Ambiental perceptions of visitors at the Curitiba Municipal Zoo – Parana state

• Autor(a) principal: Lopes, Liliane
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Bosa, Cláudia Regina, Silva, Janete Dubiaki
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Monografias Ambientais
• Texto Completo: http://periodicos.ufsm.br/remoa/article/view/3635
• topic: Outdoor education; Environmental Education; Zoos; Educação ao ar livre; Educação ambiental; Zoológicos

Zoos are appropriate places for the practice of outdoor education activities. Zoos receive a large number of visitors that can be subjected to environmental education practices, aiming the improvement of the visit carried out at the Zoo and the public awareness. The aim of this study was to set up the visitor profile of the Curitiba Municipal Zoo, Parana State. Questionnaires were administered to 100 visitors over eighteen-years old. Regarding the results obtained, 94% of people interviewed find important the existence of Zoos, and 52% believe that Zoos help people to learn about animal species. The main reason pointed out to visit the Zoo was the opportunity to observe the animals (42%). The majority of people interviewed stated that the species must be preserved (60%), and 93% believed that species extinction can influence humans. Habitat destruction was indicated as a cause of animal extinction (50%). Some interviewers (30%) suggested that the animal quality of life can be improved by enlarging the size of enclosures.