In March this year CBS 60 Minutes released Back to the Wild which dealt with controversial conservationist Damian Aspinall, who wants to close all zoos, including his own, and free the animals to the wild. But is it a good idea? This is the way reporter Lesley Stahl introduced the segment:
"More Americans go to zoos every year than to professional baseball, football, hockey and basketball games combined. We get to encounter the dangers of the wild from the safety of suburbia. But increasingly zoos see their mission as not just displaying animals, but also saving endangered species. And that raises an interesting question: can endangered animals born and bred in captivity be released into the wild? As we first reported in March, a conservation group called the Aspinall Foundation is trying to find out. It's run by Damian Aspinall, a multimillionaire who owns a chain of casinos in England but his biggest gamble involves his animals."
You can read a full transcript for the segment here.
