Fourage Anna, Erzinclioglu Tanya, Fairey Amanda, Campera Marco, Nekaris K Anne-Isola, Nijman Vincent
School of Law and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK.
For Tigers, Cambridge CB23 1HB, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Nov 5;14(22):3167. doi: 10.3390/ani14223167.
Humans have long delighted in being entertained by captive wild animals. In zoos and aquariums, animal-visitor interactions allow visitors to experience direct or indirect contact with animals. Well-managed animal-visitor interactions can help zoos and aquariums contribute to their educational objectives by eliciting pro-conservation behaviours from visitors while providing good animal welfare for the animals involved. However, some interactions are dysfunctional because they cause physical and psychological harm to the animal and reinforce negative values and beliefs towards conservation. We aimed to assess how dysfunctional animal-visitor interactions are and whether accreditation by zoological associations reduced the number of such interactions. We visited Thai zoos in person and conducted online monitoring of facilities in Southeast Asia. We report 1165 animal-visitor interactions in nine Southeast Asian countries in 225 zoos and aquariums. Taking photos with animals ("selfies") and riding on animals were scored as the animal-visitor interactions that were the most dysfunctional. The number of animal-visitor interactions was not less in accredited zoos, and there was little difference among countries. Behaviour change needs to form a strategy for change, in addition to robust legislation and improved efforts by zoological associations to push members to maintain standards and mentor non-accredited facilities.
长期以来，人类一直热衷于观赏圈养的野生动物。在动物园和水族馆中，动物与游客的互动让游客能够直接或间接地接触动物。管理良好的动物与游客的互动有助于动物园和水族馆实现其教育目标，通过激发游客的环保行为，同时为相关动物提供良好的福利。然而，一些互动是功能失调的，因为它们会对动物造成身体和心理伤害，并强化对保护的负面价值观和信念。我们旨在评估动物与游客的功能失调互动的程度，以及动物园协会的认证是否减少了此类互动的数量。我们亲自走访了泰国的动物园，并对东南亚的设施进行了在线监测。我们报告了225个动物园和水族馆中九个东南亚国家的1165次动物与游客的互动。与动物合影（“自拍”）和骑在动物身上被评为功能最失调的动物与游客互动。获得认证的动物园中动物与游客互动的数量并不少，而且各国之间差异不大。除了强有力的立法和动物园协会加大努力推动成员维持标准并指导未获认证的设施外，行为改变还需要形成一种变革策略。
