1. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Zoos reach million people all around the world. Big
part of these people lives at urban areas and has little or no contact
to nature. They visit zoos because in some way they are interested on
animals. Besides the interesting level, zoos offer an opportunity for
education, making them as a big potential of attraction for the public
and making them conscious of the importance of nature's conservation.
They are also visited by a significant number of people coming from
the country, what can be translated in stimulus for the preservation
of local species.
It also promotes attention and understanding of the natural world's
interdependence and shows to community, interactive exhibitions,
participative and educational, besides activities that represents its
relation, that are subsidies for environmental education.
2.
SPECIES CONSERVATION
A
very important part of zoos nowadays is to call attention of
biologists and veterinarians to the preservation of threatened species.
This can be comprovated for being the reproduction of threatened
species the higher point of zoos, and consequently the success of
modern zoos, that nowadays are divided in conservation ex situ (reproduction
of threatened animals at zoos areas) and in situ (of threatened
animals at natural areas, far from the zoos areas). As example of this
last one, AZA (American Zoological Association) coordinates around 650
conservation projects all around the world.
3. RESEARCH
At zoo institutions are developed scientific researches, being as
multiple ways, among them as conservation centers. This way, zoos and
aquariums must maintain sustainable relations of human race to nature,
explain the ecosystem values and the necessities of conserving
biological diversity and practicing the preservationist ethic by zoos
operations.
4. DEVELOPMENT AND PROFESSIONAL IMPROVEMENT
The development and professional improvement are in expansion at
modern zoos, providing opportunities and specialization of a lot of
new professional categories. Distinction for the zoos technicians,
animals keepers and supervisors.
5. LEISURE
Important participation of zoos at the list of options for families
leisure, especially for children, that have at the zoo of their city
the bigger opportunity of contact to aspects and notions of ecology
and environment, besides knowing the big variety of animals species.
6. FUTURE MISSION
Zoo must reach its mission by teaching and practicing conservation, as
much as in situ and ex situ, contributing for the discovering of
biological knowledge, offering appreciable opportunities, educational
and recreative with familiar participation and instigating all the
people that visit them the growing of adventure and discovering sense.
The zoos from the century XXI must be repictured as a corner against
biological impoverish; a time machine maintaining the continuous
because of the diminution of populations of savage life; a corridor
for careful of parks and reserves; and more than ever, first
introduction of humanity to savage life, promoting the environmental
aptitude and recruiting centers for conservationists.
BRASIL
FOREIGN
