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Why is the National Zoological Park important?
What does the National Zoo do?
Why are zoos important to conservation?
Why are zoos so popular?
Its mission is to provide leadership in animal care, science, education, sustainability and visitor experience. The 163-acre park in the heart of Washington, D.C., is home to approximately 4,000 animals representing nearly 400 species.
Our Mission: We save species by using cutting-edge science, sharing knowledge and providing inspirational experiences for our guests. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute leads the Smithsonian's global efforts to save species, better understand ecosystems and train future generations of conservationists.
The zoo, which occupies about 76 hectares (187 acres), has approximately 5,000 specimens of more than 500 species. It has developed one of the world’s finest collections of small mammals and became famous for breeding pygmy hippopotamuses.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- There are 39 animal species currently listed by the IUCN as Extinct in the Wild. These are species that would have vanished totally were it not for captive populations around the world, many of which reside in zoos.
- For species whose survival in the wild looks in doubt, zoos often set up ‘insurance’ populations. These are captive groups of animals that could in a worst case scenario assist in reintroduction to the wild, should the original population go extinct.
- Reintroduction.It is often argued that zoos are bad because so few reintroduction actually happen. I would argue that it’s not the zoos at fault, it’s that a reintroduction can’t occur if the reason they went extinct in the first place hasn’t been resolved.
- In 2014, 700 million people visited zoos worldwide. OK, not all zoos are good at engagement. Indeed not all zoos are good full stop. But, surely that number of visits had to create some sort of connection with the natural world that might not have occurred otherwise.
Why do we own a zoo? We do, by the way. It's the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC.
The National Zoological Park (National Zoo) in Washington is a good example. Created in 1889 by an act of Congress, the National Zoo became part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1890. Its original mission was “the advancement of science and the instruction and recreation of the people” (NZP, 2004).
Apr 2, 2019 · Zoos: A Historical Perspective | Introduction. Introduction by Alvin Hutchinson. A collection of pamphlets and guide books published by zoos over the past century has been collected by the National Zoological Park branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. This online sample of these items, which includes maps, drawings and photographs of ...
