Born to be wild?

The sad death of Xiang Xiang, the first captive-bred panda released into the wild (your report, 1 June), comes as no real surprise. Reintroducing captive-born animals to the wild is a complex and largely unpredictable process.

Despite claims made by zoos, virtually all of the many reintroduction programmes from captive-bred populations of "wild" animals have failed.

Zoos increasingly make claims about conservation and high-profile expensive captive breeding programmes in an attempt to justify their continued existence. The reality is that the vast majority of animals bred in captivity are shipped off to other zoos, not returned to the wild.

ROSS MINETT, Advocates for Animals, Queensferry Street, Edinburgh