Visitors have answered the call of the wild, or rather, the Calgary Zoo’s call to help in its wildlife conservation efforts.
Through its contest, Guardians of the Wild, which launched last month, zoo officials say visitors have responded well to the initiative which sees them scour the zoo looking for action stations.
There are 10 stations in total where guests are encouraged to take a pledge to help improve wildlife conservation. They will also find a special code they can enter online for a chance to win one of 10 prizes including the grand prize of a trip for two to China to see where the zoo’s panda breeding program originates.
“Seven out of 10 action stations have been visited and seven out of 10 pledges have been registered online on average by our guests,”said Rachel Esser, a customer experience guide at the zoo.
“So it’s a really, really awesome turnout. People are really getting into it. I get a lot of people coming up to me asking, ‘Oh where’s this station?’ And, ‘Oh, I’ve got all these,’ and, ‘Where can I find this?’ And it’s kind of encouraging people to go elsewhere and see different areas of the zoo.”
The contest is also teaching participants how to implement simple changes in their everyday lives to help conserve wildlife.
“You can buy more rain forest-friendly paper products. You can learn how to keep a clean campsite when you go camping to protect our bears. So they are really accessible actions that people can take and it gives people a little bit of education on that,” Esser said.
The Guardians of the Wild contest closes Sept. 3. More information and contest details can be found on the zoo’s website.