THE POLITICS OF AMERICAN ZOOS

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*The Politics of Zoos*

 

*Exotic Animals and Their Protectors*

 

*Jesse Donahue and Erik Trump*

 

* " Donahue and Trump show how zoos took advantage of their multifaceted

missions in the realm of politics and legislation dealing with

animals. " —Elizabeth Hanson, Author of Animal Attractions: Nature on Display

in American Zoos *

 

* " The authors did an excellent job of detailing the intricacies of the

changing political landscape for the American zoological park over the last

forty years. " —Elizabeth S. Frank, Curator of Large Mammals at the Milwaukee

County Zoo*

 

* " The Politics of Zoos illuminates broader questions about the position of

zoos in animal welfare and environmental politics and policy. " —Christopher

J. Bosso, Northeastern University*

 

*Zoos have found themselves continually under fire in recent decades. Animal

rights activists initiated the attacks; at the same time regulatory

agencies, anti-tax advocates, and an assortment of litigators have also

targeted zoos. In an effort to defend themselves in this hostile landscape,

zoos and aquariums joined forces under the leadership of the American

Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (now called the AZA). They

learned to use the political system to their own advantage while at the same

time crafting a more progressive public mission.

 

In The Politics of Zoos, Jesse Donahue and Erik Trump present a political

biography of the AZA to show how the zoo community has emerged as a

political player. Rather than recount the history of a faceless institution,

the authors focus on the cohort of directors who navigated the political

turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s and set the agenda for subsequent decades.

Ironically, at a time when activists began to charge that zoos and aquariums

did not know how to care for animals and did not care for the well-being of

endangered species, the opposite was true. These institutions were

increasingly attracting well-educated professionals who indeed cared a great

deal.

 

Amidst controversies over ownership and funding, capture and disposal, and

the health and well-being of animals on display, AZA leaders acted not

merely to protect their own interests in the political arena but to ensure

the welfare of captive animals and to assist with the conservation of wild

species. Donahue and Trump's original study of the politics of American zoos

and aquariums from the 1960s to the present draws upon interviews, archival

sources, congressional records, court cases, regulatory hearings, media

accounts, and the authors' ongoing field research. It will appeal to zoo

professionals, political scientists, historians, and those concerned with

animal welfare. *

 

*(2006) 236 pp.

0-87580-364-4 cloth $40.00

0-87580-613-9 paper $24.00*

 

*Jesse Donahue and Erik Trump are both Associate Professors of Political

Science at Saginaw Valley State University.*

Table of Contents

 

*List of Abbreviations

Introduction: The Politcal Revolution

1 Opening Moves—Protecting Animals from Indifference

2 On the Defensive—Creating a Strategy for Survival

3 A Stronger Zoo Community—Legislative and Regulatory Victories

4 Species Preservation— " The Shimmering Robe of Light and Goodness "

5 Animal Welfare Issues Revisited

Conclusion: Elephants and the Trajectory of Zoo Politics

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index*