Humans are the most effective predators ever. If we don’t actively protect all “large” animals, we will just murder them all with our lifestyle. By accident.
Now, how do we get people to care about all these wonderful creatures?
My answer is that we make sure that all humans respect and expect to care for animals. That means that children need to see these animals.
To me, that’s a zoo. Yes, that’s enslaving the animals, but seeing an elephant makes me much more likely to give two shits about keeping it alive.