Are Zoos Sustainable? What the Visitors & Staff. Andrew Tribe The Gainsdale Group, HiddenVale, Queensland 4340

Transcription

1 Are Zoos Sustainable? What the Visitors & Staff Think Andrew Tribe The Gainsdale Group, HiddenVale, Queensland 4340

2 Zoo History: Welfare Problems

3 Wildlife and Entertainment

4 The Modern Zoo: Conservation Education Research Recreation

5 The Modern Zoo: What is it? Tourist destination Conservation centre Not-for-profit organisation Commercial business Educational enterprise Community resource Animal husbandry facility

6 The Zoo Challenge: Commercial Viability Versus Ethical Credibility

7 This Project To compare the attitudes of visitors, staff and non-zoo staff at 4 Australian and 4 UK zoos: The role of zoos The role of zoos in conservation Zoos and education

8 The 8 zoos selected Australia : Adelaide, Australia, Melbourne and Perth United Kingdom: Bristol, Jersey, London and Twycross

9 The Visitors 1439 surveys completed 64% female 88% domestic 96% with family or friends

10 The Visitors: Reasons for Visiting 1. Lots of different animals 2. Being with family & friends 3. Pleasant environment 4. Seeing rare animals 5. Learning about conservation 6. Contributing to conservation

11 The Visitors: Satisfaction and Learning A high level of satisfaction 8.5 A medium level of learning 6.8 Less conservation learning 6.1

12 The Visitors: Satisfaction and Learning Positive correlations found between level of learning And level of satisfaction how much does this zoo do for conservation?

13 The Staff 417 surveys 55% animal staff 61% employed for less than 5 years 69% believed conservation to be very important

14 The Staff: Attitudes to Conservation at their own zoo Conservation is main focus of our zoo 42% All staff working for conservation 22% Visitors see all our conservation work 12% Govt conservation agencies appreciate us 6%

15 The Non- Zoo Staff 101 surveys 75% employed for more than 5 years 80% believed conservation to be very important

16 Non-Zoo Staff: Attitudes to Conservation and to zoos Zoos do a great deal for conservation 12% Conservation is main focus of zoos 8% Govt conservation agencies appreciate zoos 2%

17 What should zoos be doing? Zoo Activity Visitors % Staff % Non-Zoo Staff % Educate public 68 Breed endangered species 52 Support wildlife conservation 51 In situ conservation 18 Entertain visitors 17 Research

18 Who is important for conservation? Organisation Visitors % Zoos 70 National Governments 65 Conservation Groups 43 Local Governments 32 Business 27 Local Communities 22 Individuals 21 Staff % Non-Zoo Staff %

19 Visitor Conclusions Main motivation good time with family and friends Expect to learn about animals and conservation Don t expect to contribute to conservation BUT - believe zoos are important for conservation Most important activity education

20 Visitor Conclusions cont d Can conservation attract visitors? 48% would like to return within a year BUT 73% would not return if the zoo did nothing for conservation

21 Visitor Conclusions cont d The higher the level of learning the higher that zoo rated for - Wildlife conservation Satisfaction with visit Desire to return

22 Staff Conclusions Less than half think conservation is main focus of their zoo Few felt their conservation efforts were appreciated Staff not working together for a common goal BUT - believe that zoos are important for conservation Little priority to visitor entertainment Most important activity for zoos: education

23 Non-Zoo Staff Conclusions Few think conservation is main focus of zoos Few appreciate conservation efforts of zoos Believe that zoos are less important for conservation BUT Most important activity for zoos: education

24 Recommendations Critical assessment of conservation activities Promotion of zoos contributions Further analysis/comparison of attitudes Recognition of the education/engagement link

25 Education and Engagement Back to the future?

26 The Hidden Vale UQ Wildlife Project: A Cooperative Venture

27 HV History One hour west of Brisbane Little Liverpool Range Beef cattle station first settled homestead built 1999 HV land bought 4,900 hectares Spicers Hidden Vale Retreat

28 HV Present Day Luxury rural retreat Gourmet food Superb wines

29 Multi-use Mountain biking Walking Cattle Production HV Present Day

30 HV Nature Reserve 3091 hectares Nature Refuge Declared in 2007 A regionally significant corridor Many rare and threatened species

31 In 2015 The HV Wildlife Project Gainsdale entered into a joint project with UQ to: Enhance and conserve the HV natural habitat Conduct wildlife research and teaching Develop wildlife activities for the visitors.

32 The HV Wildlife Project Overall Objective To deliver resilient ecosystems with representative, self-sustaining populations of fauna and flora endemic to the Scenic Rim Everything we do should support and be supported by applied, scientific research

33 The HV Wildlife Project How? 1.Managing and rehabilitating the habitat 2. Breeding and releasing local endangered species 3. Rehabilitating and releasing native wildlife

34 How? The Wildlife Facility

35 Wildlife Breeding The species to be bred Spotted-tailed quolls Eastern bristle birds Brush-tailed phascogales Brush-tailed rock wallabies Glossy black cockatoos

36 How?...Rehabilitating and Releasing Wildlife 1. Large number of wild animals rehabilitated and released each year in SE Qld (30,000) 2. Suitable habitat needed for the release of these animals such as HV 3. Need to know how to do it better

37 What About The HV Visitors? In May/June 2015 HV Visitors wanted to: View wildlife in its natural habitat (93%) Learn about local wildlife (68%) Support wildlife conservation (62%) Participate in wildlife activities (48%) See rare and endangered species (46%)

38 The Outcomes Benefits for all: Improves and protects the natural environment Supports wildlife conservation Allows continued use of the natural resources for livestock production, ecotourism and adventure activities Enhances the visitors experiences

39 Questions?