儿童的动物园活动行为研究——以南京红山森林动物园为例

Examining Visiting Behaviors of Children:A Case Study of Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo

研究通过设计儿童动物园活动行为编码表(日常行为、玩耍行为、交往行为和异常行为等4个方面),以南京红山森林动物园为案例地,对12岁以下儿童的动物园活动行为(特征+主题)进行探索式研究。研究发现:(1)玩耍行为和交往行为是儿童游玩动物园的主要活动行为,喝水/吃东西/坐推车等日常行为发生频率也相对较高,并表现出一定的随地大小便/拍玻璃/大喊大叫等异常行为。(2)儿童动物园活动行为呈现3个鲜明的主题,分别是:动物园是儿童尽情玩耍的好场所(动物园与玩)、动物园是和爸爸妈妈亲昵的好场所(动物园与家庭)、动物园是儿童认知发展的好场所(动物园与学习)。儿童动物园活动行为在游览节奏、动物偏好、空间使用、行为主题等方面,与成人相比具有鲜明的差异性。基于儿童是动物园的主要使用群体的事实,动物园要想提高吸引力,需要实现从成人视角向儿童视角转变,从而有效地响应当代儿童和家庭群体的使用需求。

Zoo visiting experience shapes childhood memory,and plays an important role in children’s awareness and knowledge about wildlife.Moreover,zoo visiting experience facilitates family kinship between parents and children.However,the programs,services,and visiting facilities in most zoos are primarily designed and managed based on the preferences of adults,the visiting needs of children,in particular the group under 12 years old,have not been fully integrated in the facility design and management in zoos.Also,children’s behaviors and activities in the zoo have not been welldocumented in the literature.To fill up these research gaps,this study designed a multi-dimensional coding scale of children’s visiting behaviors in the zoo,including daily behaviors,play behaviors,communication behaviors,and depreciative behaviors.The study selected the Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo as the study case and explored the characteristics and themes of visiting behaviors of children under 12 years old within the zoo.The study used the real-time observation method to record 40children’s visiting behaviors within the zoo,and the total observation time was 7440 minutes.The results are as follows:(1)Play behavior and communication behavior are the primary behaviors of children in the zoo.Daily behaviors(e.g.,drinking water,eating,sitting in the baby stroller,etc.)are also frequent activities within the zoo.Notably,depreciative behaviors were also observed for the study group,such as littering,clapping glass,shouting toward the animals or others,etc.(2)There are three distinct themes of children’s activities in the zoo:play,family,and learning.In specific,the zoo is an ideal place for children to have fun and play(aligned with the theme of play);Also,the zoo is an appropriate place where children and parents can facilitate and enhance intimate family relationships(aligned with the theme of family).Moreover,the zoo is a great place for children to enhance their knowledge and cognitions(aligned with the theme of learning).Children’s zoo visiting behaviors are different from adults in terms of visiting routes,wildlife viewing and interaction preferences,site preferences,and behavior themes.Children were more likely to use the navigation and interpretation facilities than adults in the zoo.Compared with the traditional learning models in the school,the learning process through zoo visiting experiences is more spontaneous,interactive,and inspiring.Based on the fact that children are the main visitors of the zoo,management strategies and practices should be switched from“adult perspectives”to“children’s perspectives”to improve the attractiveness of zoos and respond to the needs of contemporary children and family groups.Study findings also enrich the theories about children’s travel behaviors in tourism literature.