Some species of animals, such as cheetahs and gorillas, are going extinct in the wild but are still being conserved through breeding at zoos. Do you agree with maintaining a species through zoo programs like this? Or do you think species should "run their course" and natural selection should occur?

Yes these animals species should be maintained through the zoo programs.

Explanation:

Some species of animals, like cheetahs and gorillas, are going extinct in the wild which is alarming call for humans because their extinction is more due to human interference than the natural selection.

The rate of extinction is very low due to natural selection but the species are being lost at very fast rate because of their habitat exploitation by humans. Therefore human have increased their extinction rate so it is important to conserve them not even in zoos but in their natural environment also so that the balance of environment do not get disturbed.

Firstly, the main concern at the time of extinction of the species to increase their number. In order to do so their are mated in the zoo so that the their population increases

This should be done in order to save the limited population from human interventions. The mating is under controlled conditions and supervision due to which there is a less chance that the organism will die.

Then the animals can be sent into the normal environment so that they can run their course and natural selection.