It occurred to me after a recent conversation that not everyone is familiar with current standards for zoos and aquariums. A lot of todays zoos are committed to only caring for animals that need it. Many of the animals at the zoo are there because they don’t have another choice. This is a massive change from decades ago when animals were brought to captivity from the wild just because they were “cool”.
When choosing a zoo or aquarium to go to, I tend to look up whether the institution is Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited first. AZA does yearly checks, as well as requiring that the institutions go through re-accreditation every five years to ensure everyone is caring for their animals in the best possible way. For example, the Bronx Zoo and the Smithsonian National Zoo are both up for accreditation renewal this year.
In a conversation I had a few weeks back, the person I was talking to indicated that they would never visit a zoo because they thought they were cruel. They were unfamiliar with AZA and all the work that zoos are now doing to work toward conservation. Upon learning about the conservation focus of a lot of zoos now, they were willing to take us up on our offer to bring them with us on our next zoo trip. With this focus on conservation, zoos are still some of the best places to bring kids to learn about wild animals and protecting our planet. If you want to learn more, I highly recommend looking at the AZA website.
Zoos have additional benefits when you are talking about outings with your kids. Especially when you are taking toddlers out, zoos have a lot of space. There is usually space to run around, space to play, and they are outdoor environments. With kids, outdoors are best needing space to just be a toddler.
We have even found that visiting the zoo in the rain can lead to some amazing experiences. We have had more close up encounters on rainy days when other visitors are less likely to come out. The animals get closer, whether to get out of the rain themselves, or just because there are less crowds at the edges of the enclosures. We have worked on getting our little to understand kindness to animals. Our little also brings their binoculars with them to look for animals that may be hiding further back in their enclosures.