Moving people who visit zoos

J

Jules97

Member
Hello All,

I'm not sure if many of you have worked or work in zoos but I'm sure you'll understand me when I say working in a zoo and visiting a zoo gives you two completely different view points on zoos in general.
To be completely honest, up until a few months ago I strongly condemmed zoos and the keeping of undomesticated animals in captivity.
At the beginning of this year, needing experience to successfully apply for a course at university, I decided to try out some work experience at a zoo nearby, all work experience time slots being taken up until next year and so I decided to try out volunteering. I got offered a position straight after applying. On my first day I realised that when working, I don't get to sit and look at the animals, I didn't ask myself questions about the animals which would lead me to think zoos were bad if I were to walk around like I would've in the past.
Seeing people walking in and out of the zoo everyday, not taking anything out of it except some photos and tired kids, I have been thinking about ways to change that.
I want people to walk out of the zoo and have a sense of obligation towards endangered animals, I want people to walk out of the zoo and have been moved by the sight and presence of the animals. I'm sure most of you reading this do too.
Back to myself... One day, having finished work early, I decided to walk around the zoo. I ended up standing in the same spot, in a sheltered cul-de-sac looking at two snow leopards for 15 mins. I walked away with a tear running down my face. The two leopards were such beautiful beings, the way they moved, the way they look at you and the way they are as much living beings as we are.
From this, I really believe people should go to the zoo, be able to have a quiet place to stand and look at the animals for more than just 5 mins, without reading a sign or being interupted by a traffic of people walking by or crowding around, and realise for themselves what the animal's behavior is like and it's characteristics and other such things that you don't need a sign for (for example instead of reading a sign about the sound the barking owl makes, wait and hear it for yourself).
People should be taught/told how to visit a zoo and get something out of it, a deeper, more emotional connection to the animals they saw. I believe this could make the public more involved in animal conservation and animal related debates worldwide.

Please let me know:
What do you think people get out of zoos?
Do you think they should be getting more out of it?
Any thoughts on what I've said?
(One limit to my idea would be that zoos wouldn't be a kids excursion as much anymore... maybe?)
 
As you might guess, zoos and sociology students have done quite a bit of work on this very issue.
One thing they realized is that people come to the zoo for many reasons and also, different people are natively inclined to seek a different experience at the zoo. Add to that, zoos must be able to pay their way, so whatever changes might be made, they cannot be allowed to radically reduce a zoo's attractiveness to mass visitation.
Most zoos do all they can to educate and inspire visitors.
But how do you manipulate people and force them to slow down and enjoy what they are not interested in? You can set up the opportunities, but, well, You can lead a visitor to the snow leopard but you can't make her think
 
Zooplantman said:
As you might guess, zoos and sociology students have done quite a bit of work on this very issue.
One thing they realized is that people come to the zoo for many reasons and also, different people are natively inclined to seek a different experience at the zoo. Add to that, zoos must be able to pay their way, so whatever changes might be made, they cannot be allowed to radically reduce a zoo's attractiveness to mass visitation.
Most zoos do all they can to educate and inspire visitors.
But how do you manipulate people and force them to slow down and enjoy what they are not interested in? You can set up the opportunities, but, well, You can lead a visitor to the snow leopard but you can't make her think
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Well I would've thought that just guiding people towards a new way of experiencing the zoo would help, don't need to "force them" nor "manipulate" unless you call educating manipulating :p . A little note on top of the sign, besides if it does affect people, word of mouth should go around about their experience.
Also How do people know if they enjoy it if they haven't tried this other way of seeing things? You don't need to be interested in something to enjoy it.

Tours for example... leave the people some time to contemplate the animal and figure out some things by themselves and then ask some questions such as "what can you tell me about this animal (not as a specie but as an individual) from what you have just seen" and if the person is having trouble during the quiet looking phase, the tour guide can guide them through it with such phrases as "look at this individual, start from it's head all the way down to it's tail".
I don't know about many other zoos but it seems that tours are generally just talking about the animal and then move on to the next and questions in between.

(I feel like a very zen person talking about this... spiritual way to visit the zoo. :p )
 
Jules97 said:
Tours for example... leave the people some time to contemplate the animal and figure out some things by themselves and then ask some questions such as "what can you tell me about this animal (not as a specie but as an individual) from what you have just seen" and if the person is having trouble during the quiet looking phase, the tour guide can guide them through it with such phrases as "look at this individual, start from it's head all the way down to it's tail".
I don't know about many other zoos but it seems that tours are generally just talking about the animal and then move on to the next and questions in between.
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Absolutely right, in my view. Signs, labels, names usually diminish that direct experience of the animal. Many zoos place signs off to the side, away from the view, for that reason. But yes, a chaperoned tour that encourages direct observation and experience would be great!
 
Well I did ask if they could close the zoo for everyone but me, but apparently that's not "economically feasible".

If you want quiet time, visiting at a time of year when the weather is uncomfortable for most people cuts down on traffic. Here that's winter, but I don't know if you have anything similar in your part of Australia.

Most zoos are circuits, but you've find the vast majority of people walk around the same direction. If you turn the other way, then you'll encounter less people and you'll feel less like your being hurried forward by the crowd.

In the UK the "standard" route is to turn to the left (because of how we drive), so I always go to the right.

As for getting people to slow down at zoos, well I've got some very old wildlife books that encourage me to do exactly that. Perhaps you could encourage people to draw at zoos, that would make you spend much more time getting to know animals.
 
lamna said:
Well I did ask if they could close the zoo for everyone but me, but apparently that's not "economically feasible".

If you want quiet time, visiting at a time of year when the weather is uncomfortable for most people cuts down on traffic. Here that's winter, but I don't know if you have anything similar in your part of Australia.
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Some zoos have special days where they allow members to go in a few hours earlier so they don't have to deal with crowds. I've also seen zoos offer something similar for photographers, basically anyone with a camera.

Anyway, I'm all for trying to change the way people look at zoos. I think zoos themselves could improve more if people started seeing them more as educational and conservation institutions, rather than just a day of fun for children. Try to find some way to get people to observe natural behaviors. Look at the animal's actions in a new light, interpret those actions. The elephant herd at the zoo stays close and the members are frequently touching each other. Maybe this shows how social they are.

Lamna's idea of encouraging people to draw at zoos is pretty cool. Maybe play off of that, like, have a "wildlife watch" tour for children or whatever. The kid goes into the zoo and s/he receives a small notepad. The kid is encouraged to pick a few animals and write down any observations. The kid can later turn in the notepad and receive some stickers or a pencil or something as a prize. When the zoo is having special events dedicated to certain animals, the kid goes to observe those types of animals and receives an appropriately themed prize.
 
One option might be to have a "contemplative" path/trail that is separate from the "normal" path experience that gives guests an option on how they want to experience the zoo. Of course it would have to be designed in a way that buffers the noise/sights/smells of the "normal" path and still allows views into each exhibit (or maybe it would be a separate, second exhibit for each species?). You would also have to have staff members enforcing the rules when someone decides to ignore them. It would be nice to have the choice but it would also likely increase the cost.
 
My suggestion is to see how the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum does things. That "zoo" has a whole culture around it. On my last visit guests were more informed about the plants on exhibit than most zoo visitors know about the animals. The whole experience of that place is what a zoo needs to be.
 
jbnbsn99 said:
My suggestion is to see how the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum does things. That "zoo" has a whole culture around it. On my last visit guests were more informed about the plants on exhibit than most zoo visitors know about the animals. The whole experience of that place is what a zoo needs to be.
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I think you're spot-on.

If you position yourself in the market as somewhere to where you take the children to ride an elephant and get sick on ice cream, then you end up with a particular clientele in a particular mind-set.

And while I don't agree that people need to be "taught" how to visit a zoo, I agree that the zoo visitor can encultured by the way in which he or she is, first, sold the zoo, and then treated once through the gates. Bang on about it all being "fun", with the opportunity to get "up close", and you will have the glass-banging, wolf-imitating, shirt-divesting hordes.

But it doesn't have to be that way - not just the ASDM, but the various WWT centres, and some of the German zoos, show a different way.
 
@Zooplantman
According to the study:
"They identified five museum-specific identities reflecting visitor motivations:
1. Explorers: are driven by their personal curiosity, their urge to discover new things.
2. Facilitators: visit the museum on behalf of others’ special interests in the exhibition or the subject-matter of the museum.
3. Experience seekers: are these visitors who desire to see and experience a place, such as tourists.
4. Professional hobbyists: are those with specific knowledge in the subject matter of an exhibition and specific goals in mind.
5. Rechargers: seek a contemplative or restorative experience, often to let some steam out of their systems."
Maybe I'm making too large an assumption and considering everyone "rechargers" and forgetting about the other four when I say people should be more reflective while visiting zoos?

@lamna
Well at the zoo I work at it seems like the traffic of people behaves much like traffic of cars on roads... There's peak hours and days. There are very few people in the morning and later afternoon but early to mid afternoon seem to be much more popular! Weekends during school term don't seem too different to weekdays but when holidays come around... that's when you're in trouble! It seems like every single person in the region comes for the holidays. Again I think that can be explained by the fact that it's a children's fun activity to occupy them.

@TheMightyOrca
You'd need to get very motivated kids to do it and kids who really enjoy drawing to want to do this but it could be a good idea.

@cleusk
Once again I am not saying that there is a right way to visit a zoo but there might be a more enriching and marking way to visit a zoo. I'm not saying we should force people to do it like I said, I'm just saying that it would be nice if people were enlightened about this new way of experiencing a visit to the zoo. People are always keen for other experiences.
You say I should "learn to deal with" but I'm just looking at how we can make zoos more of a marking experience which would get people more involved in conservation and animal related debates, I am just using this forum to get the conversation going and get ideas coming, if you don't think my idea is great please give something another idea that we can build on. :)

@Elephas Maximus
I don't think getting more zoos will make them less crowded, people will want to go to the "better" or bigger zoo while the other smaller ones won't be able to subsist. I the @Drew 's idea is great having the contemplative path/trail, it would certainly open up options and once people realise what they prefer or what they think they like best word of mouth would go around.

@Drew
At the zoo I work at for the larger exhibits they have more than one viewing points so maybe some could be reserved for quieter "contemplation". There are also most of the time second exhibits for each species as they separate males/females or separate two males. I don't see how it would increase the cost however? Or are you thinking of the construction of a second exhibit?

@jbnbsn99 and @Sooty Mangabey
Maybe the change doesn't have to come from the public and how they view zoos but from the zoos and how they want the public to experience and view them? Maybe zoos aren't or don't want to change the way they are viewed in light of what could happen to their visitor numbers?
 
Jules97, I misread your post and apologize. The only thing I can think of is to have fun activities for the family that requires them to use their learning capabilities. For example, give each family a scavenger hunt list. Each item has a clue such as a description, trait, or fact about a particular animal. Next to each clue is a box for them to write down the animal. If they don't know the answer, then will have to explore the various exhibits to find out what animal it is. Or they can approach one of the keepers for some help. When all the boxes are filled, they will place the form into a special box or the guest services booth. If the family gets all of them right, they will be entered into a drawing to win something.
 
cleusk said:
Jules97, I misread your post and apologize. The only thing I can think of is to have fun activities for the family that requires them to use their learning capabilities. For example, give each family a scavenger hunt list. Each item has a clue such as a description, trait, or fact about a particular animal. Next to each clue is a box for them to write down the animal. If they don't know the answer, then will have to explore the various exhibits to find out what animal it is. Or they can approach one of the keepers for some help. When all the boxes are filled, they will place the form into a special box or the guest services booth. If the family gets all of them right, they will be entered into a drawing to win something.
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No need to apologize, you made a fair point in your first post (all opinions are welcome... this is a forum...)
At the zoo I work at, I stumbled upon a sheet that kids had been working on on that day. It was about habitats and there was for example "rainforest" and the kids had to list names of animals that lived in that habitat. The kids had to walk around the zoo to fill in the sheet.
But do the kids/family actually get anything out of this except a fun day at the zoo and maybe a prize? I believe deeper emotions need to be solicited. As all memories are usually kept because of a strong emotion you had at the time.

Another question just came to me... Is it possible to teach kids about conservation and make them want to be proactive about it?
 
Jules97 said:
Another question just came to me... Is it possible to teach kids about conservation and make them want to be proactive about it?
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No. Kids are too occupied with playing and having fun than concerning themselves with protecting the environment. And conservation might be too boring a subject for them because a lot of it may be too abstract for them.
 
cleusk said:
No. Kids are too occupied with playing and having fun than concerning themselves with protecting the environment. And conservation might be too boring a subject for them because a lot of it may be too abstract for them.
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Not at all, children should be the primary focus of most conservation messages in zoos. Teaching them about wildlife and natural places, and getting them to feel passionate about them, is the only hope for our planet's nature. Obviously teaching them about complex topics is not going to be successful (and it rarely works for adults either), but many simpler stories can be communicated at zoos, for example focusing on litter and recycling, which kids can comprehend easily.

I think forging deeper connections with animals, which I think is what Jules97 is getting at, is easiest and most enduring when it happens at a younger age. This is why things like animal encounters, petting zoos and close-up views of animals are important, and why slowing down traffic in a zoo is also a good thing, the longer a visitor spends looking at an animal, the greater appreciation they will have. Although I'm not sure many will make it to the crying phase...
 
Jules97 said:
@TheMightyOrca
You'd need to get very motivated kids to do it and kids who really enjoy drawing to want to do this but it could be a good idea.
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Maybe you have too little faith in children, but maybe I have too much, ha ha. I find that kids do tend to be curious, and many are eager to learn, especially when it's about stuff they like. (this drive is usually beaten out of them as they get older, so ya gotta get 'em when they're young) And lots of kids love animals, of all sorts. I think that if they're guided to do so, many kids would be more than happy to observe animal life.
 
sooty mangabey said:
I think you're spot-on.

If you position yourself in the market as somewhere to where you take the children to ride an elephant and get sick on ice cream, then you end up with a particular clientele in a particular mind-set.

And while I don't agree that people need to be "taught" how to visit a zoo, I agree that the zoo visitor can encultured by the way in which he or she is, first, sold the zoo, and then treated once through the gates. Bang on about it all being "fun", with the opportunity to get "up close", and you will have the glass-banging, wolf-imitating, shirt-divesting hordes.

But it doesn't have to be that way - not just the ASDM, but the various WWT centres, and some of the German zoos, show a different way.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Seeing animals alone isn't really enough to get people to respect or care about them, or be interested in them. Seeing a tiger at a large, open zoo enclosure is more likely to inspire such feelings as opposed to seeing a tiger doing tricks at a circus. I think how people go into zoos and what they plan on doing has very much to do with how zoos are "marketed" and presented. From what I can find, the Monterrey Bay Aquarium doesn't have a lot of the flashy, glitzy stuff that a lot of aquariums have, and their website seems to be very focused on encouraging education, but it still seems to be pretty successful. Personally I like the idea of looking to museums for inspiration as to how to present zoos. They're primarily educational institutions, but they can still be fun. Many offer activities and workshops and talks for people of all ages.

Jules97 said:
No need to apologize, you made a fair point in your first post (all opinions are welcome... this is a forum...)
At the zoo I work at, I stumbled upon a sheet that kids had been working on on that day. It was about habitats and there was for example "rainforest" and the kids had to list names of animals that lived in that habitat. The kids had to walk around the zoo to fill in the sheet.
But do the kids/family actually get anything out of this except a fun day at the zoo and maybe a prize? I believe deeper emotions need to be solicited. As all memories are usually kept because of a strong emotion you had at the time.

Another question just came to me... Is it possible to teach kids about conservation and make them want to be proactive about it?
Click to expand...

Such an activity, though, could potentially be the start of seeing animals and their behavior in a new light. It could encourage longer watching, stronger observation and critical thinking, other than "Look at the cute monkey! Now let's go see something else".

And I do think it's possible to get kids into conservation. Kids love nature and animals. It's very common for schools and the like to have environmental awareness programs and assignments where kids raise money or learn about recycling or something. My love of ocelots was very much inspired by the annual Ocelot Festival where I used to live. :)
 
TheMightyOrca said:
And I do think it's possible to get kids into conservation. Kids love nature and animals. It's very common for schools and the like to have environmental awareness programs and assignments where kids raise money or learn about recycling or something. My love of ocelots was very much inspired by the annual Ocelot Festival where I used to live. :)
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I'm not sure if we've all got the same age definition for kids... I think you're thinking of under 18s? When I talk about kids, and I think @cleusk would agree, I think of under 10 years old...
 
Jules97 said:
I'm not sure if we've all got the same age definition for kids... I think you're thinking of under 18s? When I talk about kids, and I think @cleusk would agree, I think of under 10 years old...
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My 5 and 7 year-old children enjoy learning about conservation, extinction, and other such things. In fact, they are the recycling watch dogs at our house. I should probably make the statement that all kids are different but in general I think you are grossly underestimating kids ability and interest in conservation. In the US Boy/Girl Scouts, Junior Ranger Programs, and the like have a major focus on conservation and they seem to be very successful in my eyes.
 
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