Nowhere are asymmetrical power dynamics between humans and animals more evident than in systems of captivity. This chapter assesses literary responses to animal capture, with particular emphasis on zoos. It considers the colonial networks of trade that help to populate Western zoos and examines questions of spectatorship and subjectivity behind and in front of the cage. The discussion is structured around a series of vignettes staging different attitudes toward captive animals. These focus on Rainer Maria Rilke’s panther, Franz Kafka’s ape Red Peter, Julio Cortázar’s axolotl, Marie NDiaye’s fish-woman, and Lydia Millet’s benighted zoogoer, paying special attention to texts inspired by the Jardin des Plantes in Paris – the world’s oldest civil zoo, which opened during the French revolution.

This chapter discusses the role of zoos in education. Zoos claim to have an educational function, but most of the studies that have been conducted in zoos have examined the educational value of single exhibits and have collected data from relatively small samples of visitors. Some studies have recorded changes in the knowledge or future behaviour of visitors following a zoo visit but others have not. Zoos in general tend to overemphasise their educational value based on very little scientific evidence. Some zoos engage in educational outreach work in schools and communities, and some of this work takes place in countries other than those where the zoos are located. Zoos make an important contribution to the training of future zoo professionals and veterinary staff. New technology is increasingly being used to enhance the visitor experience.

The future of zoos may be affected by issues relating to their legacy, animal welfare, the long-term viability of captive populations and their financial viability. They are becoming homogenised in a world that increasingly values diversity. Many keep animals that probably should not be in zoos because of their complex welfare requirements. If they can overcome these challenges the very best of the world’s zoos have a future and an important contribution to make towards the conservation of biodiversity.

This chapter examines some of the research on environmental enrichment and training that has been conducted in zoos on a range of taxa, and includes some work that has been done in other captive environments. When animals are kept in barren environments in captivity they are liable to develop abnormal behaviours. Some of these are repetitive and some involve self-injury. Providing complex and diverse environments helps to prevent or reduce the occurrence of these behaviours and, in recent decades, experiments on environmental enrichment have contributed to positive animal welfare in zoos. Alongside these developments advances have been made in the training of animals and our knowledge of the part that this may play in their welfare and educational value.

This chapter considers the efforts that zoos have made to establish cooperative breeding programmes to create insurance populations of threatened species in zoos, such as the establishment of international studbooks, the EAZA Ex-situ Programmes (EEPs) in Europe and the Species Survival Plan® (SSP) programmes in North America. To improve breeding in some species a number of assisted reproductive technologies have been developed, including artificial insemination, cloning and frozen zoos. In order to manage genetic diversity and prevent the effects of inbreeding, some animals may need to be culled or given contraception. Population growth in managed populations has been predicted by using computer simulations. Some species have recovered well in the wild without the need for ex-situ breeding programmes.

This chapter examines the role of zoos in the reintroduction of threatened animals into the wild. Zoos are increasingly involved with reintroduction projects and in-situ conservation. Once a sufficient number of animals have been bred in cooperative breeding programmes, appropriate individuals may be selected for release, and trained to avoid predators and find food and shelter to increase their post-release survival rates. After release they should be monitored for disease and so that survival rates may be determined. In-situ conservation projects may involve zoos providing overseas partners with expertise, training, community education, equipment, funding and other resources to support them in protecting indigenous species and ecosystems. Zoos have played an important role in the recovery of some species by breeding animals for release or providing expertise and other resources to facilitate reintroductions. Many zoos have made significant contributions to in-situ projects to protect threatened species and habitats.

This chapter discusses the design of zoo enclosures and briefly considers important stages in the history of zoo design. Animals must be safely contained within zoos and the nature of the containment varies between species. From time to time containment methods fail and animals escape, sometimes with fatal consequence for them and the people they encounter. There is an ongoing debate about the appropriate amount of space required for some species, especially large carnivores and other wide-ranging taxa. Minimum space requirements for taxa are arbitrarily determined, and usable space and enclosure shape should be considered when enclosures are designed. A number of studies have examined enclosure use by zoo animals, the need for shade and an appropriate substratum. Visitor behaviour may affect enclosure use in some taxa. Enclosure design is a compromise between the need that animals have to avoid the gaze of the public and the desire of visitors to see the animals.

This chapter considers the nutrition of animals kept in zoos and conservation medicine. Catering for the many and varied diets of animals living in zoos and aquariums presents a significant challenge for these institutions, but wild animal nutrition now has a solid foundation in science. As the body of knowledge and expertise in animal nutrition and veterinary medicine expands we can expect to see ongoing improvements in not only the health and welfare of animals living in zoos and aquariums, but also that of animals living wild as this knowledge is transferred to assist with in-situ conservation. Improving our understanding of the transmission of zoonotic diseases is essential if we are to prevent, or at least contain, the next global pandemic that originates from a population of wild animals. Zoos can make an important contribution to the One Health Approach to dealing with disease.

This chapter considers the concept of animal welfare in a zoo context. Welfare is defined and the various methods that may be used to assess welfare in zoos are discussed. Abnormal behaviours are described with particular reference to the prevalence of stereotypic behaviours in some taxa and their treatment. Condition scoring is described for a number of taxa, along with the use of non-invasive methods of measuring stress. The importance of reducing transportation stress and avoiding capture myopathy are discussed.

This chapter examines the nature of the research conducted in and on zoos. Much of the research undertaken in zoos is concerned with the behaviour, nutrition, welfare and reproduction of animals. However, work has also been published on the history of zoos, their place in culture, their conservation role, their educational value and the interactions between people and animals in zoos. Historical trends in zoo research are examined along with taxonomic bias in the species studied: most studies involve mammals. Although zoo research is published in a wide range of journals, in recent decades a number of specialist journals have been produced.

This chapter examines the contributions that research in zoos has made to zoology. Much of the research conducted in zoos is concerned with the biology of captive animals. However, zoos can also be used to study the basic biology of little-known species and those that are difficult to study in the wild because they are very rare, difficult to find or for some other reason. Many of the early anatomical studies were performed on animals that died in zoos. In addition, zoo studies have included work on animal physiology, genetics, ecology, evolution, behaviour, animal personality and cognition. Some zoos have built specialist research facilities that allow carefully designed experiments to be conducted in controlled conditions in facilities integrated into exhibit designs.

This chapter considers the ways in which zoos are organised and regulated under the law. Zoos and zoo organisations produce policies and standards that govern how they operate and behave. National legislation generally regulates zoos via a system of licences and inspections to ensure conformity to a range of animal welfare, public safety and other standards. The licensing systems of the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States are considered here. In addition to national legislation, zoos are also required to comply with European laws (in the European Union), such as the Zoos Directive, and international laws such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Some individuals keep private collections of exotic animals and these are generally regulated by national or state legislation intended to ensure that animals are suitably housed, have adequate veterinary care and are being safely contained to prevent a risk to the public or the environment if they escape.

This chapter examines animal–human relationships in zoos and the behaviour of visitors. Keeper–animal relationships are important to the welfare of both, and keepers are important sources of information for researchers. Some animals pose a health and safety risk to keepers, veterinarians and visitors as a result of accidents or disease transmission. The behaviour of visitors in zoos has become an important area of academic and practical interest. Researchers measure dwell time as an indicator of the extent to which an exhibit holds the attention of a visitor. It is important to understand how visitors know their position in a zoo (orientation), how they find their way (wayfinding) and how they move around in a zoo (circulation) because these factors can affect their satisfaction with their visit and influence animal welfare.

This chapter is concerned with the ethics of keeping animals in zoos. It examines the ethical problems of keeping animals in captivity with particular reference to the ethics of keeping elephants in zoos. Public attitudes towards various aspects of zoos are examined, including attitudes towards dissection, live feeding, euthanasia and the culling of healthy animals. Animal sentience is also discussed, particularly in relation to the inclusion of some invertebrates in this concept.

This chapter considers what a zoo is and the role of zoos in our culture. It discusses the definition of a ‘zoo’ and the missions statements that zoos produce to explain their purpose to the public. Most zoo visitors are families, they prefer to see large animals, especially mammals, and the primary purpose of their visits is entertainment. Zoos are culturally important. They remind us of our childhood, we give our children toy animals and model zoos, and many zoos keep long-lived animals, such as gorillas and elephants, that become important personalities that we get to know over a long period of our lives. The pattern of visitation is affected by the type of zoo, time of year, weather and other factors, including differential pricing. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative effect on the financial positions of zoos.