Do zoos lose education, science to entertainment?

[Jurek7]

I started wondering that 50 years ago, major zoos were seen as establishments of education and research, akin to museums. It came together with the high role of zoological gardens in society, akin to museums, and public donations. Entertainment was always there, but London Zoo or Berlin Zoo were mostly about presenting and studying animal kingdom.

Today, zoos are seen exclusively as entertainment, which puts them in an odd position. They are expected to be self-financed, but also breed their animals and educate, conduct scientific research and support wild conservation. Other theme parks are not expected to do it. Pirate theme park is not expected to support historical museum or underwater archeology research.

Are zoos losing something this way - public image, donations, purpose? Are all zoos within 10-20 years going to turn into theme parks with only ABC popular animals because this maximizes profit? What do you think?

 

[LaughingDove]

Are zoos losing something this way - public image, donations, purpose? Are all zoos within 10-20 years going to turn into theme parks with only ABC popular animals because this maximizes profit? What do you think?

I really don't think that if all zoos became theme parks with just ABC animals then it would in fact maximise profit. There is a certain market that demands a few half zoo, half theme park places with only ABC animals but I think people will still want to go to a zoo.
Of course some people who visit a zoo only want to see certain animals but people are still interested in weird animals that they've never seen before. Last time I was at Warsaw zoo, the biggest interest was in the takin because it was coming up to the edge of its enclosure. People were reading the sign and telling their children what it was. Even obsucure birds, herps and inverts attract attention in zoos and people like to know that a zoo is helping wild animals and conservation etc.
So, I think some zoos will turn into theme parks with ABC animals but definitely not all of them. There will of course be a reduction in number of species though. This is inevitable due to the fact that a lot of animals in zoos have wild caught origins and are of populations that cannot be maintained in captivity without more animals from the wild but I doubt whether the public would want to only see ABC animals (they would of course want to see them but not instead of oddities).