Zoo and aquarium officials from around the country are becoming increasingly concerned about how to deal with attacks by animal-rights groups that oppose keeping wildlife in captivity. At a regional conference in Baltimore this week, a Cleveland zoo official said zoos are "doing wonderful things" but the message is not getting out to the public.

The Evening Sun would like to know what you think. Should zoos and aquariums be abolished? Or do you feel their educational role outweighs the restrictions faced by animals in captivity? Do you believe, as zoo and aquarium officials maintain, that some species would be extinct otherwise?

To register your opinion, call SUNDIAL at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County) today through midnight. After you hear the greeting, you'll be asked to punch in a four-digit code on your touch-tone phone. Punch 4600 and you'll be connected with "It's Your Call," The Evening Sun's phone survey on topical issues.

"It's Your Call" represents a sampling of opinions from certain segments of the community, but it is not balanced demographically, as would be done in a scientific public opinion poll.

Look for the results in tomorrow's Evening Sun.