Conservation Education at Zoos and Aquariums

Zoos and aquariums offer unique opportunities to educate the public about environmental conservation; as such, many of these places consider conservation education to be their primary purpose. Although these informal institutions often place significant importance on educating their visitors about conservation issues, few studies consider how the 700 million people who visit zoos and aquariums annually regard the role of conservation education.

This study investigated visitor perceptions of conservation education at zoos and aquariums. To do so, the researchers administered a questionnaire in six zoos and seven aquariums in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa, to a total of 1,546 visitors (705 from zoos and 841 from aquariums). The researchers approached visitors at these sites; therefore, findings from this self-selected sample may not apply more broadly to all zoo and aquarium visitors.

The questionnaire included six categories of questions. The first category—perceptions of the roles of zoos and aquariums—addressed visitors' understanding of the roles of zoos and aquariums in relation to the animals, the visitor experience, and conservation learning. The second category, priorities when visiting zoos and aquariums, asked visitors to rank five items on how much the items impacted their decision to visit the zoo or aquarium. Category 3 assessed the visitors' interests in wildlife, while category 4, preferred content of interpretive signs, asked what visitors thought about the content and use of interpretive signs. Categories 5 (satisfaction with the visit) and 6 (preferences regarding post-visit resources) asked about the factors that contributed to visitor satisfaction with their experience and what types of educational materials visitors would want to receive following their visit, respectively.

Differences in visitor opinions between zoos and aquariums were explored using statistical analyses. Overall, the visitor participants were similar for zoos and aquariums: one-third females aged 20–39; one-third females in other age groups; and one-third males of all ages. There was one important difference between the participant samples: 75% of zoo visitors indicated that they were locals, while only 57% of aquarium visitors indicated that they were locals.

Overall, visitors believed the main purpose of zoos and aquariums was to provide information about the animals and a relaxing, engaging visitor experience. While respondents placed the highest importance on the social experience of visiting a zoo or aquarium, they rated “giving visitors conservation information” as equally important as having a fun outing. Aquarium visitors placed slightly higher importance on learning about conservation than zoo visitors, and they were more likely to say they were interested in learning about environmental issues. The difference between the visitors to zoos and aquariums might partially be explained through the observation that more tourists visit aquariums, because in the sample, tourists were more likely than locals to think about how their actions impacted nature. Both zoo and aquarium visitors enjoyed watching wildlife-television documentaries. For signage, visitors at both locations placed more importance on scientific information (such as name, species, and genus) than conservation information for interpretive signage content.

Although visitors rated observing animals highly in terms of “satisfaction,” 77% of the respondents indicated it was more important to know that the zoo or aquarium contributed to conservation efforts than it was to see zookeepers feeding animals. The majority of visitors thought it was important to provide educational materials after the visit, with one difference: zoo visitors were less likely than aquarium visitors to want a take-home DVD.