u/Kaiju-frogbeast

Nearly all fantasy worlds have fantastical creatures, but how many of them are kept in captivity by the various races? If so, then how knowledgeable are they in terms of natural science (geology, geography, biology, evolution, ecology, etc).

In the real world, menageries were a place that rich and powerful people can view their private collections. It wasn't until the 19th century that zoos as we know them took off. Modern zoos are now used for conservation and education.

It really feels like something that hasn't been touched upon.

In worlds that have furries or scalies, they either opt out of having any non sapient animals at all (an aspect of worldbuilding that I'm not a fan of at all) or have normal animal coexist with the anthropomorphic ones. Many of them also have regular human live alongside them.

We rarely if ever see true bizzaro worlds where animals are people and people are animals, outside of one-off farside comics and the like.

I feel like there's a lot of potential in having humans exist in a beastial state with a diverse morphology while the animals are humanoid sophonts.

I know non sapient humans and sapient non humans are both popular ideas in spec bio, but I'm looking for fantasy worlds with this concept.

Since the late Pleistocene, many ecosystems have been drastically altered by humans, and this has only accelerated in recent centuries.

Land development, pollution, introduced species, etc.

While it's rightfully seen as a negative thing in most instances, some instances are seen in a more positive light, such as Ascension Island. Ascension Island is one of the few places where it's more biodiverse now than it was before the arrival of humans.

Even in places that highlight the even reaching influence of our species, such as the Pacific Garbage Patch, has been documented as being high in invertebrate biodiversity (not saying that we should preserve the Pacific Garbage Patch or anybody, but I feel it's worth pointing out).

We obviously should try and restore what we can, but what if a novel ecosystem is so entangled and intertwined with itself that removing the novel elements would result in collapse? When it is okay to protect "freakosystems"?