Animal rearing regimes in zoos can be strongly altered according to the adaptation of animals to the captive environment. These changes can modulate animal well-being. In this review, we approach studies of ethological action and its impacts on the adaptation syndrome of captive animals. Zoos offer multiple ways of making adaptations of animals more difficult. strongly favoring the appearance of this syndrome. Animal organisms have their own characteristics, which allow us to identify their state of adaptation to the environment. This fact facilitates significant progress in our general understanding of the genotype-phenotype relationships of animals. The action of the veterinarian in zoos is thus favored. Knowledge of the basic characteris...