Who tells zoos what they think?

Javan Rhino

Javan Rhino

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Looking at various threads that discuss zoos and [mainly] their enclosures, I have seen many discussions about the exhibit, how good/bad it is and what can make it better.

An example I can give is a photograph of the Bonobo enclosure at Twycross. http://www.zoochat.com/41/outdoor-bonobo-area-2-may-2009-a-79034/
In this thread, you'll notice how many people say about how a mesh roof and a greater amount of foliage would greatly improve the enclosure. Do Twycross know what you all think?

So, my question is: Do you tell zoos what you think about them? Do you e-mail about enclosures, or tell keepers what you think might help them. Sure, sometimes the general public can be wrong on what is best, and sometimes funding is a problem. But if enough people e-mail the same thing, would the zoo make any effort to remedy this? If enough people e-mailed Twycross saying about the lack of vegitation, would they let the grass grow taller, and would they plant hardy foliage such as pampas grass, bamboo or knotweed?

I can only give one example (and I did get a reply, but I forget what it was). When I was very young, I asked about whether Chester would ever consider building outdoor areas for their Komodo Dragons and their [then] American Alligators. It happened with the dragons, but I think the plans were already in the works.

I'm just curious really, do you give suggestions on how to improve exhibits if you see one that you know can be improved?
 
Interesting question but for me personally, no I don't and for a couple of reasons;
1) For every sensible idea thought of by a visitor, there is probably 100 stupid one's offered. I only have to look at some of the suggestions on here and even I can see multiple flaws in them. Now I appreciate there may be some young people on here or people who are just very passionate about zoos without necessarily having a clue about enclosure design or the running of them. On a forum their idea's are great for discussion and learning but if eveyone was to have their input I can imagine there would be many frustrated keepers out there. (Don't think I've worded this point very well but no offence is meant to anyone).
2) Most of the time IMHO if an idea has been thought of by a member of the public then it has probably already been thought of by a keeper and is either in the pipeline or rejected for some reason.
3) I also tend to keep out of it because I think if everyone told me how to do my job then I would probably get a little annoyed. I don't mean to sound miserable but just think of what you do for a living and then imagine a handful of your customers/public etc giving you opinions and advice every day of the week.
4) If I'm really that concerned about something, most zoos have a questionnaire/complaints/opinion form which I may consider filling in if I thought of something I deemed important enough.
 
I believe these discussion threads are regularly looked at by a number of professionals who work in our Zoos. So I think that at least some of the comments made on here, both positive and negative, are probably taken on board without any need to contact zoos directly. I'm always hopeful that some of the more realistic and positive suggestions may be acted upon in the fullness of time.
 
amy said:
Interesting question but for me personally, no I don't and for a couple of reasons;
1) For every sensible idea thought of by a visitor, there is probably 100 stupid one's offered. I only have to look at some of the suggestions on here and even I can see multiple flaws in them. Now I appreciate there may be some young people on here or people who are just very passionate about zoos without necessarily having a clue about enclosure design or the running of them. On a forum their idea's are great for discussion and learning but if eveyone was to have their input I can imagine there would be many frustrated keepers out there. (Don't think I've worded this point very well but no offence is meant to anyone).
2) Most of the time IMHO if an idea has been thought of by a member of the public then it has probably already been thought of by a keeper and is either in the pipeline or rejected for some reason.
3) I also tend to keep out of it because I think if everyone told me how to do my job then I would probably get a little annoyed. I don't mean to sound miserable but just think of what you do for a living and then imagine a handful of your customers/public etc giving you opinions and advice every day of the week.
4) If I'm really that concerned about something, most zoos have a questionnaire/complaints/opinion form which I may consider filling in if I thought of something I deemed important enough.
Click to expand...

Interesting answer :). I agree that they probably get hundreds of ideas that wouldn't work, and I can imagine it would get annoying for the people checking e-mails to see these suggestions.
 
As mentioned above, some zoos (but not that many here in America) have response forms at the exit where visitors can post comments. Also, at least one of the zoos I am a member of (5 total) has a space on the annual renewal form to write comments.

It seems if a zoo really wants to know what people think, they will provide some type of easy manner for visitors to reply, as in the above examples. In that case, I usually take the time to fill it out.

As a docent, whenever a visitor makes a comment to me about something they think should be improved at the zoo, I almost always pass it on to the staff. Just last week, for example, someone complained that the admissions people did not mention they could buy a zoo key (to hear the recorded messages at the exhibits) so I told my docent supervisor who said he would mention it to the person who oversees admissions.
 
amy said:
Now I appreciate there may be some young people on here or people who are just very passionate about zoos without necessarily having a clue about enclosure design or the running of them
Click to expand...

Younger members can often make mistakes or be a bit over-enthusiastic (like myself) when they join, but they quickly learn and become valuable members (hopefully everyone agrees :D). I think your average young wildlife enthusiast will already be quite bright ;).
 
A zoo is part of a community, wherever it is based, it will be one of the most important tools in teaching your children about the natural world. It is important that the public tell zoos what they think. In the context of the sort of people who congregate here, welfare-based feedback is probably more constructive than ideas on collection planning. Writing in to a zoo and saying 'I object to you shutting your gorillas inside at night' or 'I think you should give your tigers more space' is more constructive than 'I think your picnic lawn should be used for gaur'.

It is worth remembering that many people with a heightened interest in, or background in working with, captive animal populations, is more likely than the average visitor to spot if there is a behavioural or welfare issue with an animal. Therefore, I would say your contribution is important.
 
Zoos are always interested in terms of market research and public perception of exhibits (and will often spend large amounts of money on gaining these insights), but actually imparting practical advice is pretty unlikely when you think about it. Most of us (myself included) have no conception of the difficulties & costs involved in making improvements which may seem quite basic to us. Most things are easy with unlimited funds. Also, visitors will often take for granted enclosures that have had huge amounts of often difficult & hard work done on them, so it works both ways.
 
amy said:
Interesting question but for me personally, no I don't and for a couple of reasons;
1) For every sensible idea thought of by a visitor, there is probably 100 stupid one's offered. I only have to look at some of the suggestions on here and even I can see multiple flaws in them. Now I appreciate there may be some young people on here or people who are just very passionate about zoos without necessarily having a clue about enclosure design or the running of them. On a forum their idea's are great for discussion and learning but if eveyone was to have their input I can imagine there would be many frustrated keepers out there. (Don't think I've worded this point very well but no offence is meant to anyone).
2) Most of the time IMHO if an idea has been thought of by a member of the public then it has probably already been thought of by a keeper and is either in the pipeline or rejected for some reason.
3) I also tend to keep out of it because I think if everyone told me how to do my job then I would probably get a little annoyed. I don't mean to sound miserable but just think of what you do for a living and then imagine a handful of your customers/public etc giving you opinions and advice every day of the week.
4) If I'm really that concerned about something, most zoos have a questionnaire/complaints/opinion form which I may consider filling in if I thought of something I deemed important enough.
Click to expand...

Perfect answer for me.
 
amy said:
Interesting question but for me personally, no I don't and for a couple of reasons;
1) For every sensible idea thought of by a visitor, there is probably 100 stupid one's offered. I only have to look at some of the suggestions on here and even I can see multiple flaws in them. Now I appreciate there may be some young people on here or people who are just very passionate about zoos without necessarily having a clue about enclosure design or the running of them. On a forum their idea's are great for discussion and learning but if eveyone was to have their input I can imagine there would be many frustrated keepers out there. (Don't think I've worded this point very well but no offence is meant to anyone).
2) Most of the time IMHO if an idea has been thought of by a member of the public then it has probably already been thought of by a keeper and is either in the pipeline or rejected for some reason.
3) I also tend to keep out of it because I think if everyone told me how to do my job then I would probably get a little annoyed. I don't mean to sound miserable but just think of what you do for a living and then imagine a handful of your customers/public etc giving you opinions and advice every day of the week.
4) If I'm really that concerned about something, most zoos have a questionnaire/complaints/opinion form which I may consider filling in if I thought of something I deemed important enough.
Click to expand...

Sums it up really! You'd also be surprised how many senior zoo people scan these pages to find out what's happening in the zoo world and ideas are openly exchanged between zoos as well!
 
Well, all I will say is that, in the last couple of years, I got what I wanted on three separate occasions having participated in gentle, letter-writing pressure, wikipedia comments and discussion on this site. All were welfare-based issues, not collection plan suggestions. It may be a coincidence, I will never know how many other people voiced the same issue with the collections involved, but at the very least it validated for me what I believed to be an important point I should have taken the time to raise.
 
johnstoni said:
Well, all I will say is that, in the last couple of years, I got what I wanted on three separate occasions having participated in gentle, letter-writing pressure, wikipedia comments and discussion on this site. All were welfare-based issues, not collection plan suggestions. It may be a coincidence, I will never know how many other people voiced the same issue with the collections involved, but at the very least it validated for me what I believed to be an important point I should have taken the time to raise.
Click to expand...

Good answer, with examples that it has worked. Would you mind sharing the zoo/enclosures you said about, and what improvments you suggested/happened? I assume that you probably left that out for a reason, but I just feel it worth asking, so if you don't wantto share the info then that's fine :).

When I talk about 'who tells them what you think,' let me narrow it down. I am taking this as welfare issues, and not a personal opinion of the zoo itself, so I'm not including 'the zoo needs eles' or 'the zoo should have pandas.' I'll narrow the discussion to these points:

1) Animal welfare in enclosures: Is the enclosure too small, too barren, the wrong substrate? Do the animals exhibit stereotypical behaviour? Do the animals look scared. An example of this is the mixed Red Panda/Otter enclosure at Welsh Mountain Zoo. I noticed that the Panda seemed scared of the otters, so I sent an email just pointing out an observation. It was then explained that they have keepers watching, and the panda can easily get away by climbing if it is intimidated. Overall though, it was explained that the otters can just be over playful.

2) Education: Have you ever pointed out that enclosures would benefit from more educational signs? Have you seen an animal in an enclosure, and not been able to identify it because there is no sign for it?

3) Human welfare: This is at a push, but do you ever speak up about human welfare, are there too few toilets too far apart, are there enough places to sit and eat, or buy food and drink? Again with the Welsh Mountain (and this crosses onto animal welfare) do you mind people smoking in zoos, or do you think zoos should have 'smoking zones' out of the way of animals and people. I saw one person BLOWING the smoke out into the face of a Red-faced spider monkey at Welsh Mountain! Now I don't like taking in passive smoke myself, so from a public point-of-view I believe there should be out-of-the-way smoking areas anyway, but this just reinforced my point.
 
Pertinax said:
I believe these discussion threads are regularly looked at by a number of professionals who work in our Zoos. So I think that at least some of the comments made on here, both positive and negative, are probably taken on board without any need to contact zoos directly. I'm always hopeful that some of the more realistic and positive suggestions may be acted upon in the fullness of time.
Click to expand...
Everything you say is 100% correct!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top