The Role of the Modern Zoo

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Role Of The Modern Zoo The modern zoo I visited was ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Their mission is to promote and achieve worldwide conservation for animals and their habitats. ZSL run conservation projects in Britain and in over 50 countries worldwide. They work with local communities to help preserve their surrounding environment and promote stability. For over 180 years the ZSL has played an essential role in providing experts to address challenging science and conservation issues, including public meetings and international workshop. The ZSL work with: governments, civil societies and the private sector all over the world. The ZSL is not a lobby organisation and will simply advise the decision makers and will regularly be called for by business and the government (8) (13) The Problem Figure 1. The IUCN Red List. Figure 1. The IUCN Red List. Figure [ 2 ]. This shows the position of Sumatra in comparison with Africa and England. Figure [ 2 ]. This shows the position of Sumatra in comparison with Africa and England. The main species I am going to focus on is the Sumatran Tiger, and why the species is under threat. The Sumatran Tiger is located in Indonesia and is the smallest surviving subspecies with less than 400 in the wild compared to 1000 in 1970 (10). This makes them critically endangered. They are currently surviving in patches of forest across the island of Sumatran. The reason for their rapid decline is accelerated deforestation and rampant poaching. These problems have occurred before with the Sumatran Tigers’ close relatives the Balinese and Javan Tigers, which are now extinct. Many Tigers are killed in self-defence due to the increased frequency of attacks that have taken place over the last 10 years. People are building villages in areas which would normally be the Tigers’ habitat, to accommodate the rapid increase in population. Tigers are killed

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