An exploration into the efficacy of public warning signs: A zoo case study

Ellie N Parker; Lauren Bramley; Laura Scott; Andrew R Marshall; Katie E Slocombe

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0207246

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An exploration into the efficacy of public warning signs: A zoo case study

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

An exploration into the efficacy of public warning signs: A zoo case study

Ellie N Parker, Lauren Bramley, Laura Scott, Andrew R Marshall and Katie E Slocombe

PLoS One, Vol.13(11), e0207246

2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207246

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Abstract

Unauthorised feeding and touching of the animals by visitors to zoos and wildlife parks pose serious threats to the health of both animals and visitors alike. We tested the efficacy of four different "do not feed" signs designed to prevent zoo visitors from feeding a group of meerkats. Signs consisted of one of two different written messages and imagery of either a pair of watching human eyes, or meerkat pawprints as a control. Covert observation of visitor behaviour in the presence and absence of the signs was analysed. Visitors were significantly less likely to feed the meerkats when signs were present, than when they were absent. The effect of the signs was specific to the targeted behaviour in that feeding was reduced, but attempts to touch the meerkats increased with the presence of the signs. We did not find that the presence of watching eyes or the different wording on the signs affected the likelihood of visitors feeding the meerkats. We also examined factors that influenced the likelihood of visitors attending to the signs. We found that children were more likely to attend to signs than adults which has important implications for the design of such signs. Together our findings show that signs are effective in reducing the unwanted behaviours they target but may also result in displacement of these negative behaviours and that children are more likely to attend to these signs than adults.

Details

Title: An exploration into the efficacy of public warning signs: A zoo case study
Authors: Ellie N Parker (Author) - University of York, United Kingdom
Lauren Bramley (Author) - University of York, United Kingdom
Laura Scott (Author) - Flamingo Land Ltd., United Kingdom
Andrew R Marshall (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts, Business and Law
Katie E Slocombe (Author) - University of York, United Kingdom
Publication details: PLoS One, Vol.13(11), e0207246; 11
Publisher: Public Library of Science
Date published: 2018
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207246
ISSN: 1932-6203
Copyright note: Copyright © 2018 Parker et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451374202621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Veterinary Sciences

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