What's your opinion on zoos?

@lilangel Most all zoo animals are born in captivity so they were never truly wild, and the majority of the ones taken from the wild today are rescue animals that would not have continued to survive in the wild so they are better off. Zoos also help ensure that extinction does not occur, and many rehabilitate to release back to the wild if possible.

@PrivateHell But zoos don't breed to release. They breed to keep, study and exhibit. There's definitely some value in that. Particularly with endangered species. But it's not doing much to repopulate. And I'm confident that zoos aren't the leading contributor towards wildlife conservation. The Nature Conservancy alone contributes something like $1B a year. No way zoos are cumulatively touching that figure.

@Ynotisay not entirely true on either point. I travel all over the US full time, and visit zoo's in every state I go to. Without fail, every zoo has donation drives and contribute portions of their revenue to conservation. The San Diego zoo alone has contributed a billion dollars (3 years ago when I was there last). And there are thousands of zoo's in the US alone.

As for their breeding programs. Many zoo's use injured animals that cannot be released into the wild to breed. And yes, they keep some of the animals, but they do indeed release others (safety and available habitat permitting).

@PrivateHell You said THE leading contributor. And I say that's not true. And while a few zoos may take in animals for rehab, that's hardly the way most work. Zoos get animals from other zoos. They're bred in captivity and are moved when there's a good chance they'll breed in another location. They're not bringing orangs in from Sumatra. Doesn't work that way. You also don't release an animal that has been in a zoo back in to the wild. They'll die. And captive breeding programs are hardly successful. The reasons are pretty evident. Sorry but their purpose is to entertain. For SOME people, like you it sounds, there's a bigger takeaway when visiting a zoo. But that's hardly the majority.