“A zoo in Germany has refused to help two polar bear cubs who were rejected by their mother and are now believed to have been eaten by her. So if zoos won’t help to save the lives of animals, what are they for?”
- BBC

Zoos do not recreate nature. They can and should try. Zoos should strive to recreate the elements that make up the natural landscape which the organisms naturally occur. However, there remains the cold unnaturalness of the realty that zoo animals exist. They must be fed. Their waste must be removed. They need vitamin and mineral supplements. Freshwater is a must. These recreated habitats are becoming more sophisticated but do not replicate true Nature and her ability to provide.

However, zoological conservation is needed especially in efforts towards conserving amphibian species. 2008 is the year of the frog. Still a cognitive dissonance exists from the need and want against the ugly truth. It is sad to see some type of animals in captivity especially large primates, large parrots, orcas or any animal that roams by nature like large carnivores or demonstrates intelligence. Nonetheless, some of these animals if not for captivity would be extinct. It’s the dilemma of the double edged sword. I agree with Professor Andrew Linzey:

“When we’ve taken over their lives, made them dependent on us, and submitted them to an unnatural regime, we have a special moral responsibility for them,” he says.

“The creation of dependency always involves direct duties. It’s implausible to argue that just because it happens in nature, we should allow it to happen in an environment where we have artificially made them dependent on us,” he adds.

“If you really like polar bears and care for them and think they are an important part of the ecosystem then help to preserve their natural habitat. Zoos actually make a minuscule contribution to conservation.”

I also agree with this comment from the BBC article What are zoos for?:

Anti-zoo activists cannot have it both ways. Every since Berlin Zoo decided to hand rear Knut they have been complaining that this is unnatural and irresponsible as they now have to re-home a “tame” adult polar bear. Yet Nurnberg is being attacked for doing the opposite. I wish that we all lived in the same world as these activists seem to, but unfortunately I live in the real one where humans have left most of the earth’s species on the brink of extinction. I would like my children to grow up and be able to see tigers, gorillas and polar bears alive rather than as pictures in a book and I am sorry to say the only way that this is going to be possible for most species is in zoos.

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