Zoo

This note is about the approach to zoos.

Cf.

Animal care centre
Animal hospital
Animal park
Animal refuge
Animal rehabilitation centre
Animal reserve
Animal sanctuary
Animal shelter
Aviary
Biodiversity centre
Botanical garden (with animal exhibits)
Conservation facility
Ecological park
Fauna exhibition
Game reserve
Living museum
Marine park
Menagerie (historical)
Nature centre
Nature reserve
Petting zoo
Safari park
Serpentarium
Vivarium
Wildlife park
Wildlife sanctuary
Zoological garden
Zoo
Welfare institution

Relevant concepts:

Health
Justice
Thriving
Captivity
Oppression
Domestication
Ladder
Animal places, animal geography

Challenges

Abnormal behaviours (stereotypies)
Animal advocacy issues
Animal justice
Animal rights
Boredom
Confinement stress
Disease transmission
Disrupted natural behaviours
Environmental deprivation
Ethical concerns
Genetic bottlenecks
Health
Inadequate enrichment
Inadequate space
Injustice
Longevity issues
Loss of autonomy
Loss of natural habitats
Microbiomes
Mobility
Mortality rates
Poor breeding outcomes
Psychological distress
Reduced fitness
Reproductive issues
Socialisation
Stress from human interaction
Suffering
Unnatural groupings
Welfare concerns

Proposals and Approaches

Abolition of zoos
Animal agency in decision-making about their care and environment
Animal-centred design of enclosures and habitats
Animal-led enrichment and activity planning
Community-based animal sanctuaries as alternatives to traditional zoos
Decolonisation of zoo practices and narratives
Democratic governance structures including animal proxies or advocates
Enhanced legal personhood or rights for animals in captivity
Labour rights including pay, medical care, and pension
Mandatory independent animal welfare audits
Participatory research involving animals as subjects with agency
Political representation for animals
Property rights
Recognition of animals as stakeholders in institutional policies
Rehabilitation and rewilding as primary goals
Rights to join unions for animals
Sanctuary transformation of existing zoos
Transparent public oversight and accountability mechanisms
Transition to virtual or augmented reality animal experiences to reduce captivity
Universal animal welfare standards enforced by international bodies

Projects

PhD project on animal-led housing across the landscape of captivity (Kathy Chapman, from 2027). Argument outline and proposal drafts: Deep Design Lab - Documents\Research\Zoos\Argument and ...\Zoos\PhD. See Zoos.

Scale and Reach

A 2011 estimate put visits to zoos and aquariums at more than 700 million a year and their conservation spending at about US$350 million a year.1
A 2011 analysis found that zoos in the ISIS network held about one in seven threatened terrestrial vertebrate species.2

Evidence Base and Research Bias

A decade of zoo-themed research output concentrated on a few mammalian orders.3
A 2009 assessment argued that zoo welfare management relied on tradition where evidence was missing.4
Welfare science in zoos has moved towards positive states and individual assessment.5 One proposal also offers a welfare framework intended to apply across institutions.6
Space use is a candidate measure of enclosure appropriateness that can apply across settings.7
Naturalistic appearance does not guarantee a suitable environment.8

See also the lessons from zoo enclosure design in Housing.

History and Progression

Braverman, Irus. Zooland: The Institution of Captivity. Stanford: Stanford Law Books, 2013.

Grazian, David. American Zoo: A Sociological Safari. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.

Hancocks, David. A Different Nature: The Paradoxical World of Zoos and Their Uncertain Future. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

Hediger, Heini. Wild Animals in Captivity. London: Butterworth, 1950.

McDonald, Tracy, and Daniel Vandersommers, eds. Zoo Studies: A New Humanities. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019.

Miranda, Rafael, Nora Escribano, María Casas, Andrea Pino-del-Carpio, and Ana Villarroya. “The Role of Zoos and Aquariums in a Changing World.” Annual Review of Animal Biosciences 11 (2023): 287–306. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-animal-050622-104306.

Rothfels, Nigel, ed. Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.

Ethics

Animal Justice Calls for Edmonton Valley Zoo Fraud Investigation

Animal Justice Party: Zoos

Why Are Zoos Bad for Animals: A Comprehensive Guide - Pet Abuse

Abbate, Cheryl. “On the Ill-Being of Animals: From Factory Farm to Forever Home.” Midwest Studies in Philosophy 46 (2022): 325–53. https://doi.org/10.5840/msp2022112124.

Acampora, Ralph. “Zoos and Eyes: Contesting Captivity and Seeking Successor Practices.” Society & Animals 13, no. 1 (2005): 69–88. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568530053966643.

Browning, Heather. What Are Zoos For? With Walter Veit. Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2024.

Donahue, Jesse, and Erik Trump. The Politics of Zoos: Exotic Animals and Their Protectors. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2006.

Clay, Anne Safiya, and Ingrid J. Visseren-Hamakers. “Individuals Matter: Dilemmas and Solutions in Conservation and Animal Welfare Practices in Zoos.” Animals 12, no. 3 (2022): 398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12030398.

Clouette, Fabien. “From ‘Noble’ to ‘Ugly’ but ‘Well-Worked’ Fish—Food Morals in the Breton Fish Landings.” Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies 103, no. 4 (2022): 393–416. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-022-00185-z.

Gray, Jennifer. Zoo Ethics: The Challenges of Compassionate Conservation. Clayton South: CSIRO, 2017.

Heise, Ursula K. Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016.

Hilgier, Nina Matylda, and Thurston Cleveland Hicks. “The Issue of Contemporary Zoo Biopolitics: The Case of Chimpanzees.” Zoophilologica. Polish Journal of Animal Studies 15, no. 1 (2025): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA.2025.15.08.

Jamieson, Dale. “Against Zoos.” In In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave, edited by Peter Singer, 132–43. 1985; Oxford: Blackwell, 2013.

Jamieson, Dale. “Zoos Revisited.” In The Philosophy of the Environment, 180–92. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2022.

Johnson, Sammy Jo. “Zoos, Circuses, and Freak Shows: A Cross-Movement Analysis.” In Disability and Animality, 58–74. Abingdon: Routledge, 2020.

Keulartz, Jozef. “Captivity for Conservation? Zoos at a Crossroads.” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 28, no. 2 (2015): 335–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-015-9537-z.

Pierce, Jessica, and Marc Bekoff. “A Postzoo Future: Why Welfare Fails Animals in Zoos.” Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 21, no. sup1 (2018): 43–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2018.1513838.

Probyn, Elspeth. “How to Represent a Fish?” Cultural Studies Review 23, no. 1 (2017): 36–59. https://doi.org/10.5130/csr.v23i1.5110.

Chrulew, Matthew. “Managing Love and Death at the Zoo: The Biopolitics of Endangered Species Preservation.” Australian Humanities Review, no. 50 (2011): 137–58.

Spooner, Sarah L., Susan L. Walker, Simon Dowell, and Andrew Moss. “The Value of Zoos for Species and Society: The Need for a New Model.” Biological Conservation 279 (2023): 109925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109925.

Stanton, Rebecca Rose. The Disneyfication of Animals. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.

Vincelette, Alan. “Perspective Chapter: The Value and Ethical Status of Zoos.” In From Zoo to Farm - the Quest for Animal Welfare, edited by Jaco Bakker and Melissa A. de la Garza, 1–25. London: IntechOpen, 2024.

Managerial Welfare

Hosey, Geoffrey R., Vicky Melfi, and Sheila Pankhurst. Zoo Animals: Behaviour, Management and Welfare. 2009. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Kleiman, Devra G., Katerina V. Thompson, and Charlotte Kirk Baer, eds. Wild Mammals in Captivity: Principles and Techniques for Zoo Management. 1997. 2nd ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Maple, Terry, and Bonnie M. Perdue. Zoo Animal Welfare. Berlin: Springer, 2013.

Interventions and Proposals

Alshaheen, Rua. “Post-Zoo Design: Alternative Futures in the Anthropocene.” PhD Thesis, Arizona State University, 2019.

Coe, Jon C. “Design and Perception: Making the Zoo Experience Real.” Zoo Biology 4, no. 2 (1985): 197–208. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.1430040211.

Mellen, Jill, and Marty Sevenich MacPhee. “Philosophy of Environmental Enrichment: Past, Present, and Future.” Zoo Biology 20, no. 3 (2001): 211–26. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.1021.

Shepherdson, David J., Jill D. Mellen, and Michael Hutchins, eds. Second Nature: Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.

Loi, Daria. “Project Zoo: Co-Designing Behavioural Enrichment Products and Activities for Orangutans.” In Proceedings of the Ninth Conference on Participatory Design: Expanding Boundaries in Design, edited by Gianni Jacucci and Finn Kensing, 81–84. Trento: Association for Computing Machinery, 2006.

Garcia-Pelegrin, Elias. “Do Robots Belong in Zoos?” Biological Conservation 309 (2025): 111293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111293.

Orrego, Santiago. “Partial Encounters: Exploring More-than-Human Entanglements in Berlin’s Animal Enclosures.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 54, no. 3 (2025): 336–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241309857.

Tironi, Martín, and Pablo Hermansen. “Cosmopolitical Encounters: Prototyping at the National Zoo in Santiago, Chile.” Journal of Cultural Economy 11, no. 4 (2018): 330–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2018.1433705.

Webber, Sarah, Marcus Carter, Wally Smith, and Frank Vetere. “Interactive Technology and Human–Animal Encounters at the Zoo.” International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 98 (2017): 150–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.05.003.

References

Arcari, Paula. “Slow Violence against Animals: Unseen Spectacles in Racing and at Zoos.” Geoforum 144 (2023): 103820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103820.

Coghlan, Simon, Sarah Webber, and Marcus Carter. “Improving Ethical Attitudes to Animals with Digital Technologies: The Case of Apes and Zoos.” Ethics and Information Technology 23, no. 4 (2021): 825–39. https://doi.org/10/g82d48.

Keulartz, Jozef. “Towards a Futureproof Zoo.” Animals 13, no. 6 (2023): 998. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13060998.

Lee, Keekok. Zoos: A Philosophical Tour. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Malamud, Randy. Reading Zoos: Representations of Animals and Captivity. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1998.

Minteer, Ben A., Jane Maienschein, and James P. Collins, eds. The Ark and beyond: The Evolution of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.

Morris, Desmond. The Human Zoo: A Zoologist’s Classic Study of the Urban Animal. New York: Kodansha, 1996.

Rose, Paul, and Lisa Riley. “The Use of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment in Zoo Welfare Measurement and Animal Husbandry Change.” Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 7, no. 4 (2019): 150–61. https://doi.org/10/g8zgwv.