Born free but...- Keeping animals in zoos

Our relationship with the rest of the animals that inhabit this planet becomes ever more fraught as our demands on the world’s resources accelerate. Half a century ago there were barely 3bn of us. Now that figure is heading towards 9bn.

One of the consequences of that growth played out in a terribly sad sideshow in Cincinnati Zoo over recent days when a 17-year-old male gorilla was shot dead after a boy managed to get into its enclosure. The gorilla had to be shot to save the child.

As the habitat capable of supporting a viable population of gorillas disappears almost by the hour, maybe we try to assuage our part in this destruction by keeping these noble primates in captivity, supporting them by treating them as circus spectacles, arguing that we offer refuge to an endangered population. Changing attitudes on animal rights have led to circus animal acts being banned in some countries. Surely a ban on zoos, no matter how well run, cannot be far behind, as they seem nothing more than the very worst of gulags for animals born for a better, freer life.