Highland Wildlife Blog - Not all zoos are created equal

27/10/2016 in Highland Wildlife Park

I have recently returned from south-eastern Europe where I was part of a team that was conducting a detailed accreditation screening of a major zoo on behalf of the European Zoo Association.  Each member institution of the Association has to go through this detailed inspection process and if they are not accredited, their membership status is downgraded and a schedule of improvements are outlined that should be achieved within a specified time period, after which time they are re-inspected; RZSS Highland Wildlife Park sailed through its inspection and uneventfully achieved its accreditation status in May 2014.

The various anti-zoo groups often paint all zoos with the same brush, using the worst zoos as the yard stick, which is just as inappropriate as saying that a bad restaurant is typical of all restaurants.  Many zoos globally do not meet the physical and philosophical standards that we rightfully expect in the UK and I have certainly seen some sorry establishments over the years where permanent closure would be the best solution.

We expect our zoos to be active centres for conservation and education with a very high level of animal welfare, or at least we should, as well as being interesting places to visit.  The zoo I inspected desperately wanted to be all that we are here in the Highlands, and in some areas they thought they were fulfilling the role of a forward looking 21^st century zoo.  The staff were very keen, the animals were in general in very good condition and the whole place was spotless.  Unfortunately, the lack of exposure to modern zoo developments, coupled with significant language and recent political difficulties, has resulted in an outdated idea of what constitutes a suitable animal enclosure and many of the animal facilities needed varying amounts of refurbishment or replacement.

The zoo has a large and varied animal collection and if closure was suggested, it would be a very complex and lengthy process to find suitable alternate facilities in other zoos.  Releasing back to the wild is in most cases not an option and those that advocate the closure of all zoos have in general not considered what that would mean in practice.

As I have already mentioned, the staff were very keen and had a high degree of competency and some of their achievements would have done a modern western zoo proud.  One example was their successful keeping and breeding of a bird called a great bustard, a species that used to occur in the UK and a reintroduction project has started in England.  The species presents significant husbandry problems, but this zoo had achieved a success that has eluded other better resourced institutions.  They had an enviable breeding record with a number of old world vulture species, a group of birds that are highly threatened and, until recently, not often bred in captivity. 

On the mammal front they have had breeding success with snow and Amur leopards and Mishmi takin, three species we also have at RZSS Highland Wildlife Park.  Many of the possible animal accommodation improvements we discussed during the inspection were easily achievable, but the staff’s lack of exposure to many modern zoo management ideas meant that our suggestions were new to them.  What was key was that they gave every impression of being receptive to new ideas and they wanted to attain a high standard of animal care right across the species spectrum.

Given the growing need for zoos to increase their conservation capacity, we are duty bound to help those institutions that can be brought up to a high standard.  The number of species whose survival to one degree or another depends on zoos is growing and if we can assist the institution I inspected to raise their game then we will have enhanced our ability to save species from extinction.

by Douglas Richardson, Head of Living Collections, RZSS Highland Wildlife Park

This piece was first published in the Strathspey & Badenoch Herald