The reinvention of Australian zoos

Zoos globally have long been subject to criticism over animal welfare standards. The documentary Black Fish years ago highlighted problems with keeping orcas in captivity, and there remains opposition to the keeping of cetaceans and other large, social and migratory species - such as gorillas or elephants - in human care.

"There's a lot of zoos in the world and an awful lot of them are no good," says Elaine Bensted, chief executive of Zoos SA, which operates Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park.
" 15…… We're lucky in Australia that we don't have very many of what I call the 'really bad zoos'. A good zoo should have an absolute focus on animal welfare, on conservation and be absolutely focusing on their own environmental sustainability practices." For many zoos this means holding fewer animals. Taronga's tiger enclosure was once home to three other species. 16…….

"We've been really clear that you need to think carefully about what species you hold if you don't have a big footprint," Bensted says. "Absolutely there is still a role for city zoos -they play an incredible role in education, as well as tourism - but you have to recognise that if you've got a small site, we're not going to try to hold every single species so people can come and see it."

However, as zoos are reliant on visitors to fund their operations, they do have to consider holding popular, charismatic species. Bensted says Adelaide Zoo has decided to continue to hold pandas, although they're large, because they are popular with visitors, but also because the zoo was confident the animal's enclosure provided them with a good standard of welfare.

Bensted's Monarto Safari Park has also joined a number of other large zoos, including Taronga, Western Plains and the National Zoo and Aquarium, in offering high-end overnight accommodation. 17…… Kerr, who launched the wildlife retreat at Taronga last month with rates starting at $790 for two people, says overnight stays also result in more pro-environmental behaviours from guests, who spend more time with keepers, animals and conservationists. Already, 18……

In Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, the Zoo and Aquarium Association accredits zoos and aquaria in a process focused on animal welfare standards. The association has plans to extend its accreditation[1] process to include conservation, biosecurity and sustainability. 19……. 

"It's about agency and how an animal experiences what it experiences," says Nicola Craddock, the association's executive director. "It's quite holistic and very much based on a specific animal, from that animal's point of view." Dr Ali Chauvenet, a conservation scientist from Griffith University, says zoos can become a refuge even for animals that may not be suited for captivity, because the world outside is no longer safe for them. "We don't want a world where all we have is animals in zoos," she says. "It is outside threats which are bringing us here.

"Big primates are highly stressed in their natural habitat. 20……. Even though putting them in zoos can be stressful, we are also contributing a lot to their persistence because we have them in zoos.

[1] accreditation - official approval or certification