For many people, the zoo is a source of childhood amazement and fond memories: swinging monkeys, laughing hyenas and growling tigers. Conservationists say zoos advance their educational and preservationist efforts, but others see zoos as prisons where innocent creatures are unjustly held captive. The next time your child asks you to take them to the zoo, what will your answer be?
Director Emeritus, Columbus Zoo
Zoos have been around for thousands of years in one form or another. Animals in zoological parks and aquariums are truly ambassadors to their cousins in the wild. Today roughly 98 to 99 percent of our zoo mammals come from other zoos, where specially selected animals are chosen to breed to help create a diverse population with in the species. Zoos no longer go out into the wild and capture mammals. However, on occasion, a zoo will care for orphaned young or injured wildlife.
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