Why and how we keep animals (in zoo's) C. Luttenberg Burgers Zoo, Arnhem Netherlands The existence of Zoo's is for most people quite normal . In the early days of these animal collections, the reasons for keeping animals were often clear. Most exotic animals were kept by the wealthy nobility, to impress friends and acquaintances. In addition, there was still much unknown about the existence and emergence of species. The animals were in their usually short life, and even after death, a great source of information for science. It is clear that the reasons for keeping animals have changed through the centuries. But if we have a look at the "modern" zoo's of today, the reasons appear quite diverse but whether they really different ? The way we present our animals has changed in many ways, this is mainly due to the great diversity in housing. In preparation for this lecture i looked at many pictures, that were made over the past 15 years in zoo's worldwide. I was surprised to see the huge differences in exhibits, even within a country. Alongside the animals it became clear to me that the zoo keepers have a major impact on the overall picture in the way of showing animals. This was not only by the sometimes "intimate" ralationship with "there" animals, but also by there creativity in presenting the living environment of "there" animals. if we put everything in a row, then the question: WHY and HOW we keep animals? seems even more important ! |