The Struggles of Being Boring

One of the greatest challenges I find in zoos is how to get the public interested, let alone excited, about species which don't lend themselves to great exhibitry.  A Komodo dragon, huge, easily visible, and very impressive, is an easy hook for visitors.  A galliwasp, which spends much of its time buried, and which can be very difficult to see when it is on the surface, is much tougher to garner enthusiasm for.  It's a sad truth that a lot of the species that are most endangered or in need of conservation aren't always the showiest.  If you asked 100 visitors what they'd rather see in a zoo - a critically endangered (possibly extinct in the wild) Vietnam pheasant, or a plain old Indian peafowl (better yet, a white Indian peafowl), I don't hesitate to guess who would win that poll.

Sometimes you can pair up endangered but bland species with "more exciting" species, such as putting Madagascar teal (an endangered duck) in with lemurs.  In other cases, that might not work out - the more endangered species might need more privacy than such a combination would allow, and would be stressed or wouldn't breed in those conditions.

So increasingly, I've felt the trick is to stop acting like we should consider some species boring.  Because it's true.  None of them are boring.

Lean into obscure, endangered species.  Share their stories loudly and proudly with graphics, keeper talks, facebook posts, etc.  Make it a challenge for visitors to see if they can spot that galliwasp half-hidden in the leaf litter.  If an animal is cryptic, but will tolerate it, try having one in an ambassador role to make brief appearances for keeper talks or on the news to help spread its story.  Give your Guam rail just as much social media exposure as the penguins and flamingos.   Celebrate the births and hatchings.  Make a big deal out of them, and let visitors understand why they're a big deal.

Guests know what we tell them about animals.  And if we tell them (through our actions) that some animals are boring, and not worth as much attention or interest, they're going to believe us.  So don't tell them that.