Ethics on the Ark

There is a very interesting book (fairly old now as I believe it was first published in the early 90's) called "Ethics on the Ark".

The book was a series of essays representing all sides of the zoo and conservation debate and had some very thought provoking chapters / essays about the future and purpose of zoos.

I actually no longer own this book as I gave my copy to a friend at Chapultepec Zoo so I unfortunately cannot re-read it.

However, I was wondering whether anyone else had read it and if so what they thought of some of the essays ?

 

Somewhere I have a copy. From memory it was reasonably pro zoo and certainly contributed to the welfare debate.

 

Yes, I thought it was quite a good book too.

A few of the essays and concepts were a bit "out there" though...

I remember one essay on future zoos having no live animals at all and just interactive tv screens that showed footage of wildlife.

 

That will never happen now in that experience is available to anybody with an internet connection.

 

Yes, I agree, I think that is an example of how some essays of the book have aged badly.

I think that particular essay was probably written in that early 90's pre-computer in every household techno-utopia spirit of the times.

More audio / visual displays within zoos could be a good idea though IMO.

 

Also, I remember the book had Jersey's famous "Jambo" on the frontcover.

 

The book "Ethics on the Ark" is a collection of papers that were presented at a workshop held in 1992.

I read the book when it was first published in 1995 and I agree with you that I found some of the chapters very thought-provoking although I haven't looked at the book for a quarter-of-a-century.

Two other interesting books on the ethics of keeping animals in zoos are:

Zoos and Animal Rights: The Ethics of Keeping Animals (Stephen C. Bostock; 1993). (The author, Bostock, was Education Officer at Glasgow Zoo.)

Zoo Ethics: The Challenges of Compassionate Conservation (Jenny Gray; 2017)

 

Thank you for your reply @Tim May !

Yes, totally agree with you, some of the chapters definitely influenced my view towards zoos and particular those that dealt with species conservation and captive breeding.

I haven't read either of the two books that you mention but I really would like to have a read of these eventually so thank you for mentioning them.