What does a good zoo do?
Teachers’ notes
This resource pack has been produced by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(BIAZA). It aims to provide an accurate insight into the practices of BIAZA zoos and to explain the
reasons that underlie those practices. The pack contains:
 background information for teachers (with suggestions for further reading if desired)
 activities linked to the English National Curriculum Key Stage 2 programmes of study
 pupil resources
INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS
What is BIAZA?
BIAZA is the umbrella body for zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland. It operates a membership
scheme whereby member institutions must meet certain criteria in terms of animal welfare,
conservation, education and research. Membership requires the demonstration of continuing
commitment in these areas. Members are entitled to display the BIAZA logo to show that they meet
or exceed those criteria. Not all zoos and aquariums are BIAZA members. More information about
BIAZA can be found at www.biaza.org.uk .
Why have zoos?
Zoos provide opportunities to observe and engage with a wide range of exotic animal species, many
of which may be threatened with extinction. Even the most sophisticated computer programme or
beautifully filmed documentary is no substitute for seeing, hearing, smelling and perhaps even
touching real, living creatures. Seeing animals up close captures our attention and can spark an
interest in the natural world that may last a lifetime.
However, zoos do more than exhibit animals. They help to protect endangered species both within
their care and in the wild. They provide opportunities for people to learn about and develop
empathy for nature while informing people how they can help to conserve wildlife. They also carry
out research that contributes to knowledge about a range of subjects including animal health,
welfare and biodiversity conservation. More information about these activities is included further on
within these notes.
Ensuring health and welfare of zoo animals
The health and welfare of zoo animals is of paramount importance to good zoos. British zoos must
comply with strict legislation in order to obtain and to retain a zoo licence. Without the licence a zoo
is not permitted to operate. Zoos are inspected regularly to ensure compliance with the
requirements set out in the Secretary of State’s Standards of Modern Zoo Practice. Much of this
comprehensive document relates to animal welfare, although requirements regarding public safety,
conservation, education and research are also stipulated. The animal welfare standards are based on
the following five principles. These five principles are based on the ‘Five Freedoms’ drawn up for
livestock by the Farm Animal Welfare Council.
 Provision of food and water
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Provision of a suitable environment
Provision of health care
Provision of opportunity to show natural behaviour
Provision of protection from fear and distress
The detailed requirements for each principle can be found in the Secretary of State’s Modern Zoo
Standards document, which can be downloaded as a pdf file from the following website:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2012/09/11/standards-zoo-practice-pb13806
Zoo inspection teams are comprised of individuals who have extensive experience within the zoo
profession and are always accompanied on inspections by a member of the local council. Zoo
inspectors may be vets, senior animal keepers, zoo directors or other zoo professionals and will have
undergone a period of specific training for their inspection role. They are therefore well qualified to
assess whether or not a zoo is operating in the correct manner and that animals are receiving the
highest standards of care. Full inspections take place once every six years, with annual interim
inspections.
Zoo keepers are highly-skilled professionals who are dedicated to providing the very best husbandry
for the animals in their care. Many take full advantage of the wide range of professional
development opportunities available via BIAZA courses, conferences and training workshops.
Enrichment
Caring for an animal’s physical needs is only part of the husbandry process. Good zoos also take very
seriously the importance of looking after their animals’ mental well being. Environmental
enrichment (sometimes called behavioural enrichment) is an essential element of zoo animal
husbandry programmes. It involves providing the animals with opportunities to express natural
behaviours. This is often done via the provision of stimuli which attract the animal’s interest.
There are a wide range of enrichment methods including food based (e.g. presenting food in
different ways), sensory (e.g. scent trails) and manipulative ‘toys’ which stimulate naturalistic
exploratory play (e.g. balls, cardboard boxes).
More information and some examples of enrichment in zoos can be found here:
http://www.enrichment.org/MiniWebs/UK-Ireland/enrichment_times02.pdf
http://www.zsl.org/education/the-modern-zoo/the-answer-is-enrichment,329,AR.html
http://www.chesterzoo.org/education/case-studies/podcasts/enrichment
The Living Collection
Not all animals in zoos are endangered species. However BIAZA zoos select the species which they
keep very carefully and for specific reasons. Every zoo has a limited amount of space available so
each develops a collection plan to assist when making choices. When deciding which species to have,
good zoos don’t just choose charismatic animals that are popular with visitors. They also include
threatened species which need conservation assistance (e.g. captive breeding programmes) and
species with high educational value in their collections (e.g. interesting adaptations or evolutionary
relationships, affected by conservation issues etc). However most zoos rely on visitor income to fund
their work so it is also important to include some species that will attract people looking for a good
day out. Getting the balance right is tricky but very important.
Where do the animals come from?
Almost all animals in good zoos have been bred in captivity, like their parents and grandparents
before them. Nowadays animals are only taken from the wild in extreme circumstances, where a
species is close to extinction. Animals are regularly transferred between zoos, nationally and
internationally. This is important to maintain healthy and self-sustaining populations of animals.
Wildlife Conservation
The current global declines and extinctions of vast numbers of animal species mean that action must
be taken to prevent further loss of our planet’s biodiversity (see The Living Planet Index at
http://www.zsl.org/science/research-projects/indicators-assessments/index,134,ZI.html ).
Fortunately, in the 21st Century, zoos throughout the world have risen to the challenge and are
becoming a powerful force for conservation. Zoos do not act in isolation: they are part of a global
conservation network guided by the World Zoo and Aquarium Conservation Strategies
(downloadable from http://www.biaza.org.uk/conservation/useful-links/conservation-strategies
)and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) http://www.iucn.org .
Zoos directly conserve wildlife in two ways: in situ, by carrying out and supporting field conservation
work (locally, nationally and/or internationally) and ex situ, mainly by taking part in coordinated
captive breeding programmes.
In situ field conservation
BIAZA zoos currently support more than 600 field conservation projects, contributing over £10
million per year. Many also supply skills, staff and equipment for wildlife conservation, and essential
materials for education and awareness programmes in developing countries.
Some examples of zoos’ in situ conservation programmes can be found here:
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/84fdd879#/84fdd879/24
http://www.chesterzoo.org/conservation-and-research/field-conservation/field-programmes
http://www.isleofwightzoo.com/tiger-conservation.aspx
http://www.biaza.org.uk/conservation/biaza-reserve
Ex situ breeding programmes
Zoos are sometimes considered as modern day Noah’s Arks. They care for breeding populations of
threatened species in a safe environment. Thus if the issues reducing the wild population are not
addressed the species will still exist, albeit in captivity, and will not become extinct.
Captive breeding programmes are carefully managed at international level to ensure that there is a
good mix of genes within the population of captive animals and to maintain a stable population.
Individual animals are registered in a studbook, which is co-ordinated by a person with expertise
regarding that particular species. Sophisticated computer programmes are utilised to ensure that
breeding programmes maintain biogenetic diversity within captive populations and that inbreeding
is minimised.
More information about coordinated breeding programmes and the way in which they are managed
can be found here:
http://www.biaza.org.uk/conservation/overview-2
Conservation Education
Zoos have a responsibility to engage with people and to develop their understanding. Education
staff at zoos can draw on their scientific expertise and links to practical conservation projects in the
field as well as showing live animals. Zoo education programmes utilise these resources to engage
with people, to develop their understanding of the natural world and to inspire them to act
positively for the conservation of biodiversity. These conservation messages can be communicated
to a wide audience: more than 24 million people visit BIAZA collections every year (one in four of the
population of Britain and Ireland!). School visits are also popular, with approximately 1,200,000
children and students taking part each year in formal education visits to BIAZA zoos.
Many zoos offer work experience to college students undertaking animal management courses, thus
supporting the next generation of zoo keepers.
For an overview of conservation education in BIAZA zoos please click on the following link:
http://www.biaza.org.uk/education
Research
Research carried out in zoos and aquariums provides opportunities to investigate factors relevant to
conservation which are impractical or even impossible to study in the wild. Much of today’s
knowledge and expertise in the management, reintroduction and translocation of small and often
isolated wild populations of endangered species comes from the experience gained in managing zoo
populations. The science of small population management has evolved through cooperative zoo
breeding programmes and an increase in zoos’ knowledge of the health and welfare of wild animals.
Many studies focus on understanding how the captive environment may influence the animals, and
where appropriate, how negative effects can be minimized. Other research sets out to investigate
whether aspects of animal husbandry could be improved. Examples include focusing on diets and
how these can be enhanced, identifying best practice in medical care for specific species and finding
out how visitor behaviour may affect animals. Visitor research is also carried out, for example
evaluating the effectiveness of education tools, exploring visitor awareness of native species and
much more.
Many zoos also support the professional development of future researchers by assisting students
who wish to collect data for college and university courses from Foundation degree to PhD levels.
BIAZA produce detailed advice for research students to help them to develop their proposals.
There are of course legal considerations that must be taken into account when undertaking research
on animals. Scientists cannot carry out intrusive studies which may cause distress to the animals.
Proposals to carry out research within a zoo or aquarium are reviewed by the collection and
assessed in terms of ethics as well as other factors such as quality of science and logistics. This
ensures only the most worthwhile and non-harmful studies are undertaken.
Some examples of zoo research projects can be found here:
http://www.biaza.org.uk/Research/biaza-research-projects