One listener has said zoos can be beneficial to animals and children.
Andrew from Galway was speaking after officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) raised concerns at Dublin Zoo in their most recent inspection.
Records showed medicines with no expiry dates, animals from social species being housed alone, an unclean water trough and inadequate ventilation.
In a statement, Dublin Zoo said: "At no point in 2021 NPWS report does the inspector state that they had concerns over animal welfare in Dublin Zoo.
"To state otherwise is factually incorrect and a gross misrepresentation of the report findings.
"Specifically, any and all mentions of welfare in the report are positive".
Andrew told Lunchtime Live he believes zoos are a good thing.
"I'm talking about the major zoos - like there are in Dublin or London or in Europe - in terms of what they are doing.
"Educational value for children, and also... protecting species through their breeding programme.
"I think the days of the old Victorian/Edwardian zoo that probably existed right up to the '50s and '60s, they've long gone.
"I don't think people would actually tolerate the sort of condition animals used to be put in.
"An animal taken out of the wild, put into a cage and put on display - they wouldn't do that, they wouldn't go to these places.
"And the reason why they go to these places, as I did in Dublin, is for their educational value.
"When these kids see animals in real life... they can see the real animals living in very healthy conditions.
"And that surely is going to give them a positive attitude to animals in the wild, and maybe the ecosystems that support them".
While Maddie from Kildare said she believes nothing can replace the wild.
"A prison is a prison, an enclosure is an enclosure.
"There's no zoo anywhere in the world that could hope to recreate or mimic the infinite possibilities that exist for animals in the wild.
"In terms of educating children about wild animals, animals in zoos are sort of shadows of their wild counterparts.
"Animals in zoos regularly display depressive type behaviours, boredom induced behaviors - pacing, rocking, sitting in corners from lack of stimulation.
"I've been to Dublin Zoo myself, I've been to zoos in Europe... I myself would never take my children to the zoo.
"And have had lengthy conversations with them as to why I wouldn't.
"Zoos exist primarily to entertain people - so you take your children for a day out to the zoo.
"At the end of that day out you get to go home, the animals are just there constantly 24/7, seven days a week, year after year in the same enclosure".
