A Zoo Visitor's Thoughts

I love zoos!   *   What is a zoo?   *   Zoos are endangered!   *   Keep the elephants!   *   Zoos are for adults, too!   *   Comparing Elephant Webcams and Elephants   *   I love the Elmwood Park Zoo!   *   How do you pronounce oh-KAH-pee?   *   I love the National Zoo! (for 11 great reasons!)   *   There is a Moral to This (True) Story!   *   A Trend Turnaround   *   I love the Elmwood Park Zoo and the National Zoo's websites!   *   Winds of Change are in the Air!   *   Research Results   *   Don't Do It!

Friday, June 29, 2007

A Trend Turnaround

In 2005, I noticed many zoos were changing their membership benefits in ways that could make adults without young children or grandchildren feel unwelcome. (see Zoos are for adults, too!)


I found ten zoos that had changed their Individual membership benefits from allowing "one guest per visit" to allowing "one guest under age 12". Since my children are older than 18, and I have no grandchildren (or friends under age 12!), I objected to this new policy!

But I recently checked and found that all ten had changed back to the original benefits, allowing an individual member to bring a guest of any age.

I am very happy about this, especially since I only contacted one of the zoos to complain. That means either a lot of other people also complained (indicating other adults believe zoos should be for them, too), or those in charge of determining membership categories and benefits realized they had been wrong without anyone drawing their attention to it.

Either way, it is good to see a trend in the wrong direction reverse so quickly!

Labels: zoo membership, zoo visitors

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Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Zoos are for adults, too!

... So why are so many zoos creating membership categories that favor families with young children and eliminating categories that encourage single adults or adults with grown children to visit the zoo?

Until recently, almost all zoos offered individual memberships that allowed the member to bring one guest of any age in addition to various other categories designed for families.

But within the past year or so, many zoos have changed the individual membership category to specify that the guest must be a child, or in some cases, a child or a senior citizen.

Why specify the age range of the guest?

In addition, new membership categories have been added to allow families to bring babysitters and grandparents. Obviously, zoos are presenting themselves as places for children, which is good. All children should visit zoos often.

But zoos should also be considered places where adults of any age can go to learn, to go for an outdoor walk, and to relax.

Are zoo directors forgetting that single adults, young adults, and adults with grown children are the ones who are most likely to have money to spare to donate to wildlife conservation efforts?

This "age discrimination" does not make sense from any perspective!

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