Quality vs. quantity: Assessing the visibility of the jaguars housed at Chester Zoo, UK

Abstract

To fulfill an educational or visitor-related role in the zoo's collection, a species needs to be visible to the visiting public. However, this may not always be achievable for animals housed in naturalistic enclosures, particularly species which are highly camouflaged and have an elusive nature, such as jaguars. Four jaguars housed at Chester Zoo (UK) were studied to assess the quality of visibility from the public viewing area and to provide recommendations for assessing visibility to evaluate the educational role of elusive species. Data were recorded on whether the jaguar could be seen, the proportion of the body that was visible and their behavior. The jaguars could be seen 19.5% (i.e. quantity), from the public viewing area, of the observed time. 69.2% of this time the whole of the jaguars' body was on-show and it was possible to observe their behavior during all of these observations. However, when less of the body was visible, the behavior of the jaguars could be observed on significantly fewer occasions (P < .001). When we incorporate behavior and proportion of body into the analysis and look at 'educationally meaningful visibility' (i.e. whole of the animal's body and a behavior could be observed), then the measurement of visibility is reduced to 13.3% (i.e. quality). A simple yes or no, in relation to whether an animal is visible or not, does not give us the detail needed to assess if a species is fulfilling an educational role. Potential solutions to address poor visibility are also discussed.

Viewing African and Asian elephants at accredited zoological institutions: Conservation intent and perceptions of animal welfare

“…Similarly, having an up‐close experience watching cheetahs and red pandas engaged in a variety of active species‐typical behaviors was also significantly correlated with a more positive emotional experience (Luebke et al, ). Turnock and Moss () also found for an animal to have an educational role, it is important that individuals observe animal behavior, not just see an animal. In the current study, a positive emotional experience, combined with visitor predispositions, was significantly related to higher interest in getting involved in elephant conservation similar to the conservation outcomes in the previous study.…”