The effectiveness of a verbal warning mitigating unwanted visitor behaviour at an aquarium
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Authors
Kemp, Caralyn
Cooper, E.
Roberts, Lorne
Cooper, E.
Roberts, Lorne
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Date
2024-11-16
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Conference Contribution - Oral Presentation
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World
Auckland (N.Z.)
New Zealand
penguins
acquarium visitors
human-animal interactions (HAI)
HAI
behaviour change intercention
public marine aquariums
aquariums
Auckland (N.Z.)
New Zealand
penguins
acquarium visitors
human-animal interactions (HAI)
HAI
behaviour change intercention
public marine aquariums
aquariums
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Kemp, C., Cooper, E., & Roberts, L. (2024, November 16). The effectiveness of a verbal warning mitigating unwanted visitor behaviour at an aquarium [Paper presentation]. Unitec School of Environmental and Animal Sciences Research Symposium 2024, Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand.
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6787
Abstract
Visitors to animal facilities, such as zoos and aquariums, have indicated that entertainment and opportunities to engage with animals are strong drivers for attendance. As a result, some visitors deliberately attempt to interact with the animals. These interactions may have negative welfare impacts on the animals. The penguin keeping team at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium (SLKTA) anecdotally noticed visitors teasing the birds, despite signs asking them not to, around the king (Aptenodytes patagonicus) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papau) penguin habitat. We set out to assess the scale of this issue and to determine what type of potentially negative behaviours (PNBs) were being performed by visitors. We investigated the frequency of PNBs under four conditions: 1) a verbal message given at the admissions desk, 2) signage at the habitat, 3) both a verbal message and signage, 4) neither a message nor signage. On average, 11.57% of visitors performed PNBs, with visitors being the predominant initiator of any interaction (87.87%). The most common behaviours observed were tapping on the glass (34.08%) and waving at the penguins (25.25%). The use of bright lights was also noted (11.68%). Performance of PNBs was significantly affected by time of day (p<0.001), day of the week (p=0.04) and school term versus school holidays (p<0.001). The verbal message and signage had little impact on visitor behaviour (p>0.05). These results indicate that mitigation of the performance of PNBs by visitors at SLKTA is difficult. The verbal message may have been too temporally and/or physically removed from the penguin habitat for visitors to remember and signage was difficult to see on high visitor days. Alternative wording should be trialled. Mitigation of undesirable visitor behaviour is an issue for zoos and aquariums worldwide; our research unfortunately does not find the answer but does help to better understand the issue.
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