The Pros And Cons Of Captive Breeding Programs

Captive breeding programs have been introduced to many zoos, aquaria, and wildlife reserves over the years with the goal of increasing population numbers of endangered species to prevent extinction. Reintroduction of the species back into the wild often occurs after there are enough captive-bred animals to maintain the population. Other programs carry out captive breeding for the purpose of using the animals for commercial use, or producing them for displays at places such as zoos, aquaria, or research institutions. These programs remove the animals from their natural habitats and place them in restricted conditions. These efforts are said to support conservation to potentially benefit the species, but have ethical issues associated with them.
Captive breeding programs are argued to have advantages for both the animals and the places that contain them. The animals are considered to be safe and the scientists are able to conduct research that could be used in further conservation efforts. Zoos and aquariums are seen as having strong educational purposes and important for children especially to learn about animals.
While there are argued to be certain advantages to captive breeding programs, there are also many concerns. An important concern arises when zoos and aquariums are using animals for financial profit and commercial purposes. Also, keeping animals in captivity can have negative effects on their behavioral development by removing them from a natural environment with natural selection acting on them. Keeping animals in captivity may protect them, but it doesn’t fix the issue of habitat destruction which is continually occurring and causing decline.

Zoos for the Benefit of Humans
Dale Jamieson makes an argument in Against Zoos discussing the concept of animals being held captive in zoos and the ethical issues
There are negative effects on behavioral development, due to their removal from a habitat in which predation occurs naturally and the animals can establish their own social orders. The zoo environment does not give animals adequate space or stimulation, which causes problems when reintroduction is attempted. These behavioral changes doesn’t necessarily lead to the most accurate results when researchers conduct studies because researchers are essentially studying the behaviors of animals in captivity, which are quite different from their behaviors in the wild. Captivity also affects genetic diversity in the zoo breeding programs as a result of inbreeding often occurring. This produces traits that are vastly different from those of the same species in the wild. In addition to these issues, many species have been found to die prematurely due to stress in the unnatural habitat. For example, many types of reptiles refuse to eat and end up starving to death (Dunayer, 2001). Many zoos tend to emphasize the longevity of some species lives, while concealing others’