The Purpose of the Zoo
In the beginning the purpose of zoos was simple: to let people see animals without being eaten, trampled or gored. The animal care was primitive. (In the days of King Henry III, the zoo keeper took the
bears to the river each day so they could catch their own food.) The cages were designed for the convenience of keepers and visitors. The animals rarely lasted long enough to breed, but there were plenty left in the wild.
Today there aren't plenty left. It is no longer enough to merely have animals surviving in cages. Some species will not breed unless specific environmental and behavioral conditions are present. Modern zoos realize the necessity of the comfort and privacy of a seemingly natural hahitat for successful breeding.
Under our new plan, our goals will be the conservation of gene pools and the accumulation of biological data about rare or endangered species.
These goals will be as important as the other purposes of the Zoo:
the education and sheer enjoyment of the public.
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Elephants have srong social bonds. In the wild they will fill man-dug elephant traps with
earth and timber to rescue a friend.
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