Education Some zoos attempt to provide some forms of education, but they mainly teach the public about the captive behaviour of animals. Despite the fact that a small number of zoos provide good educational facilities, the vast majority have little or no educational value at all. The zoos that address education most successfully often have extensive non animal facilities such as lecture theatres, video equipment and other technology. The showing of wildlife films and documentaries can generate an active interest in wild and the physical presence of the zoo animals is usually unnecessary. Now that the public are more aware of how animals behave in the wild, it has become obvious that the way many animals are kept in zoos is damaging.
Zoos often show a distorted picture of wild animals.
Zoo animals live in unnatural conditions,many display unnatural behaviours and are reduced to mere caricatures of the animal in the wild. Wild animals lead complex and unpredictable lives, and each species has evolved to ideally meet the challenges of its environment. Traditional zoos can do little to properly replicate this with their animal exhibits. Although many zoos proclaim an interest and contribution to conservation, only a few actually keep and breed endangered species. The vast majority of zoo animals are not endangered.