Caged for Capital: Zoos Prioritize Profit Over Animal Conservation

In mid-May 2025, the Columbus Zoo in Ohio found itself yet again in hot water with the authorities. Recently, the Ohio Office of the Attorney General and the Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit released the findings of a special investigation into the zoo, which resulted in the conviction of Columbus Zoo and Aquarium executives for the theft of more than $2.3 million for personal benefit.

The former executives spent the money intended for zoo use by purchasing tickets to concerts and sporting events, using funds for personal vacations, and using zoo-designated vehicles for personal trips. The report also revealed emails sent between the individuals convicted, which confirm how they attempted to hide their wrongful transactions.

Altogether, the investigation led to five total convictions, ordered hundreds of thousands of dollars to be paid in restitution, and over 15 years of combined jail time due to the dozens of felony charges brought against the former Chief Executive Officer, former Chief Financial Officer, former Director of Marketing, former Director of Purchasing, and former Purchasing Logistics Coordinator.

The Columbus Zoo Has a History of Controversy

Previously, the Columbus Zoo fell under intense scrutiny in 2021 when a documentary, The Conservation Game, exposed the exploitation of big cats kept in private possession and zoos. The documentary claimed that the zoo and Jack Hanna, the former Director of Columbus Zoo and star of several animal interaction shows on television, were involved in the illegal trade of big cats across the United States.

Using zoo studbooks (official zoo databases that log each individual in each species that are involved in an active breeding plan) and detective work conducted with photographs available online, the documentary revealed that Hanna and other celebrity animal “conservationists” misrepresented where the big cats came from and where they were going. For example, on some occasions, big cats (frequently belonging to species threatened with extinction in the wild) were sold by the zoo to exotic animal distributors involved in the pet trade, with little to no records confirming these shady transactions.

Zoos Exist Primarily for Financial Profit and Human Entertainment and Spend Very Little on Conservation

These incidents confirm what Born Free already knows to be true about zoos: they exist primarily for financial profit and human entertainment. Financial records from many zoos around the country validate that only a small percentage of their annual revenue goes towards the conservation of wild animals and their habitats. According to their website, AZA-accredited facilities have supported “conservation efforts around the globe, including contributing over $5.2 million to big cat conservation field projects in 2019.” Although seemingly large, this number is a miniscule percentage of zoos’ total annual revenue. In 2018, AZA members collectively spent $4.9 billion on operations and construction; comparatively, the $5.2 million amount spent on big cat conservation in 2019 is just 0.1% of zoo operational expenses in 2018.

An in-depth review of the financial records of the AZA accredited Indianapolis Zoo determined that conservation was not a priority based on their allocation of finances. The investigator discovered that, between 2009 and 2019, the zoo spent just an average of 1.04% of its budget on conservation. Problematically, the total amount of funds allocated to conservation work was even less than the salary of the zoo’s CEO ($370,282 in 2019). Further, determining how much of the funds dedicated to “conservation” proved to be difficult as well; the zoo’s financial records revealed that donations marked as “conservation” often went to other zoos or were categorized under vague umbrella terms like “monitoring,” “research,” or “support.”

Zoos Profit from Holding Animal Captive, Not from Working to Improve Species’ Conservation Status

Sadly, the Indianapolis Zoo is not alone in this minimal allocation of funds to conservation; the most supportive zoos typically only allocate between three to five percent of their budget to conservation work. Zoos, by default, exist to exhibit animals to the public for entertainment. Thus, it should not be surprising that most of their budget goes towards maintaining these animals on display. Zoos profit from putting animals on display for their entire lives in captivity without improving the conservation status of their counterparts in the wild with the vast resources they have generated. Indeed, for a small number of species, zoos continue to take animals from their natural homes to stock their exhibits.

Join us in speaking out against zoos and aquariums to prevent the wrong pockets from being lined with money earned solely by the exploitation of wild animals and greed.

Keep Wildlife in the Wild,

Devan