American Humane Society believes that the best zoos and aquariums serve a vital dual purpose of preserving and conserving remarkable and endangered species while cultivating new generations of animal advocates.
Zoos and aquariums have an ethical obligation to ensure that the millions of animals in their care are afforded good welfare and humane treatment. To help achieve this, all zoos and aquariums should be subject to independent and third-party certification using science-based animal welfare standards.
The Conservation Imperative
The urgency of zoo and aquarium conservation work has never been greater. The most recent assessment from the IUCN Red List shows that more than 48,600 species are currently classified as threatened with extinction, representing approximately one-third of all evaluated taxa, and contemporary extinction rates are estimated to be 1,000 times higher than background levels prior to significant human influence. The 2024 WWF Living Planet Report, which measured average population changes across nearly 5,500 vertebrate species, found that monitored wildlife populations declined by an average of 73% between 1970 and 2020. Scientists widely characterize this moment as the onset of a sixth mass extinction, one driven not by geological or cosmic forces, but by human activity.
Against this backdrop, accredited zoos and aquariums are important contributors to global conservation. World Association of Zoos and Aquariums member institutions collectively spend millions per year on conservation projects in the wild, making WAZA the third largest contributor to conservation globally. Through sophisticated captive breeding programs, genetic management, field research and species reintroduction efforts, these institutions possess capabilities that complement in situ conservation and can be essential in some species-recovery programs.
The results speak for themselves. Dedicated species survival programs have helped bring species back from the brink of extinction, among them the black-footed ferret, red wolf, Przewalski’s wild horse and California condor. The Arabian oryx, hunted to extinction in the wild by the early 1970s, was saved through a captive breeding program initiated at the Phoenix Zoo. The Phoenix Zoo’s ‘World Herd’ was established from nine founding animals and ultimately produced more than 200 offspring, contributing substantially to later reintroduction programs. Père David’s deer, which disappeared from the wild and survived through managed populations in Europe, was returned to China beginning in 1985. Subsequent breeding and reintroduction efforts have established substantial populations within its native range. These are not isolated examples, they are proof of what is possible when zoological institutions commit to conservation with rigor and resources.
Addressing the Anti-Captivity Critique
Critics of zoos and aquariums sometimes advance a blanket anti-captivity position, characterizing all such institutions as inherently unethical. American Humane Society rejects this framing as both inaccurate and counterproductive. It conflates the best zoological institutions, which operate under rigorous animal welfare standards, invest heavily in conservation and provide animals with enriched, well-managed environments, with operations that do not meet those standards. The existence of inadequate facilities is not an argument against zoos and aquariums as a category; it is an argument for stronger, more consistent welfare standards and independent oversight across the industry. That is a goal American Humane Society shares.
The conservation contributions of accredited zoos and aquariums are not incidental to their mission, they are central to it. At a time of significant global biodiversity loss, American Humane Society believes that dismissing well-managed zoological institutions overlooks their demonstrated contributions to species conservation, research, education and recovery.
The Case for Independent Welfare Certification
Conservation impact and animal welfare are not competing priorities, they are inseparable. An institution that does not care well for the animals in its charge cannot credibly claim to be advancing their species’ survival. For this reason, American Humane Society believes that all zoos and aquariums, regardless of size or existing accreditation status, should be subject to independent, third-party welfare certification using science-based standards.
To advance this goal, American Humane Society launched the Humane Certified™ program, the first third-party certification dedicated solely to verifying that animals living in zoological institutions are afforded good welfare and humane treatment. Several features distinguish this program from existing accreditation systems. Standards are developed through an independent scientific process with input from experts in animal welfare, veterinary medicine, animal science, zoology and ethics. Certification is conducted independently from the institution being evaluated. The program is rigorous, transparent and designed to give the public a meaningful and trustworthy signal about the institutions they choose to support.
American Humane Society believes that robust, independent welfare certification and strong conservation practice are mutually reinforcing. By holding zoological institutions to high standards of animal care while supporting their lifesaving conservation work, we can ensure that zoos and aquariums fulfill their full potential as places of genuine refuge and recovery for the species that need them most.
References
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Black-footed Ferret Recovery. Available at: USFWS Black-footed Ferret Recovery Program. Accessed August 12, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. California Condor Recovery Program. Available at: USFWS California Condor Recovery Program. Accessed August 12, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2023. Revised Recovery Plan for the Red Wolf (Canis rufus). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Region, Atlanta, Georgia.
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. WAZA Commitment to Biodiversity Conservation. Available at https://www.waza.org/priorities/conservation/waza-commitment-to-biodiversity-conservation/. Accessed on August 12, 2026.
WWF. 2024 Living Planet Report. Available at https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-US/. Accessed on August 12, 2026.
Last Updated: August 25, 2026