Originally Posted by jerkules

In the distant past, it was necessary to kill an animal to be able to collect and preserve it. More recently, scientists who need to collect one or more specimens are bringing them back alive, and they rely on zoos and aquariums to keep these specimens alive. The reason is that you can learn more from a live animal than you can from a preserved one. The things we learn can help conserve these species, if there comes a day when captive breeding is needed to keep the species alive. If the animal(s) die in captivity, then it can still be preserved.