Start the Week Zoos, sex and conservation
13 snips
Apr 6, 2026 
Sarah Forsyth, Curator of mammals at ZSL responsible for breeding and reintroduction work. Elsa Richardson, cultural historian researching zoo archives and public displays. They explore strange mating systems and genetic rescue stories. They trace zoos from Victorian spectacle to modern conservation, archival revelations, breeding practices and the ethical shifts shaping how we care for and study animals.
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Why Sex Persists Despite High Costs
- Sex is costly but persists because it injects genetic diversity that combats mutation accumulation and parasites.
- Lixing Sun explains Muller's Ratchet: asexual lines accumulate harmful mutations unless new genes are introduced by sex.
Sexual Fluidity Is An Evolutionary Strategy
- Sex is often fluid and adaptive rather than fixed across species.
- Lixing Sun notes hermaphroditism and sex-changing fish like clownfish as evolutionary strategies for reproductive flexibility.
Starboard The Polar Bear Revealed Zoo Misreadings
- Starboard the polar bear displayed repetitive swimming that early keepers called exercise.
- Elsa Richardson found archives showing that the behaviour ceased after Starboard bonded with a new mate, suggesting stress and social causes.
