Materialising reform: how conservation encounters collection practises in zoos

Monika Krause,Katherine Robinson

doi:10.1080/17530350.2021.1952096

Monika Krause, Katherine Robinson

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1952096

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Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines how zoos decide which animals to keep, drawing on guidance produced by zoo membership organisations and in-depth interviews with zoo curators. Zoos make curatorial decisions within constraints posed by each zoo’s legacy of buildings and animals. Different versions of ‘conservation value’ inform decision-making alongside other criteria such as education value, visitor value and whether or not animals are available. We find that an international agenda to rationalise zoo collection planning in the name of environmental conservation has only partially reshaped existing practices. As a ‘bald object’ in the Latourian sense, ‘conservation’ presents a clean surface, which also means that it invites projections that attach to concrete practices only in loose ways. Given the ambiguity of conservation as a value, conservation presents zoos with a range of options and can be made to fit a broad range of choices, which make sense to actors for other reasons. Reform efforts gain traction where they are inserted as ‘hairy objects’ and resonate with practical problems zoos are already facing. Reforms in the name of conservation have led to networks of exchange and co-operation, which help zoos to secure new animals in the context of new regulations.

Highlights

After entering Vienna’s famous Schönbrunn Zoo from the main entrance, visitors pass by the burrowing parrot and the coati – a type of raccoon, originally from Central America
How did this map come to be this way? Why do we get to see those particular animals, and not others? Beyond the case of Schönbrunn, how do zoos decide which species to include in their collection and, by implication, which animals not to hold? What are the knowledge claims, frameworks and systems, which organise and justify the collection of particular animals in zoos and make ongoing decisions about collections possible?. This paper addresses these empirical research questions in the context of efforts to align zoos’ curatorial practices with their conservation mission, a relatively recent focus of their work. It draws on policy documents and guidance material published by national and international zoo membership organisations: the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the
We find that an international agenda to rationalise zoo collection planning in the name of environmental conservation has only partially reshaped longstanding practices

Summary

Introduction

After entering Vienna’s famous Schönbrunn Zoo from the main entrance, visitors pass by the burrowing parrot and the coati – a type of raccoon, originally from Central America. Co-ordinated planning marks an ethical reform of animal supply, and it helps to improve the genetic quality and diversity of the animals held by zoos (see Friese 2015) This curator links conservation value to practical issues regarding the supply and genetic quality of new animals:. This move to a more conservation-driven collection, involves a series of steps over time, including waiting for other zoos to be able to breed successfully from their own stock of rare birds to the extent that they have some surplus animals to pass on to this curator Realising this long-term vision of a new collection with clear conservation value is closely linked to work going on in other zoos and relies on close co-operation and willingness to exchange animals

Conclusion

Notes on contributors