Several Zoo Animals Appear to Enjoy Hanging with Human Visitors

New research suggests zoo visitors boost morale for elephants and more, especially during feeding times

Hiya!

Over the years, I’ve discovered that my birthday (January 25) is one of the best times to visit the zoo because more animals are out and about in the cooler weather. Whereas the animals are more sluggish in the summer’s heat and lay around in the shade. But I’ve always felt a little conflicted about zoos.

On the one hand, the idea of any animal being held in captivity feels wrong and pangs my heart. On the other hand, I understand the value of teaching people about wildlife and for researchers to learn more about the animal kingdom. Over the last few years, experts have studied boredom in animals held in captivity, and the repetitive behaviors associated with it, fairly extensively, and we’ve learned quite a bit. Thankfully, we’re also learning how to improve it.

Animal Boredom

If the last decade of research has shown us anything, it’s that we most definitely are not the only animal to experience boredom. Although I think any pet owner knows this already. Then in 2017, the journal Animal Behaviour published a game-changing paper by Charlotte C. Burn from The Royal Veterinary College in the U.K. about animal boredom, declaring “Bestial Boredom” as an official thing and encouraging more research into the topic.

In response to the paper, psychologist and chimp trauma specialist Stacy Lopresti-Goodman, penned an article for NPR saying she supports Burn’s research and explains more about the troubling behaviors that bored animals will engage in.

"Boredom in captivity can absolutely lead to depression. Many animals in captivity engage in abnormal, repetitive behaviors, like pacing and self-biting, in an attempt to self-stimulate in the absence of social, cognitive, or environmental stimulation."

While I think it’s a bit silly that anyone could deny that animals feel a wide range of emotions, including boredom, the research does validate animal rights activists’ arguments about keeping animals in captivity at zoos. Subjecting anyone to mundane, repetitive schedules lacking mental stimulation is enough to drive anyone bonkers. Especially people (or animal species) who are naturally more social. We saw this during the pandemic lockdowns.

Considering this, experts wanted to see how other aspects of captivity influence bestial boredom. Specifically, the impact of zoo visitors on animal mental health.

New Research

Researchers and animal behavior experts at Nottingham Trent University and Harper Adams University analyzed over 100 previous research papers to investigate “the impact of zoo visitors on 252 non-primate species/species groups.” More specifically, while most of the papers (56 percent) focused on mammals, the researchers also evaluated reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrate taxa (animals without backbones). They published their paper in the journal Animals last March 2023.

The Results

In the end, the team found that animal behaviors changed due to visitors in 38 percent of the cases, including elephants. A press release by Nottingham Trent University about the paper states:

"The team found significant results regarding elephants, with social activity among the animals increasing and repetitive [behaviors] — often indicating boredom in animals — decreasing during public feedings."

The researcher discovered that elephants “moped around” less in response to visitors. The more visitors showed up during public feedings, the more active elephants became, even after the feedings ended. The elephants were more engaged and took part in healthy activities like foraging.

But elephants weren’t the only zoo animals to respond positively to human visitors, “penguins, jaguars, grizzly bears, polar bears, cheetahs, servals, banteng and black-tailed prairie dogs” also seemed to enjoy visitors. The press release states:

“Visitors affected species’ behaviour in a variety of ways, including their levels of activity, how they used their enclosure space, feeding, movement, rest, and changes in abnormal, vigilance and social behaviours.”

Meanwhile, other animals, such as flightless birds, hedgehogs, ostriches, and marsupials, don’t appear as excited to have us around. Previous research suggests this might be because prey animals that are naturally less likely to encounter people — whether they’re nocturnal or live in a closed habitat such as a forest or somewhere unoccupied by humans — may therefore be more fearful of us. But more research is needed.

Perspective Shift

To be fair, many zoos worldwide are doing their best to create creative enclosures replicating an animal’s natural environment. The San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California, has consistently topped the list of best zoos in the world. It opened in 1916, is home to over 12,000 endangered and rare animals, and spreads across 100 acres. I’ve been once and must say I was impressed.

All I want, along with any other animal lover, is for animals to be happy and safe. While the moral conflict of zoos still exists, it’s exciting to learn more about the animal kingdom. Both for scientific purposes and general knowledge, but also to better care for them.

Thanks to the research we discussed today, we have a better idea of which animals are excited to see us, and that encourages me to visit them. And if you’re planning a trip to your local zoo anytime soon, maybe call ahead and see what time feedings are. Then you can go and cheer them on.

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Photo by Irene Grace Tolentino on Unsplash