Functions of Zoo
Modern Zoo’s have more functions than just displaying animals to entertain people. People have always associated zoo’s with collecting and caging of wild animals. The first modern zoo was opened on 1793 in Paris, France and this changed the common people’s perception of zoo. It was at this time that several zoologists wanted to study and research about animals and that gave zoo’s a different purpose. Following are some of the functions of zoo’s other than public entertainment.
Modern zoo’s focus on research more than public display.
This is to understand the behaviours of the animals. Animals might feel very uncomfortable when encaged, so its important to understand how to keep them happy inside the zoo. For example, some birds when in captivity might feel distressed and they tend to pluck their feathers and end up harming themselves. It was only after a doing an extensive research that they were able to find out that this behaviour is due to different species of birds caged in one big enclosure.
(National geographic, 2019)
Captive breeding is valuable for survival of endangered species. Several animals that are extinct in the wild are still surviving in several zoos across the world. The goal of captive breeding in any zoo is to reintroduce animals into the wild and to fight against their extinction. Although there is an argument about keeping animals in captivity, several zoologists support the idea of captive breeding. (National geographic, 2019)
Educating people about animals is also an important function of zoos. Its important for every human being to understand how we impact the wildlife and also how deforestation and industrialization is causing destruction in wildlife habitats.
Its important to know how we humans can improve life for animals and educating them at zoos is one way to do this. Zoos have dedicated zoologists to educate the visitors and explaining them about the animals and their behaviours. The zoologists also make sure that the people are safe from any possible attacks while being near dangerous animals.
Modern zoos are not just about public display of animals and they have more important functions like conservation, research and education. Some zoos even focus on special enclosures for artic animals. Zoos also play a vital role in preserving animals from extinction. Zoos do not operate just to entertain people but most of us think of it as a place where animals are caged without any purpose.
