WCS Turns to a New Study Subject: The American ZooGoer

What are your favorite zoo and aquarium memories? Class trips, family outings, the time you were kissed by a sea lion at a training demonstration? The Wildlife Conservation Society’s five New York institutions are as integral to the cultural fabric of the city as its museums and concert halls, its baseball stadiums and public parks. They are local resources beloved by neighboring communities, as well as internationally renowned destinations for tourists looking for iconic New York experiences. But what is it that brings nearly four million visitors to our facilities each year?

Over the next three years, we’re expanding our research from the natural world to human nature as we launch a new study, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), to examine why people visit zoos and aquariums, and how to better ensure that these institutions serve the needs of their communities. As a network of cultural resources with the power to influence how people think about the natural world and take action to preserve it, the zoo and aquarium community wants to better determine the value of our nation’s wildlife parks to their most influential audience—you.

So tell us about yourselves…what do you think of us? To conduct this study, WCS will convene a committee consisting of top zoo evaluators, experts in metrics development, commercial market forecasters, and representatives of institutions belonging to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. The group will study and design new methods to measure what zoo-goers learn and appreciate from their experiences and how zoos and aquariums can best succeed at communicating the value of conservation to visitors. The study will be a model for other museums, too, as part of a new initiative by the IMLS to help define the value of cultural institutions to the nation’s community of learners. 

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