Noah's Ark

When most people look at animals in a zoo, what they see are ... well, animals. But zoos look at the animals very differently. For a zoo, many of the animals are like the animals on Noah's ark. The problem that zoos are trying to solve is extinction. Many of the animals on our planet – especially some of the biggest and most interesting ones like elephants – are in the process of going extinct. According to Dr. Stephen Miller (head curator for the North Carolina Zoo), “We are preserving elephants so your kids can see them in 20 years. If we don't, one more generation and you won't be able to see them.”

Photo Courtesy North Carolina Zoo Dr. Stephen Miller, Head Curator of the North Carolina Zoo

For example, if you were to look at African elephants in the wild 25 years ago, there were about two million of them. Today, there are less than 600,000. That is a huge drop even though people are working very hard to prevent it. During that same period, the number of human beings went from roughly three billion to six billion. In Asia, the Asian elephant faces an even bigger problem. There are only about 40,000 animals left in the wild. The zoos are trying to keep these animals alive. Sadly, the biggest threat to elephants and their biggest hope is one in the same - humans. The loss of natural habitat and poaching are behind the dwindling populations of elephants and humans are the source of both of these problems.

The way that zoos preserve animals is by helping them to breed in captivity. Most zoos and aquariums in the United States belong to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The AZA has created a Species Survival Plan. One hundred and seventy species are being bred in zoos. Different zoos specialize in different species, and then they share their animals with each other.

Photo Courtesy North Carolina Zoo Dr. Mike Loomis fits a tracking collar to an elephant in Africa.

The AZA has a list of all the animals in all of the zoos. Some are too old to breed, some are too young, but many of the animals are breeding age. The AZA looks at the animals that should be breeding together because of their genetic diversity. You don't want animals that are too closely related breeding with each other because that adds to genetic diseases. The animals that should be breeding are loaned around between all the zoos as though they are part of one giant herd.

Kitchen Power The North Carolina Zoo is a lean, green, environmentally friendly machine. They don't let anything go to waste – not even the used vegetable oil from their restaurants. The zoo uses the oil to create biodiesel fuel to run zoo trams, buses, trucks and other motor vehicle equipment.

Some animals breed so well in captivity that they actually have to be slowed down. For example, at the North Carolina Zoo, all the zebras and all of the ostriches are female to keep them from reproducing. Other animals have been very hard to breed in captivity. The zoos work with the animals that are having problems and try to find better ways to help them breed.

There have been some real successes for the zoos. For example, red wolves had nearly gone extinct. There were only 14 unrelated red wolves on the planet. Zoos were able to breed wolves in captivity, bringing the population up to about 200. Then they released some of the wolves into the wild in North Carolina forests. Whooping cranes worked the same way. They were nearly extinct, and zoos brought them back to life.

Zoos also work very hard at field conservation programs. They try to keep habitat from disappearing. They help people in Africa and other countries set up preserves and parks where the animals can live. It is a huge job, and zoos are taking the lead.