The future of zoos and aquariums: conservation and caring

Rabb, George B.; Saunders, Carol D.

doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.2005.tb00001.x

Cited by 62 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…In the first world urban environment, zoos and aquariums provide city dwellers with a similar opportunity to relax with family and friends in a pleasant and safe environment. For both rich and poor, these facilities provide visitors with a chance to connect with nature (Rabb & Saunders, 2005) as they are able to reach across social, cultural and economic barriers and touch people throughout the world.…”

Section: The History Of Zoos and Aquariumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In situ conservation efforts include habitat protection and restoration, animal reintroduction and management, supporting local communities and providing expertise to managers in the field. Ex situ conservation efforts include research, captive breeding and animal rehabilitation programmes, and fundraising, in addition to influencing visitors, both directly through education programmes and indirectly as role models for sustainable living (Fraser & Wharton, 2007;Keulartz, 2015;Rabb & Saunders, 2005;Tribe & Booth, 2003).…”

Section: The History Of Zoos and Aquariumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the implications of cultural diversity for environmental learning at an African aquarium

Mann¹

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Zoos and aquariums, which are visited by over 700 million people each year, can play a vital role in exposing and sensitising visitors about the importance of environmental conservation and encourage them to engage in environmentally responsible behaviours after their visit. To attract visitors, zoos and aquariums offer a range of experiences that focus on the viewing of live animals. These may include animal presentations, personal interactions between staff and visitors, opportunities to physically interact with the animals and, most commonly, the use of interpretive signage. Most zoo and aquarium experiences are aimed at increasing visitors' awareness of, interest in and concern for environmental issues. To improve the design of visitor experiences, research is needed to evaluate the impact of a visit on visitor environmental learning outcomes, which are a major part of the zoo and aquarium raison

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Section: The History Of Zoos and Aquariumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The History Of Zoos and Aquariumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the implications of cultural diversity for environmental learning at an African aquarium

Mann¹

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“…The link between the ethos of zoos and their operations has also been identified as an important area for consideration (Rabb and Saunders, 2005). Townsend (2009) profiled the sustainability practices of 52 BIAZA members but did not compare them with sustainability priorities.…”

Section: Sustainable Food Supply Chains In Zoosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable food procurement in British and Irish zoos

Hanson

Holt

2014

British Food Journal

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Purpose. This study assessed the sustainable food procurement of members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA). It also considered the inconsistencies between their animal and human food supply chains, as well as between between their procurement priorities and practices.Design. A quantitative, cross-sectional approach was employed, involving the use of a web-based questionnaire to gather data from 41 BIAZA members across 21 indicators of food sustainability. The results were considered within a Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) framework.Findings. There was considerable variation amongst the issues considered by zoos during the SFP process for their animal and human food operations. For both, local expenditure, nutritional content and packaging reduction were some of the highest scoring indicators in practice and as priorities. The overall levels of SFP were found to be equal between the human and animal food supply chains. Significantly low levels of inconsistency were found between the two, practically and in terms of procurement aspirations. Within both supply chains, there was also very few significant gaps between procurement priorities and actions.

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“…To inspire people to take conservation action, zoos and aquariums must not only teach visitors facts about animals but engage them in meaningful experiences that increase care and concern for wildlife (Rabb and Saunders 2005), foster conservation learning and attitudes (Ballantyne et al 2007), and motivate behavior change (Heimlich and Ardoin 2008). A large-scale, multi-institutional assessment published by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Falk et al 2007) concluded that, overall, visits to zoos and aquariums have a positive impact on conservation knowledge and attitudes.…”

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confidence: 99%

Naturalistic Exhibits May be More Effective Than Traditional Exhibits at Improving Zoo-Visitor Attitudes toward African Apes

Lukas

Ross

2014

Anthrozoös

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Zoos play a unique role in wildlife conservation, particularly in the area of conservation education. Because of their popularity and flagship status for broader conservation issues, great apes may prove to be one of the most important educational conduits in zoos. In 2002, we surveyed knowledge of and attitudes toward African apes in visitors to the Lester E. Fisher Great Ape House (GAH) at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL, USA. In the current study, we replicated the survey to document attitudes to and knowledge of the newly renovated and naturalistic Regenstein Center for African Apes (RCAA) and compared results. We found RCAA was no more effective than GAH in increasing visitor knowledge about apes, although visitors answered more questions correctly upon exit than on entrance in both buildings. We did find, however, that RCAA was more effective than GAH at improving visitor attitudes toward chimpanzees. Specifically, upon exiting, RCAA visitors showed increased naturalistic attitudes and reduced utilitarian attitudes toward chimpanzees. Exhibiting apes in naturalistic settings may therefore be an effective way to increase visitor concern for apes in nature and in zoos. Zoos and aquariums investing in new, naturalistic ape exhibits with the aim to educate about, provide emotional connections to, improve attitudes toward, and ultimately increase conservation of apes, need to then critically evaluate whether the actual effect of the designed environment on visitors-above and beyond intended benefits for the animals-is commensurate with the investment. The broader impacts of even small shifts in visitor attitude in the right direction could be significant. These findings may vary across species and settings, however, and should be assessed accordingly.

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The future of zoos and aquariums: conservation and caring

Cited by 62 publications

References 75 publications

Exploring the implications of cultural diversity for environmental learning at an African aquarium

Exploring the implications of cultural diversity for environmental learning at an African aquarium

Sustainable food procurement in British and Irish zoos

Naturalistic Exhibits May be More Effective Than Traditional Exhibits at Improving Zoo-Visitor Attitudes toward African Apes

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