Being together at the zoo: zoo experiences among families with children

Abstract

This study focuses on family-based zoo experiences and how individual and social factors affect the experiences of parents as well as children. Limited knowledge exists of zoo experiences; in particular children’s perspective on zoo visits is missing, just as parents–children interchanges and their effects on zoo experiences have been offered scant attention. Based on theories on family experiences as well as relevant studies on zoo visits, a theoretical framework is established. This considers both the perspective of parents and children and that zoo experiences are of a multiple nature and may hence consist of both central and peripheral experiences. By means of qualitative interviews with families visiting Aalborg Zoo, Denmark, it is discovered that the experiences children and parents gain from visiting a zoo differ. It is not, however, so much the nature of the experiences as it is the priority given to experiences that vary, and so zoo experiences of parents and children are to a high degree, mutually supportive. This, furthermore, means that family zoo visits appear relatively harmonious as both children and parents have their needs fulfilled.