Homework

Here's my first home work.
I found it kind of interesting so I'm posting it.

Reaction Paper #1
The Roles of Captive Breeding and Reintroduction in Conservation

I never really gave much thought to why zoos exist until I started working at one. All of a sudden I found myself having to defend where I worked and why I worked there. What are the real benefits of zoos? Are they just animals in cages for human amusement? Until David Powell’s presentation on Friday my standard answer to the questions of why I work at a zoo and what zoos good for was, that people don’t care about what they don’t see. This will probably remain my main come back, but Dr. Powell’s presentation helped me to see zoos in totally new and different light.
In the articles that we were assigned to read for the presentation I saw that zoos were often referred to as “The Ark,” like Noah’s Ark. The more I saw zoos referred as that, the more annoyed I became. I think it’s unreasonable, not to mentioned naïve, and supercilious, to think of zoos as a fix all to our endangered species. The reason that most species are becoming endangered is due to habitat loss. Until a habitat can be regained for them, there is no point in breeding them for release. That is something that I have always considered. What I hadn’t considered until Dr. Powell’s presentation is how hard breeding for release and reintroduction really is, and how largely unsuccessful.
There’s the matter of choosing what species to work with and which to drop. It is obvious that not one zoo would be able to house and care for all the species that are considered endangered. Maybe zoos could organize and several zoos together could have a more comprehensive breeding and reintroduction program. Hopefully it would include some of the lesser-represented taxa, but who would choose which zoo got which? Zoos would compete to house the less expensive species that draw in more money. Comprehensive breeding programs are too expensive and complicated therefore destined to fail. Incomplete breeding programs are too bias, and do not make for sustainable ecosystems.
Because of the data that Dr. Powell showed us I’m incline to think there should be no captive breeding for release programs. I think that the SSP should start using it’s resources to save existing habitat and create new ones for endangered species. Captive breeding is riddled with too many faults, and there is no real world way to sustain genetic diversity. Even after this elusive goal is reached there’s still the matter of housing all these animals, and in effect, training them to be wild. To then be reintroduced into a forest that will soon disappear? Or to send them out to be poached, or killed? Or to die because there is no more food for it?
So if captive breeding and reintroduction isn’t what zoos are for, then what are they good for? In line to my previous answer: zoos serve as a reminder. A reminder to people in urban areas that there is wildlife out there and it is beautiful. A reminder that animals are dying so that people can have mountain grown coffee, or beachfront property, or cheap oil/ paper/ etc. People really don’t care about that they don’t see, and if seeing a sea lion makes them want to take public transportation the next day, (to be less fuel dependent) then the collective we (the world, including animals) are a little bit better for it.
Having reread my notes several times while writing (and re-writing) this reaction paper, I have changed my mind on the topic several times. I think it’s safe to say that I could be persuaded to go either way in this debate but the real answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. Maybe captive breeding for reintroduction should concentrate more on species where there is still a wild for them to be reintroduced to. I think that should be the main criteria for starting a captive breeding program. There should probably be guidelines to when a project is complete. This way we don’t just keep breeding Golden Lion Tamarins till every zoo has dozens. Zoos should have some animals that are just for educational purposes, or for the wow effect. I think the Bronx Zoo has a varied and well-rounded collection of animals. But I think it’s easier for larger well-known zoos to accomplish this. Maybe a prerequisite for AZA accreditation should be having some percentage of your collection be part of the SSP.
It seems like everyone else, I just have a lot of “maybe” ideas. But it’s better now that I have ideas on this topic, than before the presentation, when I gave it no thought at all.