The Zoo Education Road Trip:The Little Rock Zoo

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When I arrived at the Little Rock Zoo, I found it nestled in the heart of the city, surrounded by bustling businesses and stadiums. I also arrived after 6 hours on the road and driving through states I'd never even visited, so I had a lot to learn about its location. The zoo is a city zoo, but being the only accredited zoo for miles it served all of Arkansas as well as parts of surrounding states like Louisiana. It was small in terms of acreage, but while I was there I found it had a big heart and a huge future.



I visited Little Rock first simply because of geographic location, but now at the end of my trip, I've found that seeing it first gave me a much needed perspective on a time I'm sure many zoos go through: a recovery. The Little Rock Zoo had suffered a slashed budget over the years when the economy took a downturn. At the time when I first made contact with them in 2010, their main curator was also serving as the education curator. Even in 2012 they only have two education employees, relying heavily on volunteer efforts, and have limited programming. But I did find that they had surprisingly intact and functioning infrastructure. Little Rock has an education building, an amphitheater for education shows, they have animals for education (including a birds of prey collection) and an education keeper. Even though they'd had to slow down their education department, it never came to a stop, and seemed to be gaining speed again steadily.

Although it sounds like Little Rock would be running a very bare-bones level of programming, they still have great programs in place and a large amount of them. They were described as very basic, but flexible. A simple program called Creature Feature which involves two zoo representatives and three animals could travel and be customized for any age level or venue. The staples of zoo camps and birthday parties were an integral part of the programs, and served a large range of age groups. And looking towards the future, the employees were anticipating the re-implementation of programs they'd had to downgrade, such as zoo snoozes and teen volunteering.

The most important thing I learned at Little Rock, mostly through my interview with the education curator, was the importance of balance. At a zoo in recovery I expected them to be focused on logistics and growth, but there was still thought put into complex thinking and philosophies of education. This sense of balance between many intersecting ideas within zoo education was one I found almost every zoo striving for, though few were articulating it as concretely. It is found between emphasizing the scientific aspects of animals and enclosures as well as guiding visitors to an intrinsic connection with the natural world. A middle ground is struggled for as zoos try to transition into a modern view of conservation and distance from animals within the physical setting of a zoo while still recognizing (or actively fighting) the cultural history of visitors feeding and 'playing' with zoo animals. Zoos also must try to balance educational values of connecting exotic animals with the cultures and people that share those geographical areas without becoming insensitive or appropriative. As education curator Carla Collette put succinctly, "Get out and explore nature, but understand nature."

This was something that Little Rock was promoting and something I found reflected in so many of the zoo education departments I visited after Arkansas. The sense that the education department of a zoo was giving this opportunity to explore nature in more close-up ways with programming like animal interactions and behind-the-scenes tours, but also teaching visitors to understand it.

I am glad now that I waited until my trip was over to begin these entries, because it was my very first stop here that ended up teaching me about every other zoo, and guiding me on what to look for. I enjoyed every zoo I visited and can not wait to see them again, but I am especially excited to follow the Little Rock Zoo as it makes what I expect will be an impressive comeback.

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