Zoos will always polarise opinions. What is their purpose - education, conservation, entertainment? Are they 'good' for the animals? Their role in conservation is clearly on the increase these days, but is it detrimental to broad-scale conservation? With limited resources, is it wise to invest so much for what can be considered limited returns? This isn't the place for such a discussion, but it is thought provoking.

As a 'normal' visitor to any zoo, the first thing we notice is the animals - how they are behaving... Some animals are fine under zoo conditions, but others clearly are not. Zoos provide people an opportunity to get up close with animals, to appreciate them. But it is hard not to anthropomorphise so much of what we see in zoos, particularly with the primates.

Those are the main issues that enter my head whenever I visit a zoo. Consequently this gallery is a mix of standard portrait photos of animals, of images that stir an emotional reaction in me (anthropomorphising, perhaps), and just other random images of animals.

[Always under construction]