by Amy Dee Stephens, Oklahoma City Zoo
Bzzzz…..A little bee told me that NAI was seeking a platform for sharing ideas across the spectrum. Why? Zoos can learn from historic houses, nature centers can learn from art museums. The philosophy is that by sharing ideas and results, we all can flower. Cross-pollination.
As anyone in the interpretive field can attest, sites are having to broaden their scope in order to survive the high-stakes “entertainment” industry. Sometimes it’s a stretch. Does an IMAX theater does have its place in an arboretum? Surely a spray park ties into a Civil War site, right.
As a zoo educator, I have no doubt that elephants and giraffes are the main reason over 150 million Americans walk through zoo gates each year. Snakes are cool, hippos are funny, and monkeys steal the show—but as entertainment venues, zoos offer a vast array of options to suit visitors’ taste: playgrounds, ropes courses, birthday party pavilions, merry-go-rounds, food courts…
Do these saturate or enhance the true purpose of zoos? It can be debated both ways, but most zoos have adapted with good results. Apparently, zoo “survival of the fittest” is dependent on train rides, technology, air-conditioning, and, oh yeah, animals.
The Oklahoma City Zoo has gone one step further, by opening a revolutionary attraction—a zoo history museum called the ZooZeum. Inside a 1930s historical building, visitors view traditional museum exhibits about how the zoo started, famous animals, special events, and favorite memories of zoo visitors over the past 100 years.
This odd marriage of “living” and “non-living” collections sharing the same property has proved to be a success. The ZooZeum averages several thousands visitors each month, and after 10-months of operation, the busy non-museum crowds have inflicted no damage on a single exhibit—that’s unheard of!
Truthfully, few people come to the zoo to see the museum, but they are pleasantly surprised when they stumble across it. The quaint 80-year-old building is an unexpected time capsule, nestled between the ultra-modern elephant barn and the newly-constructed show stadium. When people enter, they become respectful and calm. Discussions sound like this, “I remember that from when I was a kid…” or “Look how much the zoo has changed…” or my favorite statement from a five-year-old, “I’m glad the animals have more naturalistic exhibits now.” The ah-ha moment.
So here’s the buzz–the cross-pollination of ideas is a viable option for interpretive sites that seem completely unrelated. The ZooZeum is a good example of how a zoo and a history museum have blended to offer visitors an additional layer of learning, cultural appreciation, and, dare I say, entertainment.
Amy Dee Stephens, Freelance Writer
“Words carry time and culture.”
amydeestephens@yahoo.com
405.408.5512
Tags: exhibit, historic site, history, interpretation, museum, zoo
by Laura Beers, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam; Where the deer and the antelope play; Where seldom is heard a discouraging word; and the sky is not cloudy all day. Home on the Range is the state song of Kansas, and I know it quite well. Today, Kansas is more of an urban state than a rural one. Life on the farm and working with the land has become a thing of the past. The beautiful wheat fields of the town I grew up in have been replaced with housing developments and shopping centers. It is easy to see the connection between urban sprawl and children’s decreasing knowledge and connections with animals, nature and the origins of their food. Young children still sing Home on the Range in Kansas schools, but how many of them have seen the prairie’s where buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play?
One place children can see these animals are at the Sedgwick County Zoo (SCZ) in Wichita, Kansas. On a recent trip home, I visited the zoo I grew up with to see what was new at the zoo and to visit with an old friend and colleague, the curator of Education, Schanee Anderson. Like many AZA institutions, the Sedgwick County Zoo are changing many of their exhibits to more naturalistic and modern facilities. We visited the oldest section of the zoo, their Children’s Farms. Schanee has some exciting ideas and plans to update the exhibits and connect Kansas children to the state’s agricultural roots. The zoo also wants to connect their visitors to domestic, agricultural wildlife through consumerism.
In my opinion, if you ask most children (or adults for that matter) what animals they think of when they hear the word endangered, many of them will give you a list of animals that aren’t native to North America. In addition, you probably won’t hear a mention of any domestic animals, plants or invertebrates either. When I asked my nieces this question, they definitely didn’t answer with Poitou donkey or Holland Chicken. The Sedgwick County Zoo has a great opportunity to re-connect Kansans to their roots and inspire them to learn more about endangered domestic and agricultural breeds in their Children’s Farms exhibits.
Currently, at the back of the American Farm exhibit they have a small vegetable and herb garden. Traditionally, families that lived in rural Kansas built their home close to a water source and used the herbs and vegetables from their gardens to pair with the meat that was raised and slaughtered on site. In addition, many plants that were grown had medicinal properties and could be used to heal common ailments such as headaches. The hope is that this underutilized area can be converted into a traditional rural farm, complete with an old farm house next to the barn where the livestock are kept, as well as a functioning water well and a herb, heirloom vegetable and medicinal garden. The zoo also hopes to add traditional outdoor activities that were played on the farm such as: horseshoes, potato sacks for races, jacks or wooden toys and perhaps a pile of sticks where kids can construct a fort.
The zoo has a few clever ideas about connecting their visitors to agriculture through consumerism too! Inside the barn, visitors can see milking demonstrations (if a cow in the collection is lactating) and they even have a faux cow that visitors can hand milk! In addition, the Sedgwick County Zoo would like to have demonstrations or zoo programs where visitors of all ages can churn butter by hand. Schanee has also built a relationship with a local chef who is willing to offer cooking classes where visitors can learn about cuts of meat, methods of preparation as well as sampling of meats from breeds of animals that aren’t found in the grocery store. Perhaps they can take it a step further and incorporate herbs and heirloom vegetables from the zoo garden to teach visitors how to begin or maintain a garden of their own.
Lastly, every night, visitors can observe the keeper staff as they let the livestock out to pasture. However, on a traditional farm there is another animal that is important in this daily task, a herd dog. The Sedgwick County Zoo is thinking about ways that they can incorporate a herd dog into the collection and train the dog to work the livestock. Hopefully, the dog could roam freely in the area and help chase off some of the wildlife that doesn’t belong there like non-migrating Canada Geese!
I feel that many zoos and aquariums do a phenomenal job at connecting our visitors to wildlife from around the world, but many of us fall flat in connecting our visitors to native wildlife, let alone connecting them to domestic animals used in agriculture. We have a long way to go, but I hope that you found some inspiration in the ideas that the Sedgwick County Zoo are considering. Perhaps you will try to implement a few at your institution! I hope to bring my nieces on my next visit to the Sedgwick County Zoo and experience the updates to their Children’s Farm exhibit together.
Please share any ideas that you have for the specific exhibits mentioned in this article or best practices that you have learned in a similar situation at your zoo or aquarium.
by Aimee Chlebnik - Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center
Interpreters are champions of the “big idea”. Part of our responsibility in the world of zoos and aquaria is to help our visitors understand how individual species fit into a larger puzzle. For the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, moving away from interpreting solely bears and wolves and toward interpreting our Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in its entirety has been a project several years in the making. This goal has been realized in part by the “sneak preview” opening of our new Golden Eagle Aviary.
In September, we opened the walkway to our new golden eagle aviary. This aviary features rocky cliffs, a waterfall, large trees, and two adult golden eagles. Both eagles are non-releasable birds, spending their lives in captivity after suffering injuries in the wild. It is difficult to pass by them and not be impressed by their size, strength, and regal appearance. In the short time the aviary has been open, I’ve already heard comments like, “Look how big she is!” when faced with the 11 pound female golden eagle, and “Eww…” when the eagles are fed dead rats and begin to gut them with their sharp beaks and talons. It amazes me how a simple experience with our new eagles, void of signage or formal programming, can still cause an innate emotional reaction in our visitors. In the spring, additional raptor exhibits will open, featuring falcons, bald eagles, and owls, providing more opportunities for the GWDC’s visitors to witness a raptor’s power and beauty at close range.
Like bears and wolves, golden eagles require large wild territories, and their species has been threatened in the United States by misunderstandings and conflict with human populations. And, like any top predator, they play a vital role in the health of the ecosystems they inhabit. With the opening of this new exhibit, we hope to eliminate common misunderstandings about raptors and illuminate the connections between these majestic birds and the rest of Yellowstone’s top predators. We hope to see you there!
by Laura Beers - Disney’s Animal Kingdom
I was touring Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park ® for the first time as a new Cast Member and I was part of an all day training class about the park and its history. It was during this class that I learned about our logo and why the silhouettes of four animals (lion, African elephant, sable antelope, and triceratops) as well as a mythical animal (dragon) are standing in front of our park icon, the Tree of Life. The logo represents how we classify the status of wildlife as either: threatened, endangered and extinct plus an extra classification, mythical animals or animals of legend. It wasn’t until a few years ago that we had much to do with the latter classification. That came when we added Expedition Everest, Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. Recently, I learned that we can expect more mythical animals to arrive soon!
Originally, Disney’s Animal Kingdom had plans to devote an entire section of the park to animals of legend and myth, but those plans were put on hold; and, there has always been a buzz amongst Cast Members that we might still try to see those plans through and bring the powerful stories of legend and myth to life. I can now say that the rumor is true! Last week, Disney announced that we have entered into a “creative partnership with James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment and Fox Filmed Entertainment to bring the epic fantasy world of AVATAR to life at our parks” and that Disney’s Animal Kingdom is planned as the site of the first AVATAR-themed land.
As you might imagine, this announcement has been exciting yet controversial. Many feel that it isn’t our business to bring Avatar to life. Mainly because Avatar isn’t a Disney film, it will take away from our strong conservation messages and our animal collection. However, this isn’t the first time that Disney has used a non-Disney film in our parks. One great example is Star Wars; one of the top grossing films in history that was produced by 20th Century Fox. Yet, we have an attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park ® called Star Tours, The Adventures Continues as well as Star Wars weekends in May and June that are popular with many of our Guests.
Others feel that Avatar is a perfect fit. Disney films, parks and resorts have always been about great storytelling and escaping from reality in to the wonderful world of Disney. Even though Avatar wasn’t my favorite film, I have faith in our company’s Imagineers and I know that they will do great things with it. We shall see…what are your thoughts?
If you are interested in reading more about the discussion, here are a few links for you to check out:
http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/09/avatar-coming-to-disney-parks/
http://micechat.com/blogs/samland/3145-disneys-animal-kingdom-first-impressions-avatar-land.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Disney-to-build-Avatar-apf-2262034163.html?x=0&.v=7
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14998554
by Terry Joyce and Allison Dusenbury, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Opening this past May at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, African Elephant Crossing is a $25 million, world-class exhibit and conservation center. Zoo guests are able to see the elephants like never before as they engage in a wide range of natural behaviors. This new exhibit offers exceptional viewing areas for Zoo visitors, including open-air viewing, a nose-to-trunk window, and a gated crossing where people can watch as the elephants pass by to migrate from one yard to the next. In addition to elephants, African Elephant Crossing houses naked mole rats, meerkats, an African rock python and a collection of exquisite birds such as green woodhoopoe, Lady Ross’s turaco and the Taveta golden weaver, to name a few.
In addition to being a model for elephant care, African Elephant Crossing demonstrates the Zoo’s commitment to becoming a leader in sustainability. African Elephant Crossing is on track to be the first major outdoor animal exhibit to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. LEED certification is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, a membership organization that gives construction companies and architects a quantifiable set of parameters for their projects that are recognized industry-wide as best practices in energy use, environmental impact, use of local resources, reduction of greenhouse gases and sustainability. Some of the key attributes of the exhibit contributing to the LEED certification are:
- More than 90 percent of the construction waste was recycled and diverted from a landfill.
- About a third of the materials used to build the exhibit came from recycled materials.
- The exhibit’s state-of-the-art water filtration system will cut water usage by 72 percent over the former exhibit, from 26.3 million gallons per year to 7.5 million.
- Innovative air systems reclaim over 75 percent of the heat from exhaust air.
- The educational exhibits inform visitors about conservation, sustainability practices and how decisions they make at home can make a difference.
The exhibit’s purpose is to ignite a passion for elephants and other African wildlife and wild places through encouraging understanding of the elephants’ habitat and cultural surroundings, their plight in the wild, and the need for action that will contribute to the conservation of elephants in the wild.
Those that complete programs either at the new exhibit or in a virtual environment are expected to take home the main message that “majestic, amazing and in need of our help, African elephants coexist with people and other living things in a delicate balance for survival. “ The outcome of any program should be that the participant intends to or does take action for African elephants and others that share their environment.
Specifically, the African Elephant Crossing programs focus on two key behaviors we encourage our visitors to participate in: 1) Consuming responsibly when actions affect wildlife and wild places, and 2) Donating personal resources to conservation organizations. Therefore, each of the programs will have cognitive, affective and behavioral objectives that will lead to one or both of these key behaviors. No less important, though, are the programs’ connections with the State of Ohio and national trends in science education. To guarantee that each of these objectives is met, Zoo staff work with a professional education advisory committee, as well as education evaluators from Kent State University, The Ohio State University and the Institute for Learning Innovation in the development and evaluation phases.
Interpretation builds the bridge between exhibit elements within African Elephant Crossing and our guests. Staff and volunteer led interpretative interactions are therefore a cornerstone of African Elephant Crossing. Staff and volunteers are the voices of the exhibit, sharing the stories to connect with guests and encourage stewardship. Staff members have the ability to be anywhere the elephants are located and can utilize a microphone system along the outer path of African Elephant Crossing to talk to larger groups or during a crossing. Conservation Education staff has developed several conversational interpretation “programs” for use when posting. Topics covered include natural history, culture, sustainability and more.
To learn more, please see www.clemetzoo.com or www.africanelephantcrossing.com.
For questions about Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s African Elephant Crossing exhibit, please contact Allison Dusenbury at aed@clevelandmetroparks.com or Terry Joyce, ZWPA Secretary/Treasurer at taj@clevelandmetroparks.com .
