The "Quarters for Conservation" project has been gradually spreading to many zoos, from Cheyenne Mountain to Boise, from Vancouver to Seattle, etc. Below is a brief overview copied and pasted from Woodland Park Zoo's website, and the zoo has two of the kiosks (one for each entrance) and there are 6 projects to choose from.
HOW IT WORKS:
As you enter the zoo, you'll receive a token. Your token represents 25 cents of your admission fee (or a percentage of your membership). We use that 25 cents to strengthen our commitment to conservation projects in the Pacific Northwest and around the world.
Half of your quarter goes to help fund all the field conservation projects we are involved in; the other half is applied to the project you choose! Your vote, combined with the votes and coins from our 1 million plus visitors each year, helps the zoo save endangered animals and their habitats.
Woodland Park Zoo is committed to wildlife conservation projects that also protect habitats and bring benefits to people. Your token tells us which projects you care about most - every time you visit.
The LA Zoo has something similar in the Thai Viewing shelter in Elephants of Asia, but they must pay with their own quarters and not tokens. I think it gives patrons different options to help elephants, but I can't really remember the options right now. The machine has a meter that tells you how much money has been donated, but one time (several weeks after EoA opening) the meter was off and it wasn't accepting quarters, so I asked a docent and he said that it wasn't accepting quarters because it was already full!
The LA Zoo has something similar in the Thai Viewing shelter in Elephants of Asia, but they must pay with their own quarters and not tokens. I think it gives patrons different options to help elephants, but I can't really remember the options right now. The machine has a meter that tells you how much money has been donated, but one time (several weeks after EoA opening) the meter was off and it wasn't accepting quarters, so I asked a docent and he said that it wasn't accepting quarters because it was already full!
The LA Zoo elephant exhibit also has the system where people can text to support the wild Cambodian elephant project. I have not seen this in other zoo exhibits, but I'm sure it probably is in use somewhere. I'd be curious to know how it is doing for the LA Zoo elephant project.
