An Otago University professor of tourism says public attitudes have shifted around keeping large animals in zoos, largely due to films like Blackfish.
Professor James Higham's comments come after Auckland Zoo announced it had to euthanise its two ageing lions Kura and Amira, who were 19 and 17, respectively.
The zoo cited deteriorating physical and mental health for the euthanisations.
Dr Higham, speaking this morning to TVNZ 1's Breakfast programme, said public attitudes towards keeping large, intelligent creatures in zoos were divided.
"There are questions of both physical and mental wellbeing," he said, "there have been some concerns about the mental health of large animals held in captivity".
He said films like Blackfish - which looked into the treatment of orca whales at parks like Seaworld - had led to many taking a dim view of animals in captivity.
"Public sentiment has shifted," Dr Higham said.
"People will have different views on whether these animals should be held in zoos."
Dr Higham said the role of zoos had changed a lot over the decades, moving away from being a home for curiosities and entertainment to being a place of "education, advocacy, conservation [and] raising awareness".
"More recently, as wild species have become more and more threatened by human-induced environmental change, zoos are increasingly holding the last remaining members of a species," he said.
Kura and Amira lived at Auckland Zoo for almost two decades and had about 15 million visitors during that time.
Both outlived the expected lifespan of a wild lion, which is between 10 and 14 years.
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