Conditionals

Presenter: Plans to open a new zoo at Twyford have caused a major outcry among animal rights campaigners. With me in the studio to discuss the issue are Nadia Muller, from the organisation Save the Animals which campaigns against zoos, Liam Borg, who plans to open Twyford Zoo, and Mariam Khan, who runs a safari park in the south of England, where visitors can drive their own cars through large enclosures where wild animals run free. Liam Borg, if I could come to you first, why is another zoo needed?

Liam: Well, zoos have a number of very important roles. First of all, they're of enormous educational value. If we didn't have zoos, most people would never see wild animals in real life. Second, rare and endangered species can be preserved, and, hopefully, bred in captivity. If we'd introduced captive breeding earlier, we would have prevented the extinction of a number of animals — the Tasmanian tiger or the Chinese river dolphin. Unless we expand captive breeding, many more animals will die out.

Presenter: Nadia Muller. Your view on this?

Nadia: Well, certainly we should have captive breeding programmes if it will help save species. But this doesn't have to be in a zoo, where animals are often kept in small enclosures and cages. If they were in the wild, they would have more space to roam free. And so many other aspects of zoos are unnatural for wild animals. It's not natural for different species to live separately from each other, or for them to be given food at regular times rather than hunt for it.

Liam: But if there's a health problem, vets deal with it quickly. In the wild, an animal that becomes ill is much more likely to die or be eaten.

Nadia: That's true, of course. In the wild, animals do die through illness — but this is perfectly normal and how they lived for centuries before we started hunting them.

Presenter: Mariam Khan. Can I bring you in here?

Mariam: Yes. I agree with Nadia that it's inhumane to keep animals in the conditions you find in most zoos. Safari parks offer all the educational experience of zoos but also allow animals to roam free in large enclosures. The decision to make Twyford a zoo rather than a safari park is a lost opportunity.

Liam: I'm all in favour of safari parks, provided that the animals are well looked after. But they can never replace zoos. They're places where large animals — giraffes, elephants, lions — roam free. But you can't have small animals roaming around — if they're not eaten by the larger animals first, they'll be killed by visitors' cars.

Nadia: Our view is that wild animals should be protected in their natural habitat. There are many successful reserves in Africa where wild animals roam peacefully.

Mariam: But all that costs huge amounts of money that can only be provided by rich tourists. Most families can't afford to make trips like that to see them. Safari parks allow city-dwelling children from all levels of society access to wildlife.

Nadia: But animal welfare is more important! In reserves, animals can be monitored and treated for illness. So long as developed countries put money into these reserves, species will be preserved.

Liam: I'm sorry, but that's unrealistic.

Presenter: Well, I'm afraid that's all we have time for tonight. Mariam Khan, Nadia Muller, Liam Borg, thank you.