Zoos have become key players in the preservation of endangered species - and they're great places to visit, writes Gráinne Faller

The tiger looks over and starts moving in. She breaks into a run and leaps up at the people invading her territory. The boys from Clonkeen College, in Blackrock, Co Dublin, laugh and yell as she paws the glass between them. "She jumped up on me!" one of them hollers to the students who were at the other end of the group and missed the drama.

More tigers approach as boys crowd around and the male starts rubbing against the glass. With centimetres between them and such a large predator, the excitement is palpable. Getting up close and personal with Siberian tigers is not exactly an everyday occurrence.

Unfortunately, these tigers can't really be called Siberian any more. There are no tigers left in Siberia, so the breed is now known as the Amur tiger. This is one of the many nuggets of information given during an educational tour about environmental awareness in Dublin Zoo.

It's an experience worthy of Steve Irwin, the late Crocodile Hunter. Admittedly, Irwin never bothered to place a sheet of glass between himself and the animals he spoke about, but he certainly never got closer than this to a tiger. He would also have approved of the fact that, despite the drama and excitement, the message of environmental awareness and conservation is to the fore. Irwin, the co-owner of Australia Zoo, in Queensland, was instrumental in raising awareness of the central role that zoos have to play in the preservation of endangered species.

The educational programmes at Dublin Zoo aim to do the same thing, albeit on a smaller scale, and they can be tailored to all levels. The programme today can be used for transition-year students or as part of a Junior Cert civil, social and political education project. It can be delivered with an emphasis on tigers, apes, rainforests or Africa.

Spirits are high among the students as they answer questionnaires that they have been asked to fill out during the tour. "In fairness to the tigers, they never fail me," says Claire Doyle, who has been leading the group.

The day starts off with a brief talk about the issues affecting tiger populations. We are told that the Javan, Caspian and Bali tigers are all extinct, and only a few hundred Amur tigers are left in the wild. The boys are listening, but when Doyle tells them of a modern-day Noah's ark being created in the US by freezing the DNA of endangered animals, the group falls completely silent.

Despite the dangers for certain species of animals in the wild, a significant number of people oppose zoos. Much of their opposition has to do with a memory of what zoos were once like. Many people remember bored animals in concrete enclosures on trips to Dublin Zoo years ago. Much has changed, however, and the Dublin enclosures are now spacious and interesting. All the same, the argument for and against zoos rages on.

There is a module aimed at transition-year students about the changing role of zoos over the years and their current role in the struggle to preserve the world's most endangered animals. People delivering this module are by no means preaching to the converted, however, and sometimes the transition-year students themselves are the zoo's most vocal opponents.

"I was totally against zoos," says Maeve Brady of Loreto College on St Stephen's Green in Dublin. "Yes, remember the polar bears," says her classmate Kate Gallagher, referring to a small concrete enclosure that was part of the zoo several years ago.

The girls took part in the zoo's conservation programme last September. The zoo employees had their work cut out, but they brought the girls in and explained what the zoo is trying to do.

"We were given a talk and a slide show," says Maeve. "They brought us through how it started. It was on just six acres to begin with. It was a really bad environment at that stage. There was a picture of people throwing things at the bears . . . There was one story of a man who actually lifted his son into the bear pit. It was a bit crazy."

Kate says: "I think the main thing that has changed since then is that zoos have gone from displaying the animals to conserving them. It's mainly for the animals' benefit now."

It's true that huge efforts have been made to bring Dublin Zoo up to date in this respect. The tour of the big cats with the Clonkeen College students emphasises how human contact is minimised.

"You don't want the animals associating humans with food," explains Doyle.

Food is hung and hidden for the animals to retrieve. Enclosures are designed with an animal's natural habitat in mind, and minimising boredom is a major consideration. As a result, the animals are behaving in more natural ways, marking their territories as they would in the wild.

Areas such as the African Plains are much more akin to a wildlife park than a zoo, and having the animals on display is not the priority it once was. Indeed, often an animal may be in a hidden part of its enclosure. The animals on the African Plains are much farther away than they once were, but the reaction to the new arrangement seems to be positive.

The students from Loreto College got to see the zoo in action after the presentation. They were given a questionnaire to fill in while exploring the zoo for themselves.

"My overall impression of that was that it felt a lot more natural," says Clare Dunne. "It was much more like we were going through the animals' areas, that we were the visitors. Certain animals still need new enclosures. It is a work in progress, but it's much better."

Maeve agrees: "My memory of the zoo years ago is that it was full of cages. This time we saw the animals rather than cages."

Back with the tigers, the students are spotting how the different cats are adapted to different environments. "It's interesting to see the differences between the way they all look," says David Brandon.

The students are also being encouraged to think about why the animals are endangered. "Protecting these animals isn't a priority in countries that have other problems, such as poverty or war," explains Doyle.

The efforts to save the Amur tigers certainly seem to be progressing. The wild population had dropped to just 50 in the past 100 years. Now, it is believed, the number has risen to between 350 and 400. They are by no means safe, but the improvement is encouraging.

"I learned lots," says Colin Egan as we leave the enclosure. "I asked lots of questions as we were going along."

The boys make their way back past the big cats to the zoo's discovery centre. This is a room that contains a collection of bones, claws and fur from deceased residents of the zoo. It's an opportunity to feel a tiger's coat or handle an antelope's antler without disturbing the animals themselves.

The girls from Loreto College also got to explore this after their tour of the zoo. "That was weird, cool and freaky at the same time," says Clare.

After exploring the room, the guided part of the tour for the Clonkeen College students finishes up. They will now get a chance to wander around the zoo by themselves - but not before making a presentation of money they collected to adopt an animal.

"It's so fantastic," says Doyle. "I'm always surprised at how many schools do that when they come here." "It was all very educational," says Sárán Greene of Clonkeen College. "It definitely changed people's attitudes towards the zoo," says Clare. "I'd recommend it," agrees Maeve. "It's good, especially when you're in fourth year, when you're a bit older and have opinions about things."

Educational tours of Dublin Zoo, which must be booked in advance, range from €12 a student for the Leaving Cert ecology module to €8 a student for the art and transition-year modules. See www.dublin zoo.ie, e-mail education@dublinzoo.ie or call 01-4748932

Fancy being a zookeeper?

Working in a zoo may seem like an ideal job, but Dublin Zoo warns that it's anything but easy. It's not about playing with baboons and cuddling koalas all day. You may have to say goodbye to your weekends, and holidays can be unorthodox. Summer is your busiest time at work, and hours can be very long.

Being good with animals is not enough. Many keepers have to be able to deal with the public and talk to groups as part of their everyday work. Dublin Zoo says: "Working with zoo animals is often dirty and smelly. There is a lot of hard physical work involved, and the animals can get sick and die or have to be put to sleep." A zookeeper provides daily care for the animals, including cleaning enclosures, preparing feeds, providing water and bedding. They are also responsible for keeping daily records of the animals' health, diet and behaviour.

If you are still interested in becoming a keeper there are several ways of going about it. Competition is intense, as, despite the difficulties of the job, the number of people who want to work with animals always outnumbers the jobs available. The more experience and qualifications you can get, the better your chances of landing a job.

One route is to take a degree in zoology. Zoology is available at certain colleges, such as Queen's University Belfast, as an undergraduate degree. More often you do a general science degree and specialise in zoology as part of that. This is an option at NUI Galway, University College Dublin, Trinity College in Dublin and University College Cork. Zoology is also available as a postgraduate option.

But you don't always need a degree to work in a zoo. All Dublin Zoo's keepers have to pass the zoo animal management course. This and similar courses are available from UK institutions such as Sparsholt College (www.sparsholt.ac.uk) and Anglia Ruskin University (www.anglia.ac.uk).

For more about the job itself, see www.careerdirections.ie.