No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Marr, M. Jackson, Committee Member ; Bloomsmith, Mollie, Committee Member ; Maple, Terry L., Committee Chair.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2008. / Title from title screen (viewed 10 Nov. 2008) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Museum Studies, Faculty of Arts. Degree awarded 2008; thesis submitted 2007. Includes tables and questionnaires. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2006. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Catherine Matthews; submitted to the School of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 158-188).

There is evidence that the presence of the visiting public affects the behaviour of zoo-housed mammals. Understanding the effect of visitors is important in improving animal welfare, achieving zoo conservation goals, increasing visitor education/entertainment, and facilitating interpretation of data on zoo animal biology. A series of studies and experiments focusing on the effect of zoo visitors on captive mammal behaviour is presented. The influence of visitor density on a range of primates and large carnivores is examined. Methodological concerns regarding the operational definition of visitor density in the literature are expressed and a clarification of terms which may be helpful when comparing previous research is provided. Visitor noise data, using an objective measure of the variable, and its relationship to visitor density are also presented. External and internal visual barriers between visitors and zoo animals were hypothesised to moderate the visitor effect and enrich the environment of the study groups. Camouflage nets mounted on the outside of enclosure viewing windows had little impact on primate or felid behaviour, with the exception of the Sumatran orangutan group, who showed a trend toward decreased social play in the presence of the external barrier. Polar bear behaviour showed evidence of an enriched environment, with trends toward increased levels of swimming and decreased levels of resting. An internal visual barrier, which prevented visitors from having visual contact with the golden lion tamarins when the nonhuman primates were behind it, was also tested and elicited more extensive trends toward behavioural change than did the nets. Both Sumatran orangutans and zoo visitors were provided with a similar puzzle feeder in an effort to enrich the orangutan enclosure, and improve the visitor experience. It was hypothesised that the orangutans might be stimulated by watching visitors manipulate the device, but this did not occur. Orangutan use of the puzzle feeder within their enclosure was also unaffected. Olfactory stimuli were introduced into primate and felid enclosures and visitor viewing areas to investigate the role olfaction may play in the visitor effect. Although olfactory stimuli had an extensive significant effect on the behaviour of the study groups when it was introduced into the enclosure, there was little change when visitors were associated with the olfactory stimuli which suggest there may not be an olfactory visitor effect in primates or felids. The effect of visitors on petting zoo-housed mixed-breed goats, llama, and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs was studied and compared to their behaviour without the presence of visitors. The goats were unaffected and the llama showed only a trend toward decreased levels of sitting in the presence of visitors. The Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs were significantly affected by the presence of visitors, exhibiting decreased inactivity and social behaviour. The hypothesis that a sustained absence of visitors would result in a more intense visitor effect was tested and was not supported by the data. An additional experiment investigating the effect of visitor grooming on the petting zoo study species showed that, while visitors spent more time interacting with the animals in the grooming condition, xiv the behaviour of the study animals indicated that they did not find visitor grooming rewarding. Data on the interaction between visitor density and the various experimental techniques tested here indicate that visitor density may impact animal response to environmental enrichment, supporting previous findings in the literature. In the presence of visual barriers, foraging devices, and olfactory stimuli, the relationship between animal behaviour and visitor density changed significantly, both qualitatively and quantitatively. These results suggest that collecting visitor density data when testing environmental enrichment techniques could be helpful when assessing their effectiveness, ultimately improving the welfare of zoo-housed mammals. Based on the data presented here, in conjunction with the literature, a closing discussion outlines proposed refinements to the visitor effect research guidelines published by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (2005).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 124-139).

In this study, zoo visitor response to live prey feeding and jaguar response to dead fish feeding were analyzed. Four hundred visitors at Zoo Atlanta and four hundred visitors at Palm Beach Zoo were asked about their attitudes toward feeding live prey to zoo carnivores. Agreement rates were found to be high. Agreement rates at Zoo Atlanta and Palm Beach Zoo were both significantly higher for feeding live fish to penguins than at Edinburgh Zoo as reported in Ings et al. (1997). Zoo Atlanta also had a higher agreement rate for feeding live rabbits to cheetahs in view than Edinburgh Zoo. Both Zoo Atlanta and Palm Beach Zoo had lower agreement rates for feeding live insects to lizards out of view than Edinburgh Zoo. Agreement rates for visitors at Palm Beach Zoo that saw a dead fish to jaguar introduction did not differ significantly from visitors that had not seen the introduction. However, at both US Zoos, agreement rate was higher for visitors that had seen a live prey introduction at a zoo or aquarium in the past. Agreement rate was significantly greater for feeding live fish to jaguars, mice to hawks, and rabbits to cheetahs in view. For Palm Beach Zoo agreement rate was also higher for feeding live rabbits to cheetahs out of view. Stay time did not differ significantly between visitors at Palm Beach Zoo that saw and did not see a dead fish to jaguar introduction. Jaguar activity level, behavioral diversity, fecal corticoids, visibility, and percent time spent in water did not significantly differ between fish introduction and baseline.

M. Tech. Tourism and Hospitality Management / Consumers are beginning to recognize their own footprint on the planet and are becoming both more understanding in their ability to find new travel opportunities and more conscious of the effects their travel will have on the places and people they visit. Therefore, more responsible service providers have seen an increase in this new - and fastest growing - tourism segment. Satisfying consumer demand is certainly not a nice to have; it is a need for survival of the business. So, creating a sustainable future zoo it is evident that adopting a service centric approach has the potential to enhance visitors experience and thus the long term success of the zoo. The goal of the study is to adopt a service centric approach that would enhance vision experience and thus ensure the long term success of the zoo. The finding of this study could assist Pretoria zoo to identify the trends of zoo visitors and helped the zoo to improve their facilities and service to meet the satisfaction of zoo visitors, and ensured the long term success of the zoo.

No description available.

The aim of the study was to determine how litter affects the image of the environment and the animals at the Johannesburg Zoo, situated in the Northern part of Johannesburg, as perceived by various stakeholders. Furthermore, effectiveness of the educational awareness programmes developed and currently being presented at the Zoo were assessed. The central themes of the research on the issue of litter in a conservation area included the current status of litter in the Johannesburg Zoo, the perception of stakeholders frequenting or living in the vicinity of the Zoo and the nature and effectiveness of educational programmes presented at the Zoo. The stakeholders included visitors (n=332), employees (n=20) and others who represented the Zoo and people from the neighbouring Forest Town. It was possible to collect data on the premises while the Zoo was in full operation. The data-collection tools included two questionnaires (for visitors and employees) and interviews (other stakeholders), as well as a reflective recall of eight years of hands-on experiences and observations of a current curator at the Zoo. The latter served as a situation analysis of the Zoo to provide a backdrop for exploring the litter problem and served as background for designing the data-collection tools. The data of the survey conducted with questionnaires was quantitative in nature and was analysed descriptively in form of frequencies and percentages. The qualitative data gathered by means of the interviews were analysed and described against the experiences, beliefs and contact with the Zoo of the specific stakeholder. The educational programmes were described and the content assessed based on the effectiveness regarding litter minimisation information. The situation analysis revealed some tragic consequences of littering at the Zoo. It became clear that educating the public was a necessity to provide knowledge in such a way that it would inculcate a spirit of caring about and valuing the environment and the animals. All stakeholders identified that the Zoo has a serious litter problem and that the signboards needed more specific litter control messages and should be placed strategically so that they are noticed. Although the number of dustbins were sufficient, their distribution and placement in and around the Zoo were not effective. Educational programmes were considered by all to be the answer to the litter problem if the content could be expanded to include information on the consequences of and the legislation on littering. Recommendations regarding litter management for Johannesburg Zoo and for further investigation were suggested. / Geography / M. Sc. (Geography)