| 1 | 1 | | Zoos are fast making changes after a series of public controversies over the way |
| 2 | | they keep certain kinds of animais. Two years ago Zoocheck, a pressure group, produced |
| 3 | | a damning report on the mental condition and high death rate of Britairi's polar bears. |
| 4 | | According to Professor Donaid Broom, head of the animal welfare department at |
| 5 | | Cambridge University, there are many other animals apart from polar bears who often |
| 6 | | fail to do weil. Taken from the wild, they are unable to adapt to captivity satisfactorily. |
| 7 | | 'The animals who tend to be roamers, ranging over a wide area for food, often |
| 8 | | suffer most: bears and, for example, some tigers, dolphins, whales and elephants. We |
| 9 | | have to accept that it may not be possible to give such animals enough space and variety |
| 10 | | in captivity to guarantee their well-being.' |
| 2 | 11 | | The problem was highlighted dramatically live years ago when London zoo's last |
| 12 | | African elephant, Pole-Pole, had to be put down after losing her will to live. It was the |
| 13 | | death of Pole-Pole that spurred Virginia McKenna, the actress, and her actor husband |
| 14 | | Bill Travers into forming Zoo check which campaigns for changes in the way animals are |
| 15 | | kept in captivity. |
| 3 | 16 | | 'The philosophy of zoos has to change,' said William Travers, the son of McKenna |
| 17 | | and Travers, who run s Zoo check. ' People are not so happy with the idea of caged |
| 18 | | animais. They certainly don't want to see mad, moth-eaten polar bears. The traditional |
| 19 | | zoo has had its day and it is facing a lot of competition in the leisure market.' |
| 4 | 20 | | His view is supported by the statistics. Attendances at the 20 large zoos around |
| 21 | | Britain have been steadily falling since the 1960s. Some 270 'wildlife centres', exhibiting a |
| 22 | | smaller range of animais, are reporting they are doing very good business. The new |
| 23 | | eentres also tend to specialise in one or two kinds of animais, offering a more natural |
| 24 | | environment and more specialist care than the big zoos can . |
| 5 | 25 | | British zoos have only to look at the United States to see examples of modern |
| 26 | | zookeeping. The renovated zoo in the heart of Central Park was opened last August by |
| 27 | | the New York Zoological Societ y. With onl y 5.5 acres, the zoo has moved its elephants |
| 28 | | and antelopes and most of its bigger animals to larg er zoos . At a cost of $38 million, |
| 29 | | three 'clirnatic zones' - rain-forest, temperate and the polar circle - ha ve been created. |
| 6 | 30 | | Jim Murtaugh, the zoo 's man ager, beli eves the pol ar circle , with its re-creation of |
| 31 | | an ice pack , is one of the establi shrnent's most popular attractions. Visitors can see the |
| 32 | | two polar bears swimming underwater. 'Our bears are free of problem behaviour,' he |
| 33 | | said. ' But the success of an exhibit doesn 't ju st depend on it being naturali stic. It has to |
| 34 | | be a complex architectura l space which provide s stimulation for the animais.' |
| 7 | 35 | | It may seem sad for the present generation of children that their own children are |
| 36 | | unlikely ever to see pol ar bear s, giraffe s, elephants and tigers together in captivity. |
| 37 | | Tomorrow's zoo may be a less exciting place for hurnans, but it will be undoubtedl y |
| 38 | | happier for its inh abitants. |
