I don't think there are enough Syrians in Europe for a proper breeding programme (unfortunately!).
I can fully understand the zoo wanting to know anyway, though - I wouldn't want to keep an animal without knowing what it actually was if there was a reasonably straightforward way to find out. The zoo has fairly recently been taken into new ownership; I suppose they just want to be sure of what they've got. And, of course, they may just be interested!
There is also the educational value, here the public cn view two subspecies side by side. It gives the zoo a chance to explain subspecies, species and families.
