Stop denigration: Zoos have never been so critical for science and species conservation!

The World Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has just ended in Marseille. It brought together thousands of specialists and environmentalists from all over the world, all present to address the terrible state of our biodiversity. 30% of the 138,374 species assessed on the IUCN experts’ Red List are now in danger of extinction.

And in this race against time, IUCN has emphasized again that all conservation actors must mobilize to fight against the loss of biodiversity. Including zoological institutions. A few meters from the French pavilion, where Mrs. Barbara Pompili, Minister of Ecological Transition, spoke on several occasions, one could discover the actions of the members of the World (WAZA), European (EAZA) and French Zoological Parks Associations (AFdPZ), in nature (“in situ”) and within their facilities (“ex situ”). Zoos are at the heart of the movement called “Reverse the Red” initiated by the IUCN to fight against the extinction of species, a program based on scientific facts and the union of conservation knowledge and resolute optimism on a global scale.

Their slogan: “We KNOW how to save species, We BELIEVE we can, TOGETHER we will”.

In France, dolphins and orcas, has been at the center of an unproductive debate for more than seven years which pits animalist ideology against a vision based on observable facts and measurable findings (ensuring the well-being of animals). The last episode, of what looks more and more like a serial novel, was the announcement in October 2020 by Mrs. Pompili that, within seven years, dolphins will be removed from zoos and moved to so-called “sanctuaries”, without specifying what is meant or any scientific guarantees for their future well-being.

We, the signatories of this statement, witness the good conditions for animals in modern zoos and their importance to raising awareness with a vast public audience about the growing threats they face in the natural environment, especially dolphins and porpoises. According to the most recent IUCN assessment by the Whales/Dolphins Working Group (IUCN CSG, 2021), 46% of the world’s whales and dolphins are now considered vulnerable, severely threatened, or threatened with extinction. In 2006, the Chinese dolphin or Baiji was declared extinct; in 2017, there were only 92 Irawady dolphins remaining in the Mekong River; in October 2019, there were only 9 Vaquita porpoises left in the Gulf of California; in November the same year in Brazil, there were only 600 Lahile Tursiops dolphins left; and, in Africa, the population of Atlantic humpback dolphins is reduced by half each year. It is estimated that bycatch in nets kills more than 4000 La Plata dolphins in South America, and, closer to us, on the French coast, 10.000 common dolphins … every year.

We, ethologists, veterinarians, biologists, specialists in the anatomy and cognition of delphinids, have been actively contributing, some of us for more than 60 years, to increasing knowledge about these animals. Energy needs, reproduction, maternal care, perception of the environment (with, for example, the discovery and ongoing study on sonar) or the modelling of the impact of pollution are examples, among many others, of major contributions made by zoological institutions to better understand the physiology and behavior of these animals that support appropriate tools and protection measures to assist wild populations. Within the IUCN, the leading specialists in the safeguarding of cetaceans have joined in a working group, the ICPC (Integrated Conservation Planning for Cetaceans), that recommends a list of concrete actions for the benefit of cetaceans. As with other animals, these researchers are following the “One Plan Approach”, i.e. seeking to mobilize all marine mammal specialists present in the field and/or in zoological institutions.

We, scientists specializing in the study of marine mammals and their protection, co-sign this forum to emphasize that this scientific potential must not only be preserved, but encouraged at a time when this work is recognized as indispensable by the highest authorities on international environmental protection.

We co-sign this statement to share our concern about the future of the French dolphins that are hosted and reproduce naturally in modern zoological institutions. More than 90% of these individuals were born there; capture of wild cetaceans has been prohibited in Europe for more than 30 years. Neither the bill soon to be discussed in the Senate, nor the Ministry’s announcements identify any housing option as convincing as that already provided by modern zoological institutions.

We co-sign this statement because the numerous smear campaigns against zoological institutions, especially those caring for cetaceans, are increasingly taking the general public’s attention away from our real common challenge: stopping the loss of biodiversity on land and at sea.

Let us not mix animalism and environmental protection. Let us base our decisions on a complete and realistic picture of the current biodiversity crisis. Rather than banning and destroying, let us work on a legal framework that guarantees the well-being of animals in zoos and encourages ever more research to support conservation. This is how we understand the many messages and hopeful statements that were made at the World Conservation Congress held in Marseille.