Last revision 1/28/03; Updated 1/28/15 to change "program animal" to "ambassador animal"
The AZA Conservation Education Committee (CEC) supports
the appropriate use of ambassador animals as an important and powerful
educational tool that provides a variety of benefits to zoo and aquarium
educators seeking to convey cognitive and affective (emotional)
messages about conservation and wildlife.
Audience Engagement
Zoos
and aquariums are ideal venues for developing emotional ties to
wildlife and fostering an appreciation for the natural world. However,
developing and delivering effective educational messages in the
free-choice learning environments of zoos and aquariums is a difficult
task.
Zoo and aquarium educators are constantly challenged to
develop methods for engaging and teaching visitors who often view a trip
to the zoo as a social or recreational experience (Morgan and
Hodgkinson, 1999). The use of ambassador animals
can provide the compelling experience necessary to attract and maintain
personal connections with visitors of all motivations, thus preparing
them for learning and reflection on their own relationships with nature.
Ambassador animals are powerful catalysts for learning for a
variety of reasons. They are generally active, easily viewed, and
usually presented in close proximity to the public. These factors have
proven to contribute to increasing the length of time that people spend
watching animals in zoo exhibits (Bitgood, Patterson and Benefield,
1986, 1988; Wolf and Tymitz, 1981).
In addition, the provocative
nature of a handled animal likely plays an important role in
captivating a visitor. In two studies (Povey, 2002; Povey and Rios,
2002), visitors viewed animals three and four times longer while they
were being presented in demonstrations outside of their enclosure with
an educator than while they were on exhibit. Clearly, the use of ambassador animals
in shows or informal presentations is effective in lengthening the
potential time period for learning and overall impact.
Ambassador
animals also provide the opportunity to personalize the learning
experience, tailoring the teaching session to what interests the
visitors. Traditional graphics offer little opportunity for this level
of personalization of information delivery and are frequently not read
by visitors (Churchman, 1985; Johnston, 1998). For example, Povey (2002)
found that only 25% of visitors to an animal exhibit read the
accompanying graphic; whereas, 45% of visitors watching the same animal
handled in an educational presentation asked at least one question and
some asked as many as seven questions. Having an animal accompany the
educator allowed the visitors to make specific inquiries about topics in
which they were interested.
Knowledge Acquisition
Improving
our visitors' knowledge and understanding regarding wildlife and
wildlife conservation is a fundamental goal for many zoo educators
using ambassador animals.
A growing body of evidence supports the validity of using program
animals to enhance delivery of these cognitive messages as well:
- MacMillen (1994) found that the use of live animals in a zoomobile
outreach program significantly enhanced cognitive learning in a
vertebrate classification unit for sixth grade students.
- Sherwood and his colleagues (1989) compared the use of live
horseshoe crabs and sea stars to the use of dried specimens in an
aquarium education program and demonstrated that students made the
greatest cognitive gains when exposed to programs utilizing the live
animals.
- Povey and Rios (2002) noted that in response to an open-ended survey
question (“Before I saw this animal, I never realized that . . . ”),
visitors watching a presentation utilizing a ambassador animal
provided 69% cognitive responses (i.e., something they learned) versus
9% made by visitors viewing the same animal in its exhibit (who
primarily responded with observations).
- Povey (2002) recorded a marked difference in learning between
visitors observing animals on exhibit versus being handled during
informal presentations. Visitors to demonstrations utilizing a raven and
radiated tortoises were able to answer questions correctly at a rate as
much as eleven times higher than visitors to the exhibits.
Enhanced Environmental Attitudes
Ambassador animals have been clearly demonstrated to increase affective learning and attitudinal change:
- Studies by Yerke and Burns (1991) and Davison and her colleagues
(1993) evaluated the effect live animal shows had on visitor attitudes.
Both found their shows successfully influenced attitudes about
conservation and stewardship.
- Yerke and Burns (1993) also evaluated a live bird outreach program
presented to Oregon fifth-graders and recorded a significant increase in
students' environmental attitudes after the presentations.
- Sherwood and his colleagues (1989) found that students who handled
live invertebrates in an education program demonstrated both short and
long-term attitudinal changes as compared to those who only had exposure
to dried specimens.
- Povey and Rios (2002) examined the role ambassador animals play in helping visitors develop positive feelings about the care and well-being of zoo animals.
- As observed by Wolf and Tymitz (1981), zoo visitors are deeply
concerned with the welfare of zoo animals and desire evidence that they
receive personalized care.
Conclusion
Creating positive impressions of
aquarium and zoo animals, and wildlife in general, is crucial to the
fundamental mission of zoological institutions. Although additional
research will help us delve further into this area, the existing
research supports the conclusion that ambassador animals
are an important tool for conveying both cognitive and affective
messages regarding animals and the need to conserve wildlife and wild
places.
Acknowledgements
The primary
contributors to this paper were Karen Povey and Keith Winsten with
valuable comments provided from members of both the Conservation
Education Committee and the Children's Zoo Interest Group.
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