Gorilla-Visitor Interface at a Zoo Exhibit: Positioning Effects of Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and Zoo Visitors

Zoos have missions to provide high-quality care for their animals and an enjoyable and educational experience for visitors. Looking at the animal-visitor interface can allow zoos to evaluate their success in these efforts and to build upon what they have already accomplished. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between visitors and gorillas in a zoo environment. The effect of gorilla proximity to visitor viewing areas on visitor attentiveness was examined in indoor and outdoor gorilla exhibits. Visitor experience surveys were collected from visitors exiting the outdoor exhibit. Stepwise multiple regressions revealed group and individual gorilla proximity effects on visitor attentiveness. Analyses revealed that visitor attentiveness increased as gorillas got closer to the viewing area. A family group of seven gorillas and one individual gorilla, a silverback in the same family group, consistently changed positions in response to increases in crowd size, positioning themselves farther away from the viewing area. Visitors answered more positively to survey items concerning their perception of the zoo’s gorillas when they also reported witnessing more active gorilla behaviors and showed increased concern about gorilla conservation efforts when they spoke to an employee or volunteer about gorillas. Zoos can use this information to design enclosures that promote more active behaviors in their gorillas and limit visitor effects from crowd size. Zoos can also provide volunteers or employees who can discuss gorillas and conservation issues. Combined, these measures may help zoos succeed in their missions by allowing visitors to have more enriching experiences while limiting any negative effects on the gorillas.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Primate Behavior

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Bergman, Alan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kara Gabriel
• Lori K. Sheeran
• David Orban

• Gorilla
• Visitor Effects
• Zoo
• Proximity
• Attentiveness
• Biological and Physical Anthropology

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1252

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-2249