You’re Unbelievable!


In all likelihood, you do incredible, near-unbelievable work. Beyond the daily (and nightly) care of your animals (which is phenomenal, in-and-of itself), you run a clockwork-like facility, employ hundreds of staff and volunteers, have a measurable benefit to your local economy, integrate best green practices, rescue and rehabilitate wildlife, are champions of the environment, and lead impressive conservation efforts across oceans and in your own backyard.


BUT DOES THE PUBLIC BELIEVE YOU?


Tat question has been keeping us up at night; so this year PGAV Destinations partnered with H2R Market Research to launch a nationwide study to answer it. We surveyed 1,006 people across the country to understand their perception of conservation and zoos’ and aquariums’ roles in it. We were curious to uncover Americans’ understanding of conservation, their perceptions of what zoos and aquariums do in conservation; and most importantly, understand people’s opinions of zoos and aquariums based on the conservation they perceive these institutions to be doing.


While some of the findings confirm universally, cautiously-held beliefs, others have certainly raised eyebrows.


More than three-fourths of our respondents support wildlife conservation and are eager to help out, even those who don’t regularly visit zoos and aquariums. Tese supporters are more often than not Millennials, have higher levels of education, have children at home, and enjoy a higher- than-average household income. However, this same demographic is often the most critical of these institutions: their support is matched with a passion for these destinations to improve.


While conservation efforts at zoos and aquariums are certainly important to the general public, it’s far more important to the public that the care of the animals in residence is exceptional. When guests do engage in a conservation learning opportunity, our data shows that they’re far more interested in something interactive, like interfacing with animals and keepers, rather than passive information absorption.


Troughout the study, respondents made it very clear that animal welfare and conservation were key elements in the purpose of zoos and aquariums; however, those messages were frequently being lost on them, and thus diminishing their opinions of these destinations. In this issue of Destinology, we reveal some of the disconnects between the fantastic work zoos and aquariums conduct and what the public understands and cares about those efforts; and how these institutions can grow to maximize conservation and animal care transparency.


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