What do zoos need to improve for visitors?

[ZooBoy99]

Hi everybody! I'm currently working on a project for school and wanted to ask everyone the following question and learn from your experiences.

This thread isn't about what zoos need to do better with regards to the care of the animals and research. But how to enhance guest experiences! Do zoos provide proper accessibility for people in wheelchairs? Are more areas needed for parents to change newborns? Do zoos offer suitable spaces for those with autism? I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts for how to make things better and potential solutions.

I apologize if a thread already exists about the following topic, I just joined today so I don't know zoochat too well yet.

 

[TinoPup]

Hi everybody! I'm currently working on a project for school and wanted to ask everyone the following question and learn from your experiences.

This thread isn't about what zoos need to do better with regards to the care of the animals and research. But how to enhance guest experiences! Do zoos provide proper accessibility for people in wheelchairs? Are more areas needed for parents to change newborns? Do zoos offer suitable spaces for those with autism? I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts for how to make things better and potential solutions.

I apologize if a thread already exists about the following topic, I just joined today so I don't know zoochat too well yet.

This is actually something that doesn't get discussed much around here! I'm autistic (like a lot of members here) and have several health issues that can make visiting zoos really stressful for me.

-MORE BATHROOMS. Most zoos do not have nearly enough. Make them well signed and easy to find (Cincinnati's are often behind buildings and lack signage, for example). Stop locking them during the off-season, and if you're really going to do that, mark that on signs/maps (thinking of Bronx for this one in particular; once ended up in a sizeable ground of people roving from bathroom to bathroom, map to map, looking for an open one). And if you're going to have special individual bathrooms for those with disabilities (they usually have adult changing tables, etc), don't keep those locked if the other toilets are open (Cincinnati, again)!! Columbus does a fantastic job in this department.

-Stopping putting those percussion "gardens" right on the main paths/next to exhibits.

-Make "quiet spaces" easy to find, and take steps to actually make them quiet with lots of bushes/trees, stone walls, etc. Have employees/volunteers know where these areas are, or at least the closest ones to wherever they work.

-There are autistic adults, too.

-Stop working with and supporting Autism $peaks.

-Have maps that show where all of the important places are - first aid, bathrooms, food places that are always open vs occasionally open, etc. Too many places are being lax with that in order to make these modern, stylish ones.

-Make accessibility maps more available. A lot of AZA zoos are starting to have a section on their website for this, but they vary wildly and can be hard to find. I've found multiple zoos that ask you to send an e-mail/call to request a hard copy of the map, with no online one available. The quality of the maps also varies a lot, but some additional things to note would be stuff like slopes/elevation changes, areas that tend to be quieter (not just the louder sections), sections where service dogs aren't allowed, things like that.

-Have a designated area for service dogs to relieve themselves. If they aren't allowed in a certain area, have benches for people to sit and wait if their family/friends want to do the area without them.

-More benches in general.

-This one I'm not sure how to handle, but having to buy tickets in advance can be a struggle if you don't know you'll be well enough to go on that day. Places that do this usually don't offer refunds, especially day-of.

-Shady areas and/or rooms with AC.

-Water bottle filling stations.

-Correct signage!!!

 

[ZooBoy99]

Thank you for the help & sharing!

 

[pachyderm pro]

One thing that bothers me is that many zoos no longer hand out physical maps. There's been a shift in the last few years to online maps only, including my local facility. This is a bad move as not only is it troublesome to be continuously pulling out your phone to figure out where you're going, but these maps also act as constantly evolving documents that demonstrate how a given zoo changes over the years. Just look at the hundreds of maps that @snowleopard has uploaded over the last month. That may not be possible in the future and valuable accounts may be forgotten about in the process.

 

[Batto]

If I were you, I'd order this book:
Exhibiting Zoo Animals: The book that makes its author redundant by Erik van Vliet.

 

[ZooBoy99]

Thanks for the responses everybody and I'll take a look at the book soon!

 

[15399]

This thread isn't about what zoos need to do better with regards to the care of the animals and research. But how to enhance guest experiences! Do zoos provide proper accessibility for people in wheelchairs? Are more areas needed for parents to change newborns? Do zoos offer suitable spaces for those with autism? I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts for how to make things better and potential solutions.

I think for a lot of these it'll be difficult to make generic statements about all zoos, as these are things that many zoos excel at, and others not so much. However, there are a few things that I've found to, while not universal, be common enough to warrant mentioning.

One of the big things about a lot of US zoos that I think is necessary from a visitor experience viewpoint is longer hours. Why not have evening hours to allow better viewing of nocturnal and crepuscular species? Alternatively, a lot of families with younger kids operate on a schedule in which earlier morning hours would be beneficial, rather than hours that start at 10am or so.

Another one is easy viewing of animals. I don't mean this in that there can't be any no-shows, or that animals need to be up close, however exhibits should be designed in a way that encourages viewing of animals. This means for one having viewing opportunities at heights everyone can access. How often do you go to a zoo and see kids climbing on railings, oftentimes not safely? A lot of the times this is due to viewing opportunities geared to adult heights instead of the heights of children (also wheelchair users, short people, etc.). Furthermore, overuse of chain link fencing and other obstructive fencings similarly make it more difficult to view animals and have an enjoyable experience. While I don't expect to see all animals when I go to a zoo, I do expect to see a lot of the on-show collection, and ideally exhibits should be designed in a way to best ensure this.

Layout is also a big factor of the visitor experience in my opinion. Getting lost and/or being unable to find certain exhibits doesn't make for an ideal visit, and while I do enjoy visiting parts of the zoo multiple times, layout which requires backtracking to see everything can be frustrating to the guest experience.

Lastly, especially in aquariums, one of the biggest issues I've seen is poor crowd control. One of the things that I've found to really make a zoo visit unenjoyable is crowds that aren't managed well, making it difficult to get around, view exhibits, and enjoy an experience. This is even more true for individuals who experience sensory overload. Personally, I have basically no desire to return to the New England Aquarium, as despite being an otherwise great institution that I have nothing but respect for (lots of great conservation programs!), the aquarium is so non-conducive to crowd control that it makes for a terrible visitor experience.

 

[JVM]

There's a lot of good suggestions above, especially by TinoPup and Neil Chace, here are a few of mine.

I would like to see more zoos offer more tour experiences. An audio tour as is sometimes done at art museums could be a great way to educate casual adult
visitors who may not be social enough for a group tour. I'd also like to see multiple guided tour options -- families may want general animal facts, and they deserve that option, but what about historical tours discussing the zoo's history and architecture? Less frequent tours that focus on guests who may have narrow interests, such as a special guided tour that focuses on the reptiles in the collection. Tours that require more training and experience could have a slightly higher cost. With the advent of behind the scenes tours, I think some more custom tours like this could be helpful and fun.

I think a lot of work could be done with educational signage, actually. I rank Lincoln Park Zoo pretty highly for exhibitry but their signage is a real weak point and some buildings offer no species-specific information besides an identification, which is useful but very bare minimum. Though their exhibit standards are not considered as high, I think Milwaukee County Zoo and Henson Robinson Zoo actually had some really, really excellent signage, almost overwhelming in making information available, and I love that Milwaukee draws attention to specific individual animals with their own history. I want to learn new things about the animals, not just their names.

More on-site signage advising guests the best times to view certain animals and when there are keeper chats and feeding times. I know there are reasons this might be discouraged, including crowding, but I definitely think the default should be to publicize it and change strategy if it backfires. I think guests benefit from viewing these interactions, especially in terms of viewing active animals and their bonds with their keepers. Some zoos promote these activities on social media but don't actually have anything on site.

A lot of my suggestions come down a lot to making exhibits feel more personal and customizable in an effort to maximize a zoo visit as a learning experience and not merely for passive viewing of habitats.

I think facilities should maintain (ongoing) their own public, accessible lists of publicly viewable species. I understand why they may want to keep private what is held off-show but I do think people should have access to what is intended to be viewable. Even on zoochat with non-major facilities it can be confusing to know which animals are still there or no longer there.

I'm having trouble wording this, but I think it's best for any zoo building that doesn't rely on a narrative to have doors able to be opened from inside and outside during access hours. At Lincoln Park for example, Regenstein Center for African Apes can only be entered through one door and exited through another door, but there's no reason for this restriction. Maybe I'm coming from the south of the zoo and want to see the apes - oh well, you still have to go around to the north side of the building. I can understand some indoor exhibits have a narrative to tell, but this isn't one of those.

Layouts should have at least one path that allows guests to view everything the zoo has to offer, and at two or three paths that allow cutting across the main path to save time. A grid can be a little confusing to navigate, too many options can be a problem, may force a lot of backtracking, but obviously a single loop forces you to go through the whole thing to get to what you might want in a short visit.

I'll have more sometime.

 

[RonBurrgundy]

I would like it if zoos put more effort into their signage.
Many zoos have signs the size of maybe a magazine, but larger and more descriptive signage could certainly convey more information.
I often see visitors at the zoo who obviously don't know the animal they are looking at but don't bother to look at the little signs to find out more about the animal. Some of these people are probably not even interested in finding out more, but I think many visitors would benefit with larger and better designed signs were present. An idea would be to install multiple signs with different levels regarding the amount and difficulty of information. For example, basic information for small children with lots of pictures and some interactive mechanics maybe, complex texts for the average zoogoer and more in depth information for animal enthusiasts who know already the basic information (This would also kinda eliminate the dependence of interested children on their lazy parents).

I would also like it if there was more information about why animals are at risk and how visitors can take action against these dangers (It's present in many zoos already but maybe at only at one of five enclosures). I think donation boxes make also sense, giving an opportunity of donations going directly to the projects helping animals in the wild (the game Planet Zoo actually implements this approach very well). I often see projects that the zoos support and think that I would like to donate since their is no opportunity to do so I often forget about it before going home.

Those two points are very important in my opinion since zoo are being more and more criticized (at least in Germany) because they supposedly don't support learning in their facilities (Study from London Zoo - University of Warwick from 2014) and don't help animals in the wild.
I personally don't think this is true and would really appreciate it if zoos work harder to show how how important they are for learning and conservation.

I also think it's important that every zoo draws attention to things like smuggling. I know many German zoos that show a room with confiscated animals / animal products and this should be shown in every zoo to make people more sensetive for these topics.

(I also agree with all the statements above)

 

[Batto]

I often see visitors at the zoo who obviously don't know the animal they are looking at but don't bother to look at the little signs to find out more about the animal. Some of these people are probably not even interested in finding out more, but I think many visitors would benefit with larger and better designed signs were present. An idea would be to install multiple signs with different levels regarding the amount and difficulty of information. For example, basic information for small children with lots of pictures and some interactive mechanics maybe, complex texts for the average zoogoer and more in depth information for animal enthusiasts who know already the basic information (This would also kinda eliminate the dependence of interested children on their lazy parents).

Based on personal experience and several publications, I can honestly say: the more information and variation of info you present, the more overstrained and overwhelming it gets for most of the modern audience. In the end, the essence of the whole is fraught for them with distracting details. Keep it simple yet poignant. If you can't see the animal due to too many signs, people will walk by. For those interested in more info, offer an QR code leading to an factual informative online article. Don't waste money on signs hardly anyone reads, yet don't further the general dumbing down; it's a narrow line to walk on.

 

[RatioTile]

More benches, bathrooms (preferably single-stall and gender-inclusive) water-filling stations are always welcome, as are paths to get around the park without stairs (ramps and elevators).

Something ubiquitous in Japan I haven’t seen in the US is coin lockers for storing large and heavy bags. On trips I tend to check out of a hotel in the morning, spend a day at a zoo or aquarium, then check into another hotel at night. Having to drag your luggage with you through a zoo can really take a lot of fun out of your visit.

 

[15399]

I think a lot of work could be done with educational signage, actually. I rank Lincoln Park Zoo pretty highly for exhibitry but their signage is a real weak point and some buildings offer no species-specific information besides an identification, which is useful but very bare minimum. Though their exhibit standards are not considered as high, I think Milwaukee County Zoo and Henson Robinson Zoo actually had some really, really excellent signage, almost overwhelming in making information available, and I love that Milwaukee draws attention to specific individual animals with their own history. I want to learn new things about the animals, not just their names.

I will add on to this and say specifically zoos could do a better job designing signage that people will actually interact with! While long paragraphs with lots of information may be very informative, few zoo visitors are going to stand there and read all of the information there. On the contrary, signage that is designed to be colorful and eye-catching, containing shorter factoids, pictures, etc., can do a lot better job of engaging visitors and getting them to actually read. Even better is signage with interactive components. Especially children love to touch things, move things, etc., so taking advantage of this with signage is very beneficial.

On the lines of this, one thing I would like to see more of in zoos is other modes to convey information as well. It's rare that I've seen videos in zoos, however a short video can be a great, informative way to get information across to an audience.

I'm having trouble wording this, but I think it's best for any zoo building that doesn't rely on a narrative to have doors able to be opened from inside and outside during access hours. At Lincoln Park for example, Regenstein Center for African Apes can only be entered through one door and exited through another door, but there's no reason for this restriction. Maybe I'm coming from the south of the zoo and want to see the apes - oh well, you still have to go around to the north side of the building. I can understand some indoor exhibits have a narrative to tell, but this isn't one of those.

Crowd control can be another reason to limit which doors can be used. I'm not familiar enough with the design of RCAA to know if that's the case here, but especially as a carryover of COVID-19 precautions, a lot more exhibits have become one-way to facilitate crowd control.

 

[Jurek7]

An audio tour as is sometimes done at art museums

Good idea - I wonder why no zoo offers an audio guide of the sort common in museums? There are now traditional hand-held ones, downloadable ones, small scanned QR codes at every painting / zoo exhibit...

However, I don't encourage commentary played from speaker after pressing the button, or even when a person passes near the exhibit, using a touch sensor. Some zoos do it recently. Visitors go away, and you have to endure noise, like sitting in a bus next to a person playing radio.

 

[JVM]

I will add on to this and say specifically zoos could do a better job designing signage that people will actually interact with! While long paragraphs with lots of information may be very informative, few zoo visitors are going to stand there and read all of the information there. On the contrary, signage that is designed to be colorful and eye-catching, containing shorter factoids, pictures, etc., can do a lot better job of engaging visitors and getting them to actually read. Even better is signage with interactive components. Especially children love to touch things, move things, etc., so taking advantage of this with signage is very beneficial.

On the lines of this, one thing I would like to see more of in zoos is other modes to convey information as well. It's rare that I've seen videos in zoos, however a short video can be a great, informative way to get information across to an audience.

I guess I'm spoiled as I've definitely seen a lot of tactile signage at my local zoos and it feels more the norm than the exception to me. Definitely no zoo should ignore the appeal to kids that kind of signage holds.

My mind goes to exhibits I've seen where the signage is 'ANIMAL NAME, scientific name, distribution' like some exhibits at Lincoln Park. To me that's too little. The Shedd is like that too which is part of why I often forget fish I see if I don't already have outsider info. Brookfield does this in places.

I think Milwaukee has a great balance. There's a couple bullet point fun facts alongside the necessary information and they're very colorful and attention-grabbing. 'Meet the Flockers' by the flamingos is definitely one to draw the eye.

St. Louis was also effective, usually including two fun facts per animal, which was especially helpful in the Herpetarium since I actually learned new things about the animals and it made it more memorable a visit.

Crowd control can be another reason to limit which doors can be used. I'm not familiar enough with the design of RCAA to know if that's the case here, but especially as a carryover of COVID-19 precautions, a lot more exhibits have become one-way to facilitate crowd control.

My experience is that guests tend to crowd and congregate overwhelmingly near the first gorilla habitat which is closest to the entrance, and the exit area past the chimpanzees and second gorilla habitat is more open and therefore usually more quiet. There is potential for crowding problems because of a large display between habitats, but the chimpanzees are elderly and sedentary and I find the middle exhibit is rarely as attractive as the first gorilla habitat regardless of which troop is where.

 

[Batto]

I've definitely seen a lot of tactile signage

That's actually an aspect a lot of zoos could improve upon - not just in regards to children, but visually impaired visitors. We have a bunch of exponats ready to be touched at WdG for this kind of clients as well as installments for people with special needs. It takes comparably so little to create so much joy.

 

[PossumRoach]

I understand that it might not be worth investing into since no one can guarantee that people will use it but I think more zoos in regions with great non-host language speaking diaspora should try to invest in signs for said language.

 

[Jurek7]

For animals which often go hiding, good would be an arrow in the exhibit pointing the animal favorite hiding place. It is quite often that e.g. a cat or a snake has a favorite corner it always sleeps, but visitors cannot find it.

I always was fascinated by the information about an indvidual animal: its name, place of birth, age, maybe 2-3 special characteristics like what it likes to eat. And about its care and particular exhibit - where is the kitchen, how daily care looks like etc. But zoos often avoid it - it can make a sensation if the animal falls ill, is exported or dies, and (in their mind) it distracts from the conservation message. But it would help raising funds for a new exhibit for named, known animals.

more zoos in regions with great non-host language speaking diaspora should try to invest in signs for said language.

In Europe this is quite common in zoos near country borders and in touristic places.

 

[15399]

I understand that it might not be worth investing into since no one can guarantee that people will use it but I think more zoos in regions with great non-host language speaking diaspora should try to invest in signs for said language.

I've been to a small number of zoos in the US with both English and Spanish signage, and I agree that it's certainly a great, inclusive step that should be taken in diverse areas. Mystic Aquarium stuck out as being especially good with having bilingual signs.

 

[Osedax]

I understand that it might not be worth investing into since no one can guarantee that people will use it but I think more zoos in regions with great non-host language speaking diaspora should try to invest in signs for said language.

Taronga used to have some of their Australian animal signs in both English and Mandarin.

 

[ZooBoy99]

Don't mean to change the subject. But I wanted to thank everyone who has participated in this thread! I really appreciate everybody sharing their thoughts and ideas for improvements.