Hello everyone! Now that we have gone through Exhibit A, it is time to move on to Exhibit B: the contributions of zoos towards research!

We know by now that zoos keep animals in a safe and controlled environment, and these conditions allow for not just captive breeding (check out my previous post!), but also an opportunity for us to better understand them through research.

You might wonder: why not conduct research on species in their natural environment? Well, this article does present some valid points. Tracking animals in the wild can prove to be a challenging task, especially if they thrive in inhospitable environments, and could require an exorbitant amount of resources just to find them. Having access to members of a species 24/7, in a controlled environment will make it easier for researchers to learn more about what they are interested in.

Research is important to conservation, as a better understanding of species, regarding things such as their behavior, reproduction, response to various factors… are all imperative to drafting more relevant and effective conservation plans, be it for ex situ or in situ conservation (Reid et al, 2008).

“African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus)” by Brendan Ryan is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

An example of how zoos have contributed to research is with the African Penguin, as a group of researchers interested in the vocal behaviors of the African Penguin conducted research on a captive colony of the penguins in Zoom Torino, a zoo in Italy (Favaro et al, 2014). The Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre is another example, located within Assiniboine Park Zoo in Canada, it conducts valuable research to learn more about not just polar bears, but other Arctic species as well.

Source from: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

In Singapore, WRS has also set up the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund (WRSCF), which supports various local conservation and research projects, such as the conservation of the Raffles Banded Langur.

While research is certainly important, there are limitations to what zoos can contribute. Born Free, an organisation based in the United Kingdom, suggests that the problems with zoos include poor animal welfare, and despite claims that zoos contribute to research, more often than not the research is conducted to shed light on issues caused captivity by, rarely ever benefiting conservation. Furthermore, there may be a disparity between an animal’s wild behavior compared to that in captivity, limiting the application of data obtained from zoos.

In the end, I still opine that zoo research is important, for knowledge is power. If we do not have a good enough understanding of animals, then crafting detailed, relevant strategies will be quite a hurdle, and zoos are an accessible avenue to obtain the necessary information. Of course, research procedures should be guided by ethics, to ensure animal welfare standards are not compromised.

That’s all I have for this post, and thank you so much for reading! In the next post, we look at the last contribution zoos make to conservation, so stay tuned!

Cheers!
Jeng Wei

References:

Reid G.McG., Macdonald A.A., Fidgett A.L., Hiddinga B., Leus K. (2008).  Developing the research potential of zoos and aquaria. The EAZA Research Strategy EAZA Executive Office, Amsterdam. Retrieved from https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/Strategies/EAZA-Research-Strategy-2008.pdf

Favaro L, Ozella L, Pessani D (2014). The Vocal Repertoire of the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus): Structure and Function of Calls. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103460 

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons