Zoo Attractions and Trinidadian Student Attitudes toward Animal Welfare

Abstract

The issue of animal welfare has slowly risen to the fore in Trinidad and Tobago. The importation of the Caribbean's first two giraffes, Mandela and Melman, into the Emperor Valley Zoo, Trinidad has piqued the interest of the national community. The present quantitative study sought to explore student attitudes toward animal welfare and Mandela and Melman as zoo attractions in two student populations: first year sociology (n = 90) and veterinary medicine students (n = 34) and to assess the extent to which area of study and gender impact upon their attitudes. Participants were administered a structured questionnaire comprising two scales: the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) to measure student attitudes to the various uses of animals in society, and a separate scale developed for this study to measure their attitudes toward Mandela and Melman. Gender accounted for a significant amount of the variance in student welfare attitudes. Female students expressed more positive attitudes toward animal welfare and toward Mandela and Melman. A weak statistical relationship was found between area of study and student welfare concerns. However, it was concluded that students were generally concerned about the welfare of animals and expressed positive attitudes toward welfare issues.