The issues with our zoo are noted elsewhere and I generally agree with them- but it’s all besides the point for me. There are two facts that I can’t get around when trying to justify maintaining captive breeding programs:

1. Humans aren’t entitled to animals.

2. Animals don’t care about extinction.

If we’re not doing it for the benefit of individuals who can appreciate their own sacrifice, and doing it causes them measurable misery, then we shouldn’t do it.

We made our bed, now we have to sleep in it. On a planetary timescale this is a blip, humans will die soon enough and nature will heal itself.