Breathing Their Last in Zoo Near You?
A report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (http://environment.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,2048662,00.html) suggested that the air pollution in our major cities may be more damaging to health than the radiation produced as a result of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant disaster. Exposure to traffic fumes increases heart disease and produces lung damage in people living nearby, reducing life expectancy. It is consequently likely to be the case that endangered species maintained for captive breeding in major zoos in urban locations, may also suffer as a result of their exposure to air pollution. This is an additional factor that I don't think has been considered in the debate about the relative merits of in situ and ex situ conservation programmes.
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