Encounters between humans and animals are the raison d'etre of zoos. In earlier scholarship by geographers, the zoo has been examined as a key site within which strategies for domestication and mythologising of the animal world are enacted (Anderson, 1995). This transformation of 'nature' into a cultural backdrop is examined by Hallman and Benbow (2007) as facilitative of family interactions and learning opportunities (see also Idema & Patrick, 2016). While the meeting of entertainment and education at the zoo can be uneasy, it is claimed that learning tends to supersede leisure. Roe and McConney (2015) for instance, indicate that 170 zoos across 48 countries reported that the majority of their visitors come to learn.
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