Abstract
What makes an aquarium or zoo a ‘conservation’ organization? And what does ‘conservation’ mean in the context of a zoo or aquarium? In this chapter, we delve into institutional and individual aspects of environmental conservation work at zoos and aquariums, with a behavioral lens to address those questions. We first consider the ways in which zoos and aquariums strive to fulfill their mission and vision over time through complementary structures of in and ex situ approaches. We then leverage data from the “Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter” study to address questions of visitor behavior as impacted by direct interactions with a range of species and habitat types while experiencing zoos and aquariums. We examine what these organizations provide in terms of conservation messages, modeling, and action-oriented support. We end with an analysis that draws together the former and the latter, exploring approaches that amplify conservation messages through creating closer alignment between institutional vision/mission and desired visitor outcomes.
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Notes
- 1.
Descriptions of the three phases of the WZAM studies are available here: https://wzam.org/about/
- 2.
This is not intended to be a comprehensive synopsis of pro-environmental or conservation behavior research, nor is it intended to be a thorough review of behavioral models. Rather, our intent is to discuss several commonly used frames and approaches in the aquarium and zoo context, alongside illustrative examples. For a more comprehensive discussion, see Heimlich and Ardoin (2008); Ardoin et al. (2013); and Monroe (2003).
- 3.
Findings in this section, except where otherwise cited, are from the WZAM3 studies, primarily those of the Center for Research and Evaluation (CRE) and Oregon State University (OSU).
- 4.
Percentage of respondents attending at least one time/year museums (90.3%), gardens (82.6%), music performances (79.7%), historical sites (72.1%), theatre performances (68.6%), and dance performances (52.4%).
- 5.
Entry and exit both had a slight preference for adults leading the group (CRE: 4.79 and 4.72 with a median for both of 4 on a 7-point scale of completely adult-led (1) to completely child-led (7); In Oregon State University’s exit interviews, people reported that about half their decisions as they moved through the Z/A were deliberate and were more often shared decisions between adults and children, and about half were made unconsciously, following the crowd or path (Riedinger & Storksdieck, in review).
- 6.
This section of narrative is built on findings found in Timko, 2020.
- 7.
On a 7-point scale, post-visit visitors scored as strongly positive: collaborate well with conservation and animal advocacy groups (6.10); care about animal well-being (6.49), meet medical (6.41) and emotional (6.33) needs, and have facilities that meet animal needs (6.19).
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Heimlich, J.E., Ardoin, N.M. (2023). Visitors and Conservation: Seeking Behavior. In: Fraser, J., Heimlich, J.E., Riedinger, K. (eds) Zoos and Aquariums in the Public Mind. Psychology and Our Planet. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84942-9_3
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