The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos Past, Present, and Future. - book reviews

Animals, May-June, 1997 by Paula Abend

By Vicki Croke. 254 pages. Scribner. $26 hardcover.

Whether you think zoos are a wholesome afternoon of education and fun for the kids (and yourself) or nothing more than depressing jails for unfortunate, neurotic captives, put The Modern Ark, Vicki Croke's informative examination of zoos, on your must-read list.

The author notes early on, "There is an inherent problem with the concept of zoos: Wild animals don't belong in cages."

Technology may allow zoo veterinarians to freeze sperm, eggs, and tissue samples, but as one zoo official comments, "You can't freeze behavior." And the confines of most zoo exhibits too often drive animals to such stereotypic behaviors as pacing, repetitive head-bobbing, anorexia, and self-mutilation, which are far removed from the ways of these animals in the wild.

Through an easy-to-digest collage of anecdotes, Croke presents some of the solutions that zoos have devised to enrich the lives of their charges. Keepers at several zoos, for instance, hide food throughout exhibits to stimulate foraging behaviors, and mechanical lures give predators a chance to chase. Lucy, an elephant at the Phoenix Zoo, enjoys painting pictures that sell for $1,000.

But chasing a plastic ball is a far cry from hunting. And how can you adequately exercise a polar bear that can swim 60 miles straight or cover 20 miles in a day?

Naturalistic, barless exhibits have finally begun to replace tile-and-steel cages. But these, Croke points outs, compose only a third of zoo exhibits. Often plants are hot-wired to keep animals from destroying them, and at night the animals are led back to cramped steel cages.

But zoos have also had stunning successes. Bison would not be roaming America's plains today had it not been for the turn-of-the-century efforts of the Bronx Zoo. Recent accomplishments include breeding and releasing endangered California condors, black-footed ferrets, and golden lion tamarins. Increasingly, zoo biologists and veterinarians are taking their knowledge to the field for the good of wild animals.

Yet even at their best, zoos are severely limited. All the zoos in the world, writes Croke, could fit into Brooklyn, New York. Of the 2,000 vertebrate species in need of captive-breeding, zoos can probably save only 900.

The darkest side of zoos may have to do with the disposition of surplus animals. Euthanasia may be touchy enough, but even ethical zoos have inadvertently sold animals to hunting ranches. How gruesome would the picture be if Croke had examined all 1,400 licensed zoos and aquariums instead of concentrating on the best of the 149 accredited by the American Zoological and Aquarium Association?

Future TV satellite hookups and virtual-reality exhibits may replace some of the animals behind bars. But the conservation mission of zoos remains paramount. "The question is not whether we will have zoos in the future," says Croke; "the question is: Will the world have animals?"