About the ICBP
The International Centre for Birds of Prey is the new name for the National Birds of Prey Centre. It is and has been for many years, a specialist zoo of birds of prey dedicated to their conservation. We use the word zoo purposefully for two reasons. Firstly the legal definition of a zoo is a place open to the public for seven days of the year with animals not normally domesticated within the UK, so that makes us legally a zoo; in fact any place with birds of prey on view to the public is technically a zoo, and thus requires a zoo licence.
More importantly we call ourselves a specialist zoo because we are not ashamed of being a zoo. The dictionary definition of a zoo is a collection of zoological specimens, usually open to the public. In the long past zoos were just for entertainment, and amusement, with animals stockpiled and not necessarily well looked after. But now that is most certainly not the case, at least in the UK. Zoos do a tremendous amount of excellent conservation work. They achieve it on their premises by educating the public to understand and as importantly, appreciate wildlife, imagine if everyone went out to see it in the wild – there would be huge pressure on what is left of our wild places.
Zoos achieve it in their increasing knowledge of the biology and requirements of the species – to keep animals and birds and fish etc well, you have to understand them and we are learning all the time, this in turn helps us to conserve them in the wild. They achieve it in their ex situ captive breeding programmes, where endangered species are bred and are released back to the wild. And even more they achieve it through funding and teaching in situ conservation programmes in the countries where endangered species still live. So being a zoo, a good zoo, is nothing to be ashamed of. Undoubtedly there are some poor zoos, just as there are poor schools, poor government departments, poor policemen, poor anything you care to mention, nevertheless there are many good zoos, and being one is important.