The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study

Many zoos and aquariums offer opportunities for visitors to have up-close encounters with ambassador animals; however, the impacts of these experiences on visitors’ connections to animals are not well documented. We used observations and family interviews in a sequential mixed-methods research study...

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Autores principales:	Shelley J. Rank, Su-Jen Roberts, Katherine Manion
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Animal Behavior and Cognition 2021
Materias:	ambassador animals visitor research conservation connections curiosity Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7adf8aa25a83465d94547218faaf59b0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7adf8aa25a83465d94547218faaf59b02021-11-03T19:32:36ZThe Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study10.26451/abc.08.04.08.20212372-50522372-4323https://doaj.org/article/7adf8aa25a83465d94547218faaf59b02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/article.php?id=1291https://doaj.org/toc/2372-5052https://doaj.org/toc/2372-4323Many zoos and aquariums offer opportunities for visitors to have up-close encounters with ambassador animals; however, the impacts of these experiences on visitors’ connections to animals are not well documented. We used observations and family interviews in a sequential mixed-methods research study to explore how animal ambassador programs impact participants. We found that the type of ambassador animal did not affect the number of questions or comments made by participants during programs, suggesting broad interest in animals. Programs in which facilitators prompted participants with questions were especially successful at eliciting questions and guiding the topics of those questions, fueling deeper curiosity. Interviewees described themselves as “animal people” and self-reported practicing conservation behaviors, suggesting that their animal affiliative and pro-environmental identities could be leveraged to discuss conservation issues and encourage solutions-based behaviors. Lastly, opportunities to meet ambassador animals increased participants’ feelings of connecting to animals, building on previous research and corroborating findings. Programs should consider how to further build on these positive learning and affective outcomes by capitalizing on opportunities to provide deep insights into conservation issues and actions related to the ambassador animals.Shelley J. RankSu-Jen RobertsKatherine ManionAnimal Behavior and Cognitionarticleambassador animalsvisitor researchconservationconnectionscuriosityZoologyQL1-991ENAnimal Behavior and Cognition, Vol 8, Iss 4, Pp 558-575 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	ambassador animals visitor research conservation connections curiosity Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	ambassador animals visitor research conservation connections curiosity Zoology QL1-991 Shelley J. Rank Su-Jen Roberts Katherine Manion The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study
description	Many zoos and aquariums offer opportunities for visitors to have up-close encounters with ambassador animals; however, the impacts of these experiences on visitors’ connections to animals are not well documented. We used observations and family interviews in a sequential mixed-methods research study to explore how animal ambassador programs impact participants. We found that the type of ambassador animal did not affect the number of questions or comments made by participants during programs, suggesting broad interest in animals. Programs in which facilitators prompted participants with questions were especially successful at eliciting questions and guiding the topics of those questions, fueling deeper curiosity. Interviewees described themselves as “animal people” and self-reported practicing conservation behaviors, suggesting that their animal affiliative and pro-environmental identities could be leveraged to discuss conservation issues and encourage solutions-based behaviors. Lastly, opportunities to meet ambassador animals increased participants’ feelings of connecting to animals, building on previous research and corroborating findings. Programs should consider how to further build on these positive learning and affective outcomes by capitalizing on opportunities to provide deep insights into conservation issues and actions related to the ambassador animals.
format	article
author	Shelley J. Rank Su-Jen Roberts Katherine Manion
author_facet	Shelley J. Rank Su-Jen Roberts Katherine Manion
author_sort	Shelley J. Rank
title	The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_short	The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_full	The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_fullStr	The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_full_unstemmed	The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study
title_sort	impact of ambassador animal facilitated programs on visitor curiosity and connections: a mixed-methods study
publisher	Animal Behavior and Cognition
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7adf8aa25a83465d94547218faaf59b0
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The Impact of Ambassador Animal Facilitated Programs on Visitor Curiosity and Connections: A Mixed-Methods Study

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