The Ark and Beyond: The Evolution of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation (Convening Science: Discovery at the Marine Biological Laboratory)

Scores of wild species and ecosystems around the world face a variety of human-caused threats, from habitat destruction and fragmentation to rapid climate change. But there is hope, and it, too, comes in a most human form: zoos and aquariums. Gathering a diverse, multi-institutional collection of leading zoo and aquarium scientists as well as historians, philosophers, biologists, and social scientists, __The Ark and Beyond__ traces the history and underscores the present role of these organizations as essential conservation actors. It also offers a framework for their future course, reaffirming that if zoos and aquariums make biodiversity conservation a top priority, these institutions can play a vital role in tackling conservation challenges of global magnitude. While early menageries were anything but the centers of conservation that many zoos are today, a concern with wildlife preservation has been an integral component of the modern, professionally run zoo since the nineteenth century. From captive breeding initiatives to rewilding programs, zoos and aquariums have long been at the cutting edge of research and conservation science, sites of impressive new genetic and reproductive techniques. Today, their efforts reach even further beyond recreation, with educational programs, community-based conservation initiatives, and international, collaborative programs designed to combat species extinction and protect habitats at a range of scales. Addressing related topics as diverse as zoo animal welfare, species reintroductions, amphibian extinctions, and whether zoos can truly be “wild,” this book explores the whole range of research and conservation practices that spring from zoos and aquariums while emphasizing the historical, scientific, and ethical traditions that shape these efforts. Also featuring an inspiring foreword by the late George Rabb, president emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society / Brookfield Zoo, __The Ark and Beyond__ illuminates these institutions’ growing significance to the preservation of global biodiversity in this century. Protoconservation in early European zoos. Animals in circulation : the prehistory of modern zoos / Anita Guerrini and Michael A. Osborne -- The world as zoo : acclimatization in the nineteenth century / Harriet Ritvo -- The rise of US zoo and aquarium conservation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Historic and cultural foundations of zoo conservation : a narrative timeline / Vernon N. Kisling Jr. -- Teetering on the brink of extinction : the passenger pigeon, the bison, and American zoo culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries / Mark V. Barrow Jr. -- American zoos : a shifting balance between recreation and conservation / Pamela M. Henson -- (Re)introducing the Przewalski's horse / Nigel Rothfels -- Conservation constellations : aquariums in aquatic conservation networks / Samantha Muka -- Zoo and aquarium conservation today : visions and programs. Committing to conservation : can zoos and aquariums deliver on their promise? / Rick Barongi -- Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) : unifying the conservation approach of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums / Shelly Grow, Debborah Luke, and Jackie Ogden -- Integrating ex situ management options as part of a one plan approach to species conservation / Kathy Traylor-Holzer, Kristin Leus, and Onnie Byers -- Zoos and gorilla conservation : have we moved beyond a piecemeal approach? / Kristen E. Lukas and Tara S. Stoinski -- Lessons from thirty-one years at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and reflections on aquariums' expanding role in conservation action / Margaret Spring -- The Phoenix Zoo story : building a legacy of conservation / Ruth A. Allard and Stuart A. Wells -- Caring for nature : welfare, wellness, and natural connections. Bears or butterflies? : how should zoos make value-driven decisions about their collections? / Clare Palmer, T.J. Kasperbauer, and Peter Sandøe -- Why zoos have animals : exploring the complex pathway from experiencing animals to pro-environmental behaviors / Alejandro Grajal, Jerry F. Luebke, and Lisa-Anne DeGregoria Kelly -- People in the zoo : a social context for conservation / Susan Clayton and Khoa D. Le Nguyen -- From sad zoo to happy zoo : the changing animal welfare and conservation priorities of the Seoul Zoo in South Korea / Anne S. Clay -- Wildlife wellness : a new ethical frontier for zoos and aquariums / Terry L. Maple and Valerie D. Segura -- Zoos and sustainability : can zoos go beyond ethical individualism to protect resilient systems? / Bryan G. Norton -- Opportunities and challenges for conserving small populations : an emerging role for zoos in genetic rescue / Oliver A. Ryder -- Cloning in the zoo : when zoos become parents / Carrie Friese -- Advancing laboratory-based zoo research to enhance captive breeding of southern white rhinoceros / Christopher W. Tubbs -- dt Beyond the walls : applied field research for the twenty-first-century public aquarium and zoo / Charles R. Knapp -- Frogs in glass boxes : responses of zoos to global amphibian extinctions / Joseph R. Mendelson III -- Alternative models and futures. Sustaining wildlife populations in human care : an existential value proposition for zoos / Steven L. Monfort and Catherine A. Christen -- Reflections on zoos and aquariums and the role of the regional biopark / Craig Ivanyi and Debra Colodner -- Today's awe-inspiring design, tomorrow's Plexiglas dinosaur : how public aquariums contradict their conservation mandate in pursuit of immersive underwater displays / Stefan Linquist -- Zoo conservation disembarks : stepping off the ark and into global sustainable development / Adrián Cerezo and Kelly E. Kapsar -- Rewilding the lifeboats / Harry W. Greene -- The parallax zoo / Ben A. Minteer. edited by Ben A. Minteer, Jane Maienschein, and James P. Collins ; with a foreword by George Rabb. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Scores of wild species and ecosystems around the world face a variety of human-caused threats, from habitat destruction and fragmentation to rapid climate change. But there is hope, and it, too, comes in a most human form: zoos and aquariums. Gathering a diverse, multi-institutional collection of leading zoo and aquarium scientists as well as historians, philosophers, biologists, and social scientists, The Ark and Beyond traces the history and underscores the present role of these organizations as essential conservation actors. It also offers a framework for their future course, reaffirming that if zoos and aquariums make biodiversity conservation a top priority, these institutions can play a vital role in tackling conservation challenges of global magnitude.While early menageries were anything but the centers of conservation that many zoos are today, a concern with wildlife preservation has been an integral component of the modern, professionally run zoo since the nineteenth century. From captive breeding initiatives to rewilding programs, zoos and aquariums have long been at the cutting edge of research and conservation science, sites of impressive new genetic and reproductive techniques. Today, their efforts reach even further beyond recreation, with educational programs, community-based conservation initiatives, and international, collaborative programs designed to combat species extinction and protect habitats at a range of scales. Addressing related topics as diverse as zoo animal welfare, species reintroductions, amphibian extinctions, and whether zoos can truly be "wild, "this book explores the whole range of research and conservation practices that spring from zoos and aquariums while emphasizing the historical, scientific, and ethical traditions that shape these efforts. Also featuring an inspiring foreword by the late George Rabb, president emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society / Brookfield Zoo, The Ark and Beyond illuminates these institutions' growing significance to the preservation of global biodiversity in this century.

Today, many zoos promote the preservation of biodiversity as a significant part of their mission. As “arks” for endangered species and, increasingly, as leaders in field conservation projects such as the reintroduction of zoo-born animals to the wild, they’re preparing to play an even more important role in attempts to save species in this century. The intensification of these efforts, however, presents a number of practical and strategic challenges for zoos and aquariums as they seek to balance an expanding conservation mission alongside their more traditional recreation and entertainment pursuits. It also raises important questions about the science, values, and historical traditions informing a growing zoo and aquarium conservation agenda in the coming decades. The Ark and Beyond is an authoritative, interdisciplinary volume focused on the past, present, and future of zoo and aquarium conservation, emphasizing the intersection of academic and practitioner perspectives. Its contributors, four-dozen in all, are among the most respected scholars and zoo professionals working today; all of whom have offered uniquely informed perspectives on the challenges and possibilities of zoo and aquarium conservation in an age of accelerating social and ecological change. Together, the chapters explore the meaning and significance of conservation practice in and by zoos and aquariums, and consider how a deeper understanding of the traditions feeding into this effort might be absorbed into key discussions in conservation history, life science ethics, zoo biology, animal studies, and related fields