Changing visitor expectation, experience and satisfaction by modifying visitor side environment at a chimpanzee exhibit at Twycross Zoo

通过改变特怀克罗斯动物园黑猩猩展览的游客侧环境来改变游客的期望、体验和满意度

• 批准号: NE/N012607/1
• 负责人: Nardie Hanson
• 金额: $ 1.71万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2015 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FN012607%2F1
• 关键词: Changing; visitor; expectation; experience; satisfaction

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).

想象一下进入一座宏伟的大教堂的人群是多么的安静；他们自动地踩着脚步，悄悄地窃窃私语。进入热带森林追踪野生黑猩猩的研究人员体验到了同样的情绪和行为方式。他们被一种观察我们最亲近的亲属的自然行为生态的崇敬之情所淹没。想象一下，现在一位参观者进入动物园的黑猩猩展览，他们的态度完全不同。参观者希望接近活跃、有趣的动物，就像他们在野生动物纪录片中看到的那样。这与野生类人猿行为的真实情况相去甚远，它们在那里休息的时间高达60%！电视无法复制在野外追踪黑猩猩的壮观和兴奋，但动物园提供了独特的机会，让它们成为它们行为和社交生活的一部分。然而，对野生动物来说，亲近人类是不自然的，可能会导致异常行为。对于智商很高、其行为与其复杂的森林环境密切相关的类人猿来说，情况尤其如此。这些改变的行为导致了对类人猿的虚假描述，并阻碍了英国动物园实现其目标的能力：教育、研究、保护和优化动物福利，包括允许表达自然行为。动物园面临着丰富游客体验的挑战，同时通过环境教育实现其激励保护的目标，并为其照料的动物保持最高福利。我的目标是改变游客对黑猩猩的期望，从观看黑猩猩娱乐转变为有幸目睹这种濒临灭绝的类人猿的自然行为。通过让参观者沉浸在平静而引人注目的森林环境中，并提供虚拟技术来探索展览，我将引发一种安静而不那么匆忙的方式来观看动物。这将允许黑猩猩表现出更自然的行为，如玩耍或梳理毛发，从而提高游客的体验和满意度。我将通过综合干预措施来实现这一点，如局部窗帘、环境声音、具有森林特有颜色和强度光谱的照明、隔音橡胶地板和高湿度环境。我还将提供虚拟技术，让参观者可以进一步探索展览。参观者将被邀请用iPad在“图片捕捉模式”下扫描围栏，在这种模式下，一个定制的应用程序会注册一个特定的物体(如鸟巢或爬杆)，并将自动加载链接的文件。我将对这些视频进行编程，包括这些黑猩猩在特别活跃的状态(如进食或玩耍)的视频。参观者将体验一系列黑猩猩的行为，无论它们在观看时的活动如何，并将发展对现实活动模式的理解。我将比较这些干预前后黑猩猩的行为和游客的行为以及满意度。这些游客端环境变化的影响将是双重的。1)游客对展览满意度的提高将改善动物园的公众形象(和收入)。2)所做的改变将减少游客接近对黑猩猩的影响，这将增强它们的野性行为。有了这些数据，我将制定基于证据的指南，供Twycross动物园使用，通过对不同物种使用这些方法来促进实践的改变。这些指南随后将通过Twycross动物园在大猩猩Taxon咨询小组和BIAZA(英国和爱尔兰动物园和水族馆协会)成员中的不可或缺的作用传播到英国和欧洲动物园部门。