Are Zoos Ethical? with Rob Laidlaw

Are zoos ethical? We’ll help you find that answer for yourself in today’s interview. As imagined, it’s not a simple yes or no. Episode 78 of the For Animals. For Earth. Show

Are zoos ethical?  We’ll help you find that answer for yourself in today’s interview.  As imagined, it’s not a simple yes or no.

I’m joined by Rob Laidlaw, the founder of Zoocheck, a wildlife protection organization based in Canada.  He’s an author of ten children’s books, a chartered biologist, a speaker, and one of the most successful animal rights advocates of the century.  He’s down to earth, humble and kind, and does not seem to be deterred by the roadblocks we often hit as we fight for animals.  He’s a wealth of knowledge, and we’re so thankful that he shared his thoughts and perspectives with us in this interview.

In today’s conversation, we address “are zoos ethical?” through the following topics:

Listen to the episode:

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Types of Zoos:

There are an estimated 10,000-12,000 zoos in the world, and when posing the question, “Are zoos ethical?” we need to first understand what type of zoo we’re talking about.  Rob breaks zoos into these broad groups:

  • Traditional Zoos & Safari Parks – typically found in towns and cities, often “accredited” (but be careful of blindly trusting an accreditation because some non-accredited zoos could actually be better than accredited ones), have budgets and organizational design that includes staffing and resources
  • Roadside Zoos, Traveling Mobile Zoos, & Reptile Zoos – far out-number the traditional zoos, often brand themselves as “rescue centers or sanctuaries” so we need to look closely, often amateurs or hobbyists/collectors who enjoy having the animals as pets and their collection has grown, usually don’t have professional education or mentorship from credible institutions, usually do not have certifications or accreditations even after years of being in business, limited space and resources, limited finances, limited staff, cages not properly designed, built as cheaply as possible, lack of professional staff – typically run by family, friends, and volunteers, often feed expired grocery food and restaurant waste to the animals, high mortality rate, often include exploitation of animals for commercial gain – shows, selfies, take animals offsite to parties, animal petting, etc.
  • Aquariums and Marine Parks – similar to traditional zoos but they have evolved differently with their own nuances

How Have Zoos Changed Over Time?

The first modern zoo opened in Vienna, Austria in 1752, established primarily for scientific purposes but did include visitation.  The London Zoo opened in 1828 as the first public zoo and public zoos spread from there.  In the 1880s and 1890s these had spread to North America with some notable zoos in Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Toronto.

Carl Hagenbeck opened a zoo in Germany in 1907 with large panoramas that provided a backdrop for the animals and used moats rather than bars or netting for safety.  In 1938, the first dolphinarium in North America opened at Marine Studios in Florida and became very popular.  More of those were created in the 1950s and spread around the world.

In the 1950s and 1960s, sanitary modernism became a popular design style, primarily for disease control.  This is the stark, concrete wall type of animal enclosure that isn’t too common anymore.

Environmentalism, also called naturalism, was introduced in the late 1970s by David Hancock at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle.  This was a revolution to add natural habitat to the exhibits and some form of that (often not actually natural) is still often replicated around the world.

The Rock Revolution, including the use of spray-on concrete that can be sculpted easily to look like rock formations became popular after this.  Acrylic panels were also placed in aquariums to give the feeling of large underwater vistas.

In the 1990s, Singapore Night Safari was established, and that was the first zoo where you could go look at the animals at night.

Zoos have evolved over the years, and there have been improvements in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine.  However, the fundamental issues that many animals face (e.g. in cages, understimulated, spaces are magnitudes smaller than their experience in the wild) haven’t necessarily been addressed.  This is a key component to any “are zoos ethical?” conversation.

Design Tricks Used by Zoos:

For many years zoos have been perfecting design tricks that make it look like animals are living in nicer habitats than they are.  Here are a few examples of design tricks used by zoos:

  • Lush vegetation throughout the zoo, but animals don’t actually have access to it.  The design of their exhibits may be done with “framing” which includes placing plants between us and them, giving the perception that they’re living in a lush natural environment.  However, these plants are out of reach for the animals.
  • Moats create the perception that an animal is set back into a natural environment, however, although it looks beautiful from our vantage point, it may be only stark infrastructure from the animal’s point of view looking back at us.
  • Hotwired vegetation – bushes, trees, etc. that the animals would instinctively want to touch, climb, or tear apart will be hotwired with a low-voltage current so that the animal receives a shock if they do touch it
  • Mirrors in aquariums make it look like the tank is much bigger than it actually is.  These can easily trick the casual visitor into thinking animals have much more space than they really do.
  • Viewing is restricted to specific areas that only show an exhibit in the best light possible.  We can’t view things that they don’t want us to see and thus we could walk away with the perception that the entire living area for the animals is much better than what it actually is.

Keeping an eye out for these design tricks and pointing them out to our friends when we visit zoos can help us assess “are zoos ethical?” for the locations that we visit.

Where Do Zoo Animals Come From?

North American zoos generally have three sources for wild animals.  Most “are zoos ethical?” discussions likely touch on this topic.

  1.  Captive Breeding – a significant number of animals in more established zoos are captive-bred.  There’s a lot of trade amongst facilities, and some of it is controlled by committees who are looking holistically at species survival plans.  In addition, a significant amount of trade happens among roadside zoos, pseudo-sanctuaries, reptile facilities, and private pet keepers.
  2.  Capture from the Wild – a significant number of animals are still captured from the wild, particularly in the aquarium trade.  A very large number of fish and invertebrates are extracted from the ocean.
  3. Opportunistic Acquisitions – not as significant, but governmental organizations will often send animals to zoos that they don’t know what to do with.  Unfortunately, this often includes animals who likely had other options.

Negative Effects of Captivity on Animals:

The negative effects of captivity on animals are also a very common topic in the “are zoos ethical?” conversation.  Here are a few of the effects that are often seen in captive animals:

  • Stereotypic Behaviors (“Stereotypies”) – Repetitive behaviors such as animals pacing back and forth, rocking back and forth, or walking in figure eights, triggered by high-stress or negative emotional states.
  • Psychological Problems – Animals have negative emotional states like we do, and these may be prominent in the lives of many animals in captivity, especially boredom, anxiety, and frustration.
  • Physical Problems – When an animal typically lives in different terrain or walks miles a day, we will see diminished physical fitness, cardiovascular health, muscular issues, and obesity.  Animals have dental issues from improper diet, like the turning of elephant teeth.  They can also have metabolic bone disease because of vitamin deficiency.  Foot and join problems come from standing on hard surfaces.
  • Premature Mortality – Many animals are not living into the upper reaches of their normal life spans (e.g. orcas and elephants).

Environmental enrichment is a popular movement to make life in captivity better for animals.  While this is good to do, it simply can’t make up for the space and complexity that they would have in their natural environment.

How Can We Help Animals in Zoos?

If you think something is wrong, say something.  Let people know what your concerns are.  Here is a list of places that can help animals living in zoos:

  • Make a complaint to the zoo
  • Make a complaint to your local legislators, especially if it’s a city facility
  • Make a complaint to regional authorities that oversee zoos in your state, or oversee that specific type of animal, such as Fish & Wildlife
  • Write a letter to the editor of your local media outlet.  Readers will often agree with you and grow the effort.

If you receive formulaic responses that seem to be created to get rid of you, ask more questions.  Don’t let it go.  Expand the conversation.

What About Conservation and Education?

Conservation, education, and species survival are three large arguments made for the importance of zoos.  These are definitely a vital part of the “are zoos ethical?” conversation.

Here are a few deeper questions that you can ask to analyze the impact of your local zoo on conservation and education:

  1. Can they share evidence of the animals that they have released back into the wild and show their success in helping curb biodiversity loss?  Are these animals living in the wild but with heavy management?
  2. How much money was donated for wildlife conservation last year?  What percentage is that of their annual operating budget?
  3. Does the zoo provide specific education on how to change your lifestyle to make a meaningful difference for the environment?
  4. Is the zoo conveying old information or misinformation to the public?  Does what they say match with what is found researching the internet?
  5. Does the zoo honestly explain the stereotypies and why they’re happening?
  6. Does the zoo convey the scale of the attack on global wildlife?  Do you leave understanding the gravity of climate change and why you should do anything within your means to be a part of the solution?
  7. Is there any conversation about the potential negative impact of zoos on human beings, such as becoming more utilitarian, viewing animals more as commodities, or normalizing the confinement and abuse of animals?

What Should We Do When We Visit a Zoo?

If we choose to visit a zoo, we can do it more consciously by preparing before we go.  Once we’re in the zoo, we can keep our eye out for the design tricks that we have learned, the animal behaviors that we have learned, and compare how the captive environment matches what we’ve learned about the wild.   Here are some general steps to follow:

  1. Use the zoo’s website to look up the animals who live at the zoo.  Make a list of those that we would like to see.
  2. Search the internet for what life looks like in the wild for those animals.  Take notes.
  3. Make a plan for our visit that allows ample time to observe these animals in their exhibits.
  4. Ask lots of questions.
  5. If we’re concerned about something, say something.  Click here for ideas on how to advocate for zoo animals.

Zoos of the Future:

Sanctuaries who provide spacious environments for their animals are moving in the right direction.  Two examples are The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.  When we ask, “are zoos ethical?” we can push the boundaries by benchmarking places like this.  Rob encourages zoos to think about either providing animals with an adequate amount of space or moving away from keeping them.

Here is a quick list of ideas for zoos of the future:

  1. Put the priority of the animals first, not the public.
  2. Recognize that nature is the norm.  Move away from the focus on high-tech glossy exhibits.  Instead, replicate nature to the extent that it is possible.
  3. Keep fewer animals.  Not every zoo needs one of every animal.
  4. More specialization.  Only keep species that naturally live in the environment/climate where the zoo is located.
  5. If animals are being kept for conservation purposes, make sure there’s truly a prospect of their first or second-generation descendants surviving in the wild.
  6. Stop breeding more common animals that are not specifically part of a conservation project.
  7. Emphasize the small rather than the large.  Most of the world’s wildlife is small, and most people aren’t familiar with those species that are in trouble.
  8. Greater space for large animals.  It’s known that large animals need larger spaces.  Work to provide that for them.
  9. Get away from the sanitization of the messaging.  Use the zoos of the future to really educate people and to get them activated to save the biodiversity of our planet.

Watch the episode:

Closed captioning transcript included in video.  Subscribe on YouTube.

About Rob Laidlaw:

Rob Laidlaw of ZooCheck joins me for today's interview, "Are Zoos Ethical?". Join us for a wealth of knowledge on how to make this decision for yourself. Episode 78 of the For Animals. For Earth. Show

Rob Laidlaw has spent more than 40 years working to protect both animals in Canada and around the world. He is a Chartered Biologist, founder of the wildlife protection organization Zoocheck and a recipient of the prestigious Frederic A. McGrand Lifetime Achievement Award for substantial contributions to animal welfare in Canada. Rob is also an award-winning author of ten children’s books about animal welfare and wildlife protection, as well as numerous articles, reports, book chapters and other materials.

ABOUT ZOOCHECK:

A Canadian-based international wildlife protection charity established in 1984 to promote and protect the interests and well-being of wild animals. Zoocheck works with a broad range of collaborating partners around the world and endeavors to promote animal protection in specific situations and to bring about a new respect for all living things and the world in which they live.

Connect with Rob & ZooCheck:

The best way to connect with Rob is through the ZooCheck website:

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Is it okay to visit zoos? Join me for this in depth discussion with ZooCheck's founder, Rob Laidlaw. Episode 78 of the For Animals. For Earth. Show: Are Zoos Ethical?
Are Zoos Ethical? Things to think about when visiting zoos with Rob Laidlaw. Episode 78 of the For Animals. For Earth. Show
How have zoos evolved and how can we help wildlife in captivity? Join me for this thoughtful discussion with ZooCheck's founder, Rob Laidlaw. Episode 78 of the For Animals. For Earth. Show: Are Zoos Ethical?

If You Enjoyed Today's Episode:

If you enjoyed today’s episode about “are zoos ethical?”, I think you would love my interview with Ulara Nakagawa of “Elephants in Japan”.  She fights for elephants who are living in solitary confinement in zoos around Japan (and the world).  You’ll get the chance to learn more details about elephants and their behavior, as well as how to help Ulara continue to fight.

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