An endangered species auction is when a conservation site auctions off the right to hunt one of its endangered animals. All proceeds of the hunting permit will go into conserving the animals.

Most zoos have boards of directors, which are responsible for overseeing the overall management and operations of the zoo. For the purpose of this debate, “democratizing a zoo” means making all of its board members fiduciaries for the animals. A fiduciary is someone who is legally obligated to act - in their official capacity - exclusively in the best interests of another entity. Depending on the sizes of the zoo and its board of directors, an individual fiduciary may represent just one species (e.g., the zoo’s lions) or a group of species (e.g., the zoo’s mammals).