We don’t know whether zoos have played an essential role or not. We only know that zoos have served as an educational resource. Additionally, we don’t know whether these educational resources were specific to endangered species.

If captive breeding programs make reestablishing endangered species in the wild possible, it must be that zoos are breeding at least some species of endangered animals.

We don’t know whether there isn’t any zoo that exploits wild animals. We know that most new zoo animals are obtained through breeding programs, but not all of them.

We don’t know whether nearly all zoo animals were born in captivity. We know that most new zoo animals are obtained through breeding programs, but “most” could mean as little as 51 percent of animals.

We don’t know what would be the main purpose of zoos. We only know that they have served as educational resources and as entertainment.