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Why Zoos & Aquariums Matter
Assessing the Impact of a Visit to a Zoo or Aquarium
Download the full report in PDF (24 pp.)
To find out if zoos and aquariums successfully promote conservation, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) formed strategic partnerships and undertook a three-year, nationwide study of the impacts of a visit to a zoo or aquarium. We found that going to AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums in North America does have a measurable impact on the conservation attitudes and understanding of adult visitors.
The AZA is using the study results, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and developed through partnerships with the Institute of Learning Innovation (ILI) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, to better understand and predict our member institutions' contributions to public understanding of animals and conservation. All zoos and aquariums accredited by the AZA must have a commitment to educating their visitors, and this study will help strengthen their ability to provide meaningful and effective conservation education programming.
The findings contribute insights into the overall impact of a zoo or aquarium visit – both immediately and in the months after the visit. They also provide us with an analysis of how seeing wildlife at these institutions affects the way people think about conservation and their own role in helping protect the environment.
Key Results
Visits to accredited zoos and aquariums prompt individuals to reconsider their role in environmental problems and conservation action, and to see themselves as part of the solution.
Visitors believe zoos and aquariums play an important role in conservation education and animal care.
Visitors believe they experience a stronger connection to nature as a result of their visit.
Visitors bring with them a higher-than-expected knowledge about basic ecological concepts. Zoos and aquariums support and reinforce the values and attitudes of the visitor.
Visitors arrive at zoos and aquariums with specific identity-related motivations and these motivations directly impact how they conduct their visit and what meaning they derive from the experience.
Our visitor impact study shows that zoos and aquariums are enhancing public understanding of wildlife and the conservation of the places animals live. We believe these results will help institutions develop even more effective exhibitions and educational programs that help connect people with nature and encourage attitude and behavioral changes that help conservation.
The study began with a comprehensive review of existing literature about the impact of zoo and aquarium visits. The literature supported the conclusion that zoos and aquariums make a difference, but much of the earlier research had been limited in scope and in ways that did not allow the results to be applied generally across all leading zoos and aquariums.
To address this gap, we held a series of public forums with zoo and aquarium professionals. Drawing on feedback from these meetings, researchers from the Institute for Learning Innovation developed a series of studies to investigate specific factors that directly relate to visitor learning and behavior, and to analyze how this information can be used to further enhance visitors' attitudes toward wildlife and nature.
Over a three-year period, more than 5,500 visitors and twelve AZA-accredited institutions participated in the studies. We drew on various quantitative and qualitative methods, including written questionnaires, interviews, tracking studies, and Personal Meaning Mapping (PMM), which identified individual changes in visitors' thinking by allowing them to respond to a series of questions prior to and after their visit.
Fifty-four percent of the individuals surveyed offered comments about the elevated awareness of their role in conservation as a direct consequence of their visit. Forty-two percent commented on the important role that zoos and aquariums play in education.
We called a subset of the participants seven to eleven months after their visit to determine the impact of the visit over time. Sixty-one percent of visitors were able to talk about what they learned from their previous visit, and 35% reported that the visit reinforced their existing beliefs about conservation, stewardship and love of animals.
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