Animals have been kept in captivity since around the time of the ancient Egyptians. Over the centuries people have captured and maintained groups of wild animals for numerous reasons, ranging from the display of wealth to education and conservation. However, Homo sapiens has not always treated its fellow creatures well and this has led, more recently, to the development of legislation and codes of ethics in order to improve the welfare of animals in human care. This article describes some historical attitudes to captive wild animals and reports on the development of the WAZA Code of Ethics in 1999.

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