What would the Pope say?

Have you ever considered how zoos keep their resident populations in check? 

I doubt you have, but now you're thinking about it, aren't you?

Ah, young love ... cheetahs at the Houston Zoo.

Photo by Karamash [CC-BY-3.0] / Wikimedia

As it turns out, zoo animals are on birth control. Yep. Pills, implants, injections, you name it. 

It's the zoos' way of allowing family groups to coexist without the risk of inbreeding or ending up with too many offspring. 

Stray tiger cubs? Grizzly bears? Komodo dragons? Nobody wants that. 

In Europe, zoos favor euthanasia as a means of population control, but that's another blog post. 

In the meantime, you can learn more about the science of contraception for conservation HERE.