What is conservation? Puzzle over that for a minute. Okay, now does your head hurt? Lead educator Wes Mason had us try and answer that very question and through the impending discussion I discovered conservation is a very broad term when applied to zoos, and it holds a different meaning for every individual. Luckily for us, Mr. Mason believes that learning about conservation (and most anything else) starts with fun. For the interns, that fun came in the form of feeding giraffes; for other visitors it may be seeing the sea lion show, or even just walking the grounds with their families.

This fun is important because it brings people to the Zoo, which generates money needed to maintain the Zoo grounds and exhibits, and field conservation projects, too. From the education standpoint the fun is important, because when an audience is excited that is the best time to teach and deliver a message. Most of this message and information comes from the numerous signs, but there are also many messages delivered in the animal shows and on the guided bus tour. There are even fact cards in the gift shop, so when you use your hummingbird teapot, you can spout facts on hummingbirds while pouring Zoo-bought tea.

Visitors that enjoyed themselves will come back to recapture their experience, or learn even more of those little factoids they find interesting. In the end the most important thing is that the Zoo has created an emotional memory for them. It takes that emotional interest and investment for people to become personally engaged in conservation efforts. For some, conservation is pooling together resources to help a species, even crossing cultural and political lines such as the people in the Zoo’s government relations department. For others it is developing breeding programs to ensure that a species can repopulate an area. All of these jobs fall under the umbrella of conservation, but the most pressing issue that needs to be understood is that until human needs are satisfied, people won’t care about conservation.

I think everyone can understand how corporate greed can damage the environment, but Mr. Mason gave the example of bushmeat to personalize the situation. Bushmeat is the unsustainable killing of animals for human consumption, and is the second greatest threat to animals after habitat loss. To a person in America living a comfortable life, it seems unthinkable to kill an endangered animal. When Mr. Mason posed the question of “What would you do if your family was starving, and that animal was the biggest and easiest source of food?” All of us knew that we would eventually end up killing that animal. As sad as that is, it is a reality in some developing nations, whether through need or cultural tradition. Bushmeat hunting is taking place on a more corporate scale in some areas of Africa, however. Hunters are hired to go into an area that is being clear cut by logging corporations and the animals that are taken are just another “commodity” being brought to market. In recent years, monkey meat has been found in markets from New York City to Paris. Through global conservation education to change human behavior - for example by becoming aware of the origin of the wood products you purchase – something can be done, and people worldwide can be part of the solution.

What good are all these efforts though if no one ever hears of them? That is where Mr. Mason feels his job as an educator comes in. He is in a position to spark that initial interest in animals, and thus, conservation. All of which can be done while people are having fun. Sound familiar?

In the end, conservation can seem like daunting task and like something that an individual person cannot do, but it is worth every effort, as Mr. Mason has found, and is certain to share in a fun and action-oriented manner with Zoo guests he encounters.

Contributed by Mariah – Zoo InternQuest Conservation team

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