Globally, many species are threatened by habitat loss and are impacted by climate change due to human activities. According to the IUCN Red List, nearly 9000 animal species are now endangered or critically endangered. Yet, humans are largely ignorant to the impact they have on the environment due to lack of effective sustainability education. Currently, one of the most practical ways to connect with our global natural world is by visiting a local zoo. Zoos engage people with numerous species that they would otherwise never have the opportunity to see. Environmental education at zoos has come to address issues such as sustainability, personal green habits, and global climate change. Given the important role of zoos in sustainability education, there is a surprising lack of research on the topic. Due to its innovative nature, the research shown in this study acts as a pilot study set to gauge the impact of zoos on sustainability and climate change perspectives. This article investigates the extent to which adult survey respondents believe their current sustainability behaviors and their perceptions of global climate change have been influenced by their childhood visits to zoos and the environmental education topics learned during these visits. To investigate the long-term impact that zoos have on common sustainability behavior, a survey of 136 university students from various academic fields was conducted. The analysis found that 76% of respondents believe they act sustainably in their daily lives through actions such as sustainable shopping and recycling, with only 35% of individuals indicating that they learned their sustainable behaviors at zoos. Yet, 65% of respondents indicated that they believe zoos impact their overall level of environmental concern, primarily regarding knowledge of animal welfare and endangered species. Results suggest that individuals who are very concerned about climate change spent time at zoos, more than just one annual visit, and those zoo visits encourage global sustainability learning for the individual. This study suggests that zoos should expand visitor engagement through environmental education that encourages meaningful sustainability behavior and climate change knowledge.

中文翻译：

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将个人经验与全球关注联系起来：参观动物园如何影响可持续发展行为和气候变化观点

在全球范围内，许多物种受到栖息地丧失的威胁，并受到人类活动导致的气候变化的影响。根据 IUCN 红色名录，近 9000 种动物现在濒临灭绝或极度濒危。然而，由于缺乏有效的可持续性教育，人类在很大程度上不知道他们对环境的影响。目前，与我们的全球自然世界建立联系的最实用方法之一是参观当地的动物园。动物园让人们接触到许多他们原本没有机会看到的物种。动物园的环境教育已经开始解决诸如可持续性、个人绿色习惯和全球气候变化等问题。鉴于动物园在可持续发展教育中的重要作用，令人惊讶的是，关于该主题的研究非常缺乏。由于其创新性，本研究中显示的研究作为一项试点研究，旨在衡量动物园对可持续性和气候变化观点的影响。本文调查了成年调查受访者认为他们目前的可持续性行为和他们对全球气候变化的看法受到他们童年参观动物园和在这些参观期间学到的环境教育主题的影响的程度。为了调查动物园对共同可持续性行为的长期影响，对来自不同学术领域的 136 名大学生进行了调查。分析发现，76% 的受访者认为他们通过可持续购物和回收等行动在日常生活中采取了可持续的行为，只有 35% 的人表示他们在动物园学习了可持续行为。然而，65% 的受访者表示，他们认为动物园会影响他们对环境的整体关注水平，主要是关于动物福利和濒危物种的知识。结果表明，非常关注气候变化的个人花时间在动物园，不仅仅是一年一次的参观，而且这些动物园参观鼓励个人学习全球可持续发展。这项研究表明，动物园应该通过鼓励有意义的可持续性行为和气候变化知识的环境教育来扩大游客的参与度。这些动物园参观鼓励个人进行全球可持续发展学习。这项研究表明，动物园应该通过鼓励有意义的可持续性行为和气候变化知识的环境教育来扩大游客的参与度。这些动物园参观鼓励个人进行全球可持续发展学习。这项研究表明，动物园应该通过鼓励有意义的可持续性行为和气候变化知识的环境教育来扩大游客的参与度。