Having done field research on animals in the wild, Pilot Whales, I was thrilled when artistic director Yen Tzu Chang asked me to hold a multidisciplinary and intercultural workshop on the topic of the future of zoos. This was with her team of choreographers, dancers, musicians, researchers, and producers, Vanessa Chen, Si Ting Hsu, Si Wei Liao, and HaiTing Liao. We were also fortunate to have Julie Askew on board, who contributed her extensive expertise as an eco educator!
On Friday and Saturday, we examined trends and drivers, and discussed possible scenarios for the near future of zoos. It became clear that the zoo is a crystallization point of how we want to live together as humans and with animals and nature.
Our journey included discussions from 'Why bother? When species go extinct, It's evolution,' and more empathetic and compassionate 'I don't eat my animal friends,' to the central questions, “Is there a need for zoos to exist, or should they be abolished? In what forms can zoos exist, and for what purpose?”
The scope of zoos has changed over centuries, away from menageries and spectacles with animals simply on display. They have adopted educational purposes, become rewilding stations that rebuild ecosystems, and are places for breeding programs to preserve species. Yet, rapidly advancing climate change and environmental degradation are somehow superseding this change.
The answers to the initial questions can only be given globally; they affect each and every zoo. Do we aim to create post-captive zoos and environmental hubs that allow interaction and encounters based on free will—a new form of coinhabiting on a regional basis with native species in their natural habitats? Or, will we continue to retain captive animals, exploiting and destroying nature, putting ourselves in artificial environments, and ignoring our embodied life?
Stay tuned! "The Eternal Zoo," funded by the Ministry of Culture Taiwan, will be released on November 1st and 2nd as a new media theater work in Taiwan. This event promises to spark further discussion and exploration of the future of zoos!
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