Adaptation

Amy Fredrickson

Most people enjoy going to the zoo – it is an easy way to spend time outside, relax, and learn a few things. However, not everyone knows what these facilities do. Some don’t even know if there is a zoo nearby. Adaptation is a photographic documentary in which I chose to focus on Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona to bring attention to the small park and great work they do. This began with featuring some of the animals and interaction programs, from giraffe feedings to jaguar enrichment, as well as speaking with staff and diving into their website and social media. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Reid Park Zoo, along with just about every other zoological park and aquarium in the world was forced to close. From here, focus was shifted to show how several of these facilities were working to remain in the public eye by showcasing social media posts, press announcements, and live cams featured on the zoos’ websites. While guests cannot visit the animals in person, the staff have been working to continue to share the animals with the world, as well as taking advantage to broaden some of their animal enrichments, such as allowing penguins to roam around Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois . Another park, Out of Africa Wildlife Park in Camp Verde, Arizona, has converted to a drive through zoo so that guests can continue to visit most of the animals while maintaining social distancing guidelines. These changes have been documented through use of screen recording, as direct access to the zoos has been lost. Similar to how animals must adapt in the wild, zoos have had to adapt to life during a pandemic.