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Zoos More Than a Walk in the Park
This time of year, your favorite zoo is about the busiest place
in town. With the gas crises in full swing, many families are
choosing to stay near home and take the family to the local
menagerie. Which begs the question - why does every modern city
that can afford a zoo have one today?
There are probably half-a-dozen good reasons: recreation,
education, nature appreciation, research, conservation, and
another purpose best described as sociological.
The recreational aspects of a zoo are evident in the millions
who stream through their gates every year. The San Diego Zoo,
where I spent some years as PR director, consistently draws
over three million people a year to its tropics-like park
setting.
Since most zoos are generally located in a park, a visit to
them offers a walk in a natural setting and mild exercise, both
spiced with close-up views of the living wonders of nature.
In a broad sense, the zoo is a source of entertainment. (And to
stay competitive in today's tourist market, the larger zoos
have to offer up additional events, acts, prizes and special
days.)
Directors, curators and vets on the staff would prefer to
emphasize the more serious purposes of education, research and
conservation. But for the endless streams of people who come to
the zoo, entertainment is the primary motive - recreational and
educational.
Still animals as entertainment cannot be the zoo's sole
purpose. For that, there are circuses.
Nature appreciation is closely akin to the recreational
function of the zoo but goes well beyond. Properly designed
exhibits - and more and more zoos have modernized their
exhibition areas - must lead to a sense of wonder at the
infinite variety of life and appreciation of its mystery.
Close watching should temper the idea of the "slimy,
slithering" snake to wonder at its geometric beauty and obvious
cleanliness. The sight of the leading male baboon slapping at
the adolescents, but enduring every indignity from the young,
is a lesson in parenthood.
The ancient Chinese name for zoos, "parks of intelligence,"
indicates how far back the idea of the zoo's educational
purpose goes. However, real acknowledgment of its educational
purpose is a relatively recent addition to the zoo function,
dating from the change from menagerie to zoological garden.
Obviously, the zoo teaches natural history and zoology. It also
teaches the interdependence of life, and it should teach
appreciation for the dignity of all creatures.
Zoos educate at many levels. There is the simplest form of
education, that of the casual stroller who learns that a wolf
really isn't as big as a bear, and that a tiger isn't a
constantly raging beast.
The more interested stroller, reading the informational signs,
learns what a marsupial is, and that porcupines cannot shoot
quills.
At a still higher level are the conducted zoo tours in which
informed guides lead groups on walks.
One of the great advantages of the zoo as an educational
institution is that almost no one minds learning this way. Even
the most fractious child will absorb information on a zoo trip.
San Diego and a majority of the larger zoos have formal
arrangements with local school systems for teaching visits.
The research function of the modern zoo is more and more being
appreciated and used. Today's scientists have turned to wild
animal collections with basic questions:
What kind of a blood system does the giraffe have that allows
it to drop its head 18 feet to drink without having a heart
attack?
What kind of a digestive system does a vulture have that allows
it to eat putrefying fish without getting food poisoning?
How does a bird navigate over water on a cloud-shrouded
night?
What psychological barriers exist in most species that make it
almost impossible for one animal to deliberately kill another
animal of the same species?
In early times, kings kept wild animals to show that their
dominion extended even over the kings of the jungle. Romans
imported ferocious beasts to take part in bloody contests in
the arena. Later, noblemen and rich merchants kept them as
status symbols.
Today, with a thousand species of animals now considered
endangered, conservation of our wildlife may be the zoo's most
important function.
by Bill Seaton - 21st August 2008
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Bill Seaton is a prize-winning author and lecturer who has
served nearly 25 years as public relations director of the San
Diego Zoo, SeaWorld and the California State Lottery. To learn
more about the San Diego resident's books, blogs and awards,
visit http://www.billseaton.com
.
Article Source: http://www.bb-articles.com
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