The short answer is yes. The long answer is no. The former requires a perfect world.

Since the death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, the purpose of zoos has been challenged. From news articles to Facebook posts and tweets, it seems everybody has an opinion. Most of those opinions tend to want to incite retribution upon the mother of the young boy who fell into the exhibit, decry zoological facilities as a whole and make bombastic demands calling for the release of all wildlife in human care. While such articles are written and statements are made out of concern for wildlife, unfortunately, they are written and made by those with little to no experience in animal behavior and conservation.

The opinions of zoos in the modern age are very polarized: you either love them or you hate them. The hatred is usually stemmed from ignorance or only knowing half of the story. Those who hate zoos see them as an institution akin to a prison borne from the need for human entertainment. Though pure entertainment may have been the intention at the turn of the 20th century, that is certainly not the case of today's Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited zoos. Today, zoological facilities focus on education, research and conservation of the ambassador species in their care. To learn more about the history and importance of zoos and aquariums as a whole, please refer to a previous article, "The Importance of Zoos and Aquariums."

Accredited institutions serve as a sanctuary, not a prison, for some of the most endangered species in the entire world. Their focus on education provides opportunity for those in the general public to make a connection with a species they may have never before heard of or ever got a chance to view in the wild. Such connections lead to lasting impressions, which lead to a larger population that cares for and is more invested in the future of the species. The research done at accredited facilities allow insight into a species that may not be possible in their natural habitat, and incorporate work that may not have been able to be accomplished in those habitats (object permanence, work with mirrors, sign language). The more that is known about the species, the more that can be done to save it.

It is through the combined research of gorillas in the wild and in zoological institutions that has lead us to realize how intelligent this species is. They are, in fact, our evolutionary cousins. Humans share up to 98 percent of DNA with gorillas.

(A Western Lowland Gorilla [Gorilla gorilla gorilla] in the Congo. Source: Richard Caroll, World Wildlife Fund)

Harambe the gorilla was a 17-year-old Lowland Gorilla [Gorilla gorilla gorilla]. Lowland gorillas are one of four subspecies that includes the Cross River Gorilla [Gorilla gorilla diehli], the Mountain Gorilla [Gorilla beringei] and the Eastern Lowland Gorilla [Gorilla beringei graueri]. Of all four gorilla species, the lowland is suspected to be the most populous. Their exact numbers in the wild are not known because they inhabit some of the most dense rain forest in all the continent of Africa. It is estimated that their populations are the largest of all the subspecies, at 95,000 wild individuals (compared to the 200 to 350, 700 and less than 4,000 individuals of the Cross River, Mountain and Eastern Lowland species, respectively).

However, these numbers are thought to be greatly overestimated. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the estimated number of 95,000 individuals is "based on an assumption that all intact habitat in Western Equatorial Africa contains gorillas at densities that were typical of Gabon in the early 1980s."

Since the 1980s, gorilla habitat has become much more accessible to poachers. Where once gorillas found safety in the dense, seemingly impenetrable forest, new technology has allowed for roads to be cleared for mechanized logging. These roads have allowed poachers further access into the forest.

Gorillas are poached for two main reasons: bushmeat, and for their hands and skulls to be sold as superstitious trinkets and trophies. Bushmeat is a broad term for meat of non-domesticated wildlife that includes birds, reptiles and mammals. According to the IUCN, loggers eat more bushmeat than local villagers. In that way, logging facilitates and endorses poaching.

(Gorilla hands to be sold as superstitious trinkets. Source: HNGN.com)

The outbreak of Ebola in the late 1980s and 1990s has also had a significant impact on gorilla populations. In 2006 and 2007, studies were conducted with 600 wild gorillas infected with Ebola. Ninety-five percent of those known individuals succumbed to the virus and died (Caillaud et al. 2006, Bermejo et al. 2007). The other five percent of individuals were not thought to be immune, but rather just never infected.

The habitat of the Western Lowland Gorilla includes eight countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Republic of Congo and possibly the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, gorillas are now extinct in Nigeria. These countries are fraught with social and political instability, where the conservation of wildlife is hardly seen as the most pressing issue of the regions. Though educational and conservation measures are being implemented in many areas, it is not seen as profitable or beneficial to think in the long-term, and environmental stability is often sacrificed for economic gains.

"The wild" is often romanticized beyond belief. It is seen through the lenses of rose-colored glasses. The wild has become an almost mythical place were all animals live in peace and harmony, where the "circle of life" is the only threat to the animals living there. Maybe in a perfect world.

(Mountain gorillas [Gorilla beringei], believed to be poached purely as "scare tactics" toward park rangers in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Source:Dailymail.co.uk)

Our world is far from perfect. It is wrought with wealth inequality, corrupt governments and environmental degradation. It is a world vastly different than 200 years ago because of the progress of human technology and the ignorance of our species towards the non-human animals we share our planet with. Gorillas are in zoos because without genetically diverse individuals in human care, we could see the total loss of wild gorillas by 2025.

Zoos serve to protect and educate, not to entertain. The animals in their care receive top medical care, enrichment and diets carefully curated to their needs. They are a part of a Species Survival Plan, because if conflict erupts or a natural disaster occurs, there are members of the species that could be reintroduced when the wild habitat is stabilized.

To suggest that zoos are cruel, to suggest that zoos should be shut down and the animals released into the wild, though a view borne out of good intentions, is nonetheless extremely ignorant. Accredited zoos are imperative to the future of wildlife conservation and to furthering our knowledge of elusive and endangered species.

In a perfect world, there would be no need for zoos. People would love and empathize with non-human animals they have never seen and work their hardest to protect and preserve natural spaces. Money would have no place in politics, and poverty would not drive those to kill a gorilla (or a rhino, or an elephant, etc.) in order to feed their family or afford simple luxuries. In a perfect world, all research could be conducted on abundant wildlife species by naturalistic observation, without the need for laboratories or zoos or aquariums. In a perfect world, people wouldn't need to be close to animal to feel a connection.

(Western lowland gorilla [Gorilla gorilla gorilla]. Source: World Wildlife Fund)

Ours is not a perfect world.

To learn more about accredited zoos and aquariums as well as the Species Survival Plan programs, please check out AZA.org. To learn more about gorilla species and how you can help, you can find a wealth of information with: the IUCN Red List, the World Wildlife Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the International Gorilla Conservation Programme, and the African Wildlife Foundation.