Star attractions and damp squibs at the zoo: a study of visitor attention and animal attractiveness

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe importance of this paper relates to the need to construct zoos that meet social and ethical obligations to be economically viable centres of both wildlife conservation and education in the twenty-first century. Recognizing the importance of the attractiveness of animals to the success of visitors’ zoo experience, this paper provides an analysis of the attractiveness of differing types of animals in a zoo setting. The paper is based on the data that was gathered in 2013 at Durrell Wildlife Park, UK, using a non-participant observation method that incorporated the collection of multiple types of verbal and visual data concerning visitor and animal behaviour. The animals studied possess differing levels of charisma and encompass a range of taxonomic categories. The results highlighted in this paper demonstrate that the ability of animals to attract and retain the attention of visitors varies significantly and suggests that the reasons behind this are related to a complex interaction of the characteristics that define animal attractiveness. However, the activity level of animals and their visibility appear to play a key role in determining the ability of an animal to attract and retain visitor attention.