Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
项目编号 | NE/N012607/1 |
Changing visitor expectation, experience and satisfaction by modifying visitor side environment at a chimpanzee exhibit at Twycross Zoo | |
[unavailable] | |
主持机构 | University of Birmingham |
项目开始年 | 2015 |
2015-11-01 | |
项目结束日期 | 2016-04-30 |
资助机构 | UK-NERC |
项目类别 | Fellowship |
国家 | 英国 |
语种 | 英语 |
英文摘要 | Imagine the hush that falls on a crowd entering a grand cathedral; they automatically tread and whisper quietly. Researchers entering tropical forests to track wild chimpanzees experience the same emotions and behave in a similar way. They are overwhelmed by a feeling of reverence of observing the natural behavioural ecology of our closest living relatives. Imagine now a visitor entering a chimpanzee exhibit at a zoo; their attitude is entirely different. Visitors expect to be close to active, entertaining animals behaving as they have seen them on wild-life documentaries. This is far from the reality of wild ape behaviour, where they spend up to 60% of the time resting! TV cannot replicate the magnificence or excitement of tracking chimpanzees in the wild, but zoos offer the unique opportunity to be part of their behaviour and social life. However, being close to humans is unnatural for wild animals and can result in abnormal behaviours. This is particularly true for apes who are highly intelligent and whose behaviour is tightly linked to their complex forest environment. These altered behaviours result in false representation of apes and hinder UK zoos' abilities to achieve their objectives: education; research; conservation; and optimising animal welfare including allowing expression of natural behaviours. Zoos face the challenge of enriching visitor experience whilst delivering their aims of inspiring conservation through environmental education and maintaining the highest welfare for animals in their care. I aim to generate a change in visitor expectation from one of viewing chimpanzees for entertainment to one rooted in the privilege of witnessing this endangered ape behaving naturally. By immersing visitors in a calming yet striking forest environment and providing virtual technology to explore the exhibit with I will elicit a quiet and less hurried approach to viewing the animals. This will allow the chimpanzees to express more natural behaviours such as playing or grooming, which in turn will enhance visitor experience and satisfaction. I will achieve this by combining interventions such as partial window covers, ambient sounds, lighting with a forest-specific colour and intensity spectrum, sound-proof rubber flooring, and a high humidity atmosphere. I will also provide virtual technology with which visitors can further explore the exhibit. Visitors will be invited to scan the enclosure with an iPad in a 'picture capture mode' whereby a custom-designed app registers a specific object (e.g. a nest or climbing pole) and will automatically load linked files. I will programme these to include videos of these chimpanzees in particularly active states (e.g. feeding or playing). Visitors will experience a range of chimpanzee behaviours regardless of the animals' activity at the time of viewing, and will develop an understanding of realistic activity patterns. I will compare chimpanzee behaviour and visitor behaviour and satisfaction before and after these interventions. The impact of these visitor-side environmental changes will be two-fold. 1) Increased visitor satisfaction at the exhibit will improve the public image (and revenue) of the zoo. 2) The changes made will reduce the impact of visitor closeness on chimpanzees, which will enhance their wild-type behaviours. With this data I will produce evidence-based guidelines to be used by Twycross Zoo to facilitate a change of practice by using these methods for different species. These guidelines will then be disseminated to the UK and European zoo sector through Twycross Zoo's integral role in the Taxon Advisory Group for Great Apes and member of BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums). |
来源学科分类 | Natural Environment Research |
文献类型 | 项目 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/85844 |
专题 | 环境与发展全球科技态势 |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | [unavailable].Changing visitor expectation, experience and satisfaction by modifying visitor side environment at a chimpanzee exhibit at Twycross Zoo.2015. |
条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 |
个性服务 |
推荐该条目 |
保存到收藏夹 |
查看访问统计 |
导出为Endnote文件 |
谷歌学术 |
谷歌学术中相似的文章 |
[[unavailable]]的文章 |
百度学术 |
百度学术中相似的文章 |
[[unavailable]]的文章 |
必应学术 |
必应学术中相似的文章 |
[[unavailable]]的文章 |
相关权益政策 |
暂无数据 |
收藏/分享 |
除非特别说明,本系统中所有内容都受版权保护,并保留所有权利。
修改评论