I remember school trips to the Zoo at a very young age. I remember being fascinated by the animals. I remember laughing with my friends at the monkeys, engaging in the lesson plans and scavenger hunts. I remember loving having the opportunity to see wildlife. I grew up in a city. My family didn’t travel broadly and the Zoo was a window into the world that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Like many other city kids, the Zoo was my opportunity to see wildlife. For me, that early experience, and the school-based science programs that the Zoo conducted, translated to a career in science and eventually to becoming a Zoo Director.
However, even if I didn’t end up with a career in Zoos, those early Zoo experiences provided an educational opportunity that could never have been provided in a classroom. They provided a window into life opportunities outside of the working class world I grew up in and they provided a view of biology and science that wasn’t the boring, fact-driven narrative of standard classroom education. Classrooms just can’t engage kids with science like Zoos and aquariums can. They make science real and interesting. Zoos and aquariums provide that opportunity for children all over the world. Here in northeast Ohio, over 110,000 school kids participated in education programs at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in 2019. The 240 Zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) provide educational opportunities to over 200 million guests each year.
Last week AZA “gathered” as they conducted their annual conference in a virtual format due to the challenges of COVID-19. A common theme in those discussions was how Zoos and aquariums must pivot their educational programming. Schools are struggling to figure out how to meet and get through their core curriculum requirements. Taking kids to off-site educational programming, no matter how valuable, just isn’t in the cards right now. The national educational system has relied on informal science education to drive learning in biology. How do we help kids when COVID has changed the rules?
Complicating this further is that these conversations are occurring within a landscape of science non-profits struggling for survival. AZA Zoos and aquariums vary wildly in their size, location and operating structure, but they all use their core entertainment value to subsidize mission-based impacts. The tremendous benefits to education are just one of them. Many Zoos and aquariums take a portion of the admission price and apply it directly to conservation or use these great experiences to solicit philanthropic gifts to support conservation. Here at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo a combination of philanthropy, 50 cents from general admission and $5 from memberships, drives over $650,000 to conservation programs worldwide each year. Together the conservation impact of AZA members exceeds $230 million annually. Over a billion dollars goes into conservation every five years because these accredited Zoos and aquariums exist.
Many other Zoos and aquariums support science and train post-graduate scientists. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo engages post-graduate students through formal partnerships with the University of Miami and Case Western Reserve University. Several of the graduates of those programs are working in Zoos and aquariums throughout the United States. We also supplement the development of university students in Rwanda. We do this by conducting real biology research and producing peer-reviewed publications. Maybe most importantly of all, we apply those research findings in real-world applications. Zoos and aquariums are centers of informal science learning that actually do science, apply that science and train future scientists.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen stories about how the pandemic and the shutdown have crippled economies. What has happened to local businesses and the people working for those businesses is heart-breaking. Much of the conversation about Zoos and aquariums over the past seven months has been viewed through the same lens: the jobs and the economic impact of local Zoos and aquariums. But at some point, we have to start looking ahead. We have to consider what the future holds and how we prepare ourselves for that future. The economic impact of Zoos and aquariums is huge, but the future impact of accredited Zoos and aquariums on education, science and conservation is even greater. Supporting your local Zoo and aquarium is an investment in today, but more importantly it’s an investment in tomorrow. If we aren’t supporting education, science and conservation…who is? Please visit
Feed the Zoo to learn more about how you can support the efforts of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
~Dr. Chris Kuhar, Executive Director of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo