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Conservation, education, research, recreation - four roles of a good modern zoo.
The educational role of zoos is a relatively recent one, developed mostly since the late 1950s, although many of the older zoos and zoological societies were founded with an educational and scientific mission. In this short time zoos have accumulated great experience in education and developed effective communication skills for dealing with a huge audience of almost two million learners a year - the natural world is your classroom!
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| Reaching out to people |
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Enthusiasm about animals is infectious and zoo visitors are highly ‘susceptible’ to education. In the British Isles an estimated 16 million visits are made to BIAZA zoos annually. Worldwide the number of annual zoos visits has been estimated at close to 600 million. |
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Many people worldwide live in towns and cities, so have little or no regular contact with nature. Amongst an increasing choice of leisure activities, the fact that so many people visit zoos during their spare time shows a widespread interest in seeing living wild animals and a strong curiosity about the natural world. |
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Living wonders in a changing world… |
Nothing can replace the experience of closeness with living animals; they are a zoo’s greatest attraction and its strongest educational resource. We can’t all go on safari, eco-tours or swim with dolphins. For many people, zoos are the only places where they are likely to see and learn about a wide range of animals from around the world. Some people argue that television, photographs and videos provide better opportunities to learn about the natural world without the need for zoos but these methods only provide a ‘snapshot’ or an ‘edited highlight’ of an animal’s life. |
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| They do not have the same direct impact as the real, smelly, inquisitive animal, interacting with other animals and its own environment. Television and videos offer part of a valuable learning experience but one which does not replace the learning experience of observing a real live animal. |
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BIAZA collections aim to provide unique lifelong learning opportunities, to raise awareness, to increase respect and knowledge about wildlife and global issues, and thus to engage and connect people of all ages with the natural world. (BIAZA Education Policy) |
BIAZA Education Policy |
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A good modern zoo enclosure provides the animal with a suitably enriched and stimulating environment and opportunities to safely express a wide range of its natural behaviour, whether this is feeding, exploring, breeding or sometimes just resting. A sleeping lion in a zoo is probably showing natural behaviour, not boredom. |
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