The Mighty Jungle

WHAT IS A ZOO

The Definition and Purpose of Zoos: Examining Their Role in Conservation, Education, and Animal Welfare.

Modern zoos have multiple goals, including animal welfare, conservation, education, research, and entertainment.

 To evaluate the effectiveness of zoos in achieving these goals, it is important to study the effects of animal-visitor interactions.

Research has shown that interventions based on exhibit design, species characteristics, and visitor education can increase positive animal-visitor interactions and facilitate the multiple goals of modern zoos. However, these goals can sometimes conflict with each other. Visitors often want to observe and interact with animals in close proximity, which can induce stress for many species. Despite this, repeat visitors are more inclined to seek out conservation efforts compared to those visiting zoos for the first time. Visitors have more positive perceptions and behaviors towards zoos, their animals, and conservation initiatives when they interact with animals, naturalistic exhibits, and zoo programming/staff. Zoo visitors are receptive to conservation messaging and initiatives at zoos and are more likely to participate in on-site conservation opportunities as opposed to after their visits.  The good purposes of zoos include conservation, science, education, and recreation. However, zoos can only be ethically justified if they guarantee the welfare of their animals, with dignity having the overriding part in analyzing zoo animal welfare and interests because it impacts both animal and human interests. Zoos aim to display animals engaging in natural behaviors to attract visitors and educate them. To achieve this, zoos face a complicated conflict between entertainment and welfare when it comes to animal-visitor interactions. While preventing visitors from interacting with animals can lead to a decrease in attendance and financial support, noisy and active crowds of visitors can cause stress for many species, including primates, which can affect both their welfare and visitor enjoyment.  Therefore, it is crucial for zoos to measure the impact of their education and conservation initiatives to indicate how these organizations are fulfilling their missions. Zoos are shifting their strategic focus from recreation and entertainment to visitor conservation education, with organizational expectations for emotional display directing the delivery of conservation-based visitor outcomes.