[njarboe]

If you think about zoos or royal menageries existing before hi-definition video, photography, steam engines, or even the printing press, then their existence makes a bit more sense. Human life was also at a different level of drudgery and cruelty not very long ago. Some zoos have a very long history with the oldest one existing today founded in Vienna in 1752. Institutions that have lasted don't tend to just shut themselves down, but I think zoos have responded to modern sensibilities with bigger, more natural enclosures, and a focus on conservation. If holographic tech gets good enough, I could see some zoos transitioning to having no live animals at all.