Zoos endanger future of rare animals

I refer to the letter “Why zoos should house more rare land animals” (Feb 7), which urges the Singapore Zoo to house rare animals from Asia to address the problem of wildlife extinction.

Such a move will not minimise extinction of endangered species. On the contrary, it is likely that the acquisition of rare animals by zoos would exacerbate the problem.

The main causes for the extinction of species are primarily loss of habitat, pollution and poaching. While zoos may serve as temporary exhibition grounds for such animals, they do not address the causes of extinction.

First, unless there are effective breeding programmes, the animals are nothing more than exhibits held captive in artificial environments for the purpose of public leisure and entertainment.

Second, even with successful breeding, the genetic diversity of the breeding pairs is limited in any zoo collection, compared with the potential of greater genetic diversity in a wild population. This further endangers the future of the species as the chances of abnormalities in offspring are increased.

Third, even if zoos around the world have programmes to exchange animals for breeding, the gene pool is still severely limited compared with in the wild. Moreover, the transport of animals is often highly stressful and even traumatic, and the success of breeding has been unimpressive.

Finally, to acquire rare animals, zoos legally have to procure the animals from captive sources. However, the lack of enforcement and transparency of information often means that wild-caught animals are traded, and trafficking methods usually result in numerous animal casualties.

To counter the threat of extinction, there have been programmes and initiatives that have proved to be far more effective than zoos in increasing endangered populations. One approach is to develop ecotourism in local communities, which provides alternative means of income to poaching. Another method found to be successful in countries such as Africa is private farming, where endangered animals are farmed for ecotourism or trading.

For entities such as the Singapore Zoo, a more meaningful effort to stem extinction would be to support and fund research and conservation programmes in areas of concern.