Zoos should consider culling surplus animals to regulate populations, say researchers

While the culling of charismatic mammals often sparks controversy, evidence suggests that public opinion is more balanced than portrayed in the media, say the Zurich researchers. Keystone-SDA

Researchers from the University of Zurich say zoos must rethink population management and allow animals to reproduce naturally - zoos should then cull surplus animals.

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Up to now, contraception has been the method of choice for zoos to control reproduction, said the University of Zurich (UZH) in a press statement on Wednesday.

But in an article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the scientists said zoos could preserve their breeding populations, raise awareness of conservation challenges and improve animal welfare and their carbon footprint by “allowing animals to reproduce naturally and culling surplus animals”.

Zoo animals getting older

The researchers argue that widespread contraceptive practices are changing the age profile of animal populations. As a result, zoo populations are getting older and older.

This jeopardises one of the basic principles of zoos: the preservation of their own populations.

“What we don’t need is a collection of geriatric animals and veterinarians preoccupied with palliative care,” said co-author Andrew Abraham from Aarhus University in the press release.

Furthermore, reproduction is a basic need of animals. The scientists also argue that zoos could promote public understanding of the natural life cycle of animals through culling.

In addition, culled animals could be used to feed predators. This own meat supply would make zoos more enviromentally sustainable, according to the researchers.

Adapted from German by DeepL/sb

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