ZSL ZOO'S HELPS TO CONSERVE ENDANGERED SPECIES

ZSL Zoo's Helps to Conserve Endangered Species

ZSL Zoo's Helps to Conserve Endangered Species

Introduction

ZSL Whipsnade Zoo is a zoo at Whipsnade, near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. The zoo was originally called Whipsnade Park Zoo, in 1988 the name Whipsnade Wild Animal Park and was renamed in March 2007 at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. The zoo is owned by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of animals and their habitats.

The zoo is 2.4 square kilometers and one of the largest European zoos. Due to the size it is allowed to drive cars between the different animal enclosures. The zoo also offers a bus service as well as a narrow-gauge railway. At the zoo more than 6,000 animals are kept, many of which are endangered in the wild (Bradshaw & Bateson, 1999). The majority of animals will be kept in large enclosures. Some, such as peacocks, wallabies and Maras may walk around the park freely. The Zoological Society, the owner of the zoos was in 1826 by Stamford Rafflesfounded.  The chairman of the company, Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, was inspired by a visit to the Bronx Zoological Park, similar to found in Britain. For this purpose, the Hall Farm, that was an abandoned farm 30 miles north of London, was bought by the Zoological Society. Since 1931, the zoo can be visited.

Problem Statement

The purpose of the study is to analyze the ZSL zoo in terms of its endangered species conservation. This zoo is open for all the visitors from different countries and the main aim of this zoo is to save the life of the species that are endangered (Bowles & Whelan, 1994). Further we will be discussing the problems and implications of the zoo also will analyze the existence of the zoo.

Aims of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

Reintroduction plans are not straight forward since an animal will never have had to hunt and kill its own food.  Learning survival skills is obviously essential.  There are of course negatives to keeping wild animals in captivity since we will never be able to recreate their natural environment perfectly (Bostock, 1987).  In the wild, species live as part of a social organisation, some more than others.  For example chimps learn from their elders how to care for their young. They can also be vulnerable to attack when as an outsider they try to join existing social groups.  It is possible though, as in the classic tale of Christian, the lion cub, born of captive parents and sold in Harrods in 1969, who was successfully reintroduced to the wild in Kenya and became the head of his own pride.

Yet if a zoo is to be successful in breeding animals, they must feel at home and happy.  If they do not, they will not become pregnant.  This is especially the case with very sensitive creatures such as pandas which rarely give birth in zoos (Seal, 1986).  Pandas cannot revive a depleted population very quickly as they are notoriously poor breeders, only having one young at a time, which is why their small population is of such ...