The future of zoo biology

The science of zoo biology and the journal of the same name are appropriately perceived as central to the issues that zoological gardens must address in managing large collections of hundreds of different species of animals. However, zoos are also cultural institutions that are seeking relevance in wildlife conservation by reaching out to their enormous audiences collectively numbered in the hundreds of millions worldwide. This article suggests that if zoos are to be effective in realizing significant conservation outcomes, they will need to engage the much broader range of sciences in developing institutionally compatible conservation agendas that do not rest on untested assumptions. Some of the research questions that zoos might ask themselves are provided as examples. Zoo Biol 27:498-504, 2008. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.