Santa Barbara Zoo - Juliana

Informal Science Institution: Santa Barbara Zoo

I have always enjoyed visiting the Santa Barbara Zoo because I enjoy learning about and observing the animals. While most of the exhibits at the zoo are not interactive, there is still a lot that guests can learn. This could be from the signs containing information about the animals in the exhibit, or just from observation of the animals. I enjoyed being a learner in this informal science institution, and it was interesting to observe as an educator on the other side of things.

Gorilla eating a snack

The zoo does have some opportunity for interactive experiences. We watched Danielle feed a giraffe, which was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The giraffe feeding gives guests the opportunity to interact with the animals and observe how they eat up close, rather than just observing a staff member feed the animals from afar. Another interactive experience we had was participating in a sort of escape room activity by the gorillas. While I’m not sure how this activity relates to the things you might learn at a zoo, it was a fun and unique way of interacting with an exhibit.

I did not observe very many floor staff around the zoo, possibly because it is so large and it would be difficult to cover that much space. The zoo also was pretty quiet at this time as it was a Tuesday morning, so it is possible that more floor staff might be available when they are more crowded. I did see some staff doing maintenance on some of the exhibits, however it would be difficult to interact with them as a visitor.

White-handed Gibbon sign

My favorite exhibit at the zoo is the enclosure with the White-handed Gibbons. They seemed to be more active than a lot of the other animals in the zoo. It was fun to watch the gibbons climb trees and swing on the ropes, and also to listen to their loud calls. The fun fact on the gibbons sign informed us that these calls can be heard from miles away! I also liked how all of the signs at the zoo contained a “What you can do” section, to help educate people on how they can participate in the conservation efforts of each species.

Compared to MOXI, I don't think the zoo requires as much facilitation with the exhibits. This is because the zoo involves more observation than interaction since they are live animals, which would be difficult to make interactive. However, I do think it would have been helpful to have more floor staff available to share information about the animals, as this would be more interactive than simply reading signs. At MOXI, Sparks are important for getting visitors engaged since the exhibits are not always easy to understand and do not have very much direction.