Zoos and Tourism: Conservation, Education, Entertainment?

by Warwick Frost (Editor)

Zoos are important and popular tourist attractions. Spread around the world, they are typically located in major cities, with visitation levels comparable to other major attractions. Nature-based attractions constructed in artificial settings, they face the challenge of trying to balance potentially conflicting aims of conservation, education and entertainment. The best are continually developing fresh and effective techniques on visitor interpretation and management, the worst highlight the manipulation of animals for human gratification. Taking a global approach, this book examines the problems and paradoxes of zoos as they try to balance their roles as visitor attractions while repositioning themselves as leading conservation agencies.

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2010

Reviews

[Spencer McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite spotty, as should be expected with its essay format. While it does make a decent review of the wide-ranging topics, it focuses far too much on several Australian zoos and picks odd sticking points to discuss at length, rather than spreading the discussion across a range of topics or having a coherent core message.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hit-or-miss overview. The volume tries to meet a range of goals, from exploring the basic ethics of zoos as institutions to delving into specific case studies such as zoo dining options or the use of disgust as a hook for visitor experiences.

The examples seem overly centered on Australian and Asian zoos; few large U.S. zoos are explored in detail. The original research is limited. Several chapters offer breezy literature reviews, and much of the original research that is presented here is too limited to draw firm conclusions from.

In places, the book offers valuable food for thought, but its content is too wide-ranging to make it an essential academic resource for those looking to learn more about zoos and their management and functions.