Ex Situ Conservation & Population Genetics

Hancocks, David. A Different Nature: The Paradoxical World of Zoos and Their Uncertain Future. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

Written by a zoo designer and former director, the text examines the gap between the stated missions of zoological institutions—conservation, education, research—and their actual practice. It traces the history of animal display from menageries to the naturalistic immersion exhibits of the late twentieth century, and argues that architecture and husbandry have lagged behind the biological and behavioral needs of captive species. The book treats the ethical, spatial, and institutional contradictions of confinement as linked problems rather than separate ones.

Its placement in a biology and genetics directory rests on its treatment of ex situ conservation. The text addresses captive breeding, the management of small populations, and the maintenance of genetic diversity in collections, alongside the role of zoos as research and funding bodies within organized science. Relevant to readers concerned with conservation genetics and the institutional structure of the field.