The idea of a virtual zoo is simple - just wire up an animal preserve somewhere with webcams, microphones, and sensors. Instead of carrying the animals to the people, bring the people to the animals.
It's not supposed to replace the zoo experience, though to tell the truth, I never see much but tufts of fur 50 yards off in those modern, free-ranging zoos. If I had the choice between that and a suite of webcams, controlled by radio collars so the camera nearest the animal was always on, I might switch. But the real objective of the virtual zoo is to allow us to monitor the lives of wild animals in real time from our homes. You might buy into an adopt-an-animal program, and with virtual zoo technology you could "walk around" with your adoptee anytime.
Every citizen could be a wildlife biologist, with all the tools he or she needs to do continuous observation for years at a time.
- Fred Hapgood (hapgood@pobox.com) writes about science and technology.
