value of Zoos

By Ella Paul, 2024

Published 9/29/2023

The ongoing debate about “good” vs. “bad” zoos has yet to reach a conclusion. Many animal lovers believe zoos to be an inhumane practice, yet recently, professional wildlife conservationists and biologists have begun to publicly support zoos. While there are still zoos in the world that are illegitimate and treat animals poorly, which these professionals oppose, there are others that provide important care to animals and resources to the fight for wildlife conservation. It can be difficult for people with little wildlife experience to determine whether a zoo is legitimate or “good,” and most people just think all zoos are bad as a result. These same people do not realize there are zoos that work with recovering animals, fight against extinction, and work with government organizations to encourage conservation and protect animals in communities. 

The question of “Are Zoos Good or Bad?” became such a popular essay topic for elementary and middle schoolers, probably because many kids in this population of students have experience at a zoo or may love animals. The downside to the popularization of this debate in a young crowd is that the superficial arguments used in a simple essay or debate by young kids distract from real evidence that might help people realize the benefit of zoos. 

Wildlife biologist and conservationist Samantha Sullivan outlined multiple categories that can help one determine whether a zoo truly is “good or bad,” including its accreditation status, whether it is for or not for profit, its contribution to research and funding for conservation, its educational opportunities for guests, and the obvious one, its welfare practices. 

Accreditation

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) was founded in 1924 to ensure that all zoos and aquariums in the United States were operating in compliance with certain standards. The majority of these standards relate to the treatment of animals, availability of resources, and quality of management. Many people do not realize just how thorough this accreditation process is. This is not like a restaurant health code assessment, where an evaluator comes in, looks around for ten minutes, and makes an assessment. Accreditation by the AZA is a six-month process consisting of a physical and mental health examination of every single animal, an evaluation of the enrichment, natural behavior, and diet of all animals, an evaluation of the zoos’ staff, policies and procedures (including finances), safety protocols, veterinary programs, education programs, as well as their involvement in conservation advocacy and research. Additionally, when the Accreditation Committee meets to make the final decision on applications, the zoo’s senior officials are required to appear before the AZA board to answer any questions. 

Non-Profit Status

The majority of “good” zoos are non-profit organizations. This means that, rather than functioning as a money-making business, they exist to serve the animals living there and provide educational opportunities for guests. A zoo is unable to achieve the non-profit status if they intend to function as a business before the focus of serving the wildlife. Becoming a non-profit business requires lots of paperwork to prove that the money made is not going to an individual, but instead back into the organization, in the case of zoos or aquariums, to benefit the animals. 

Research and Funding for Conservation

As stated above, the financial status of a zoo is important in understanding its intentions. Most non-profit, accredited zoos participate in research and funding to support wildlife conservation efforts. So, in addition to profits from the zoo going right back to the animals, it is also going out into the wild to save dying habitats, reintroduce species close to extinction to the wild, and more. Additionally, these zoos conduct research out in the wild to best determine the conservation of endangered species and work with local and higher level governments to implement the programs they deem necessary to protect animals in the wild. Many also research the best way to sustain populations of species including reproduction enhancement and investigations to prevent diseases.

Educational Opportunities for Guests

Communities are what keep zoos alive. By educating people about animals, conservation, and protecting wildlife, zoos expand their mission past their acreage and out into the communities they are a part of. High quality zoos have volunteers and staff present at every corner to answer questions, inform people if they are disturbing animals in any way, and provide facts beyond what guests can observe. They also have informational signage at every single habitat and offer informational sessions when they speak to guests about specific animals or conservation in general, and often publish feeding times of specific animals so guests can observe. 

Welfare Practices

Arguably, the most obvious indicator of a good or bad zoo to a guest with no wildlife training is how the animals seem to be treated. Nonetheless, there is far more that goes into the care of an animal in a zoo than meets the eye. For example, when people go to the zoo, all they want is to see their favorite animal, so when they come up to the cheetah or tiger habitat and do not see the big cat, it is natural to get frustrated and criticize the zoo. However, this is an indicator of a good zoo. Just as humans often need some time for themselves, animals in zoos often get tired of being on display all day. For this reason, good zoos have separate areas for their animals, out of sight from guests, where the animals can move about freely throughout the day. Similarly, the more realistic an enclosure looks, the more comfortable an animal will be. In addition to the enclosures, welfare practices also include the relationship between the animals in an enclosure and relationships between animals and their caretakers. For example, a guest might come up to the gorilla section and notice there is a family of five gorillas in one enclosure, and further down the path, there is a gorilla all alone. They might feel bad for the “lonely” gorilla, but what they might not realize is that at a certain age, male gorillas in the wild actually separate from their pack because the leading male kicks them out, so if that gorilla was not isolated, he could actually be at a safety risk to the other gorillas and possibly to the guests. Staff members must know the habits and behaviors of the animals in their care, and that allows the animals to feel safe in their environment. 

At the end of the day, there is no objective way to determine if a zoo is “good” or “bad”. There is evidence to support both sides of the argument on zoos. However, it is important that people educate themselves on the practices of a zoo before jumping to the conclusion that all zoos are dangerous places for animals.