ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDE, MOTIVATION AND PLACE ATTACHMENT OF VISITORS TO FEDERAL INSTITUTIONAL-BASED ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS IN THE SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

Zoological gardens (zoos) are nature-based tourism destinations which are capable of attracting large numbers of visitors. This influx is mostly accompanied by detrimental effects on the natural environment, especially where visitors have unfavourable attitude towards the environment, wrong motivations and attachment. In Nigeria, there is inadequate information on zoo visitors’ environmental attitude, motivation and place attachment as well as the interrelationship among them. Hence, the interrelationship among environmental attitude, motivation and place attachment of visitors to federal institutional-based zoos in southwestern Nigeria was assessed. All the federal institutional-based zoos in southwestern Nigeria: University of Ibadan Zoological Garden (UI Zoo), Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta Zoo Park (FUNAAB Zoo), Obafemi Awolowo University Biological Garden (OAU Garden), and Federal University of Technology Akure Wildlife Park (FUTA Park), were surveyed from May 2017 to April 2018. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select a total of 1529 visitors (395 in UI Zoo, 379 in FUNAAB Zoo, 383 in OAU Garden, and 372 in FUTA Park). The sample size was determined from yearly visitors’ influx of each zoo using Yamane formula. Information sourced with the aid of structured questionnaire were socio-economic characteristics, travel details, environmental attitude (12-factors scale), motivation (35-factors scale) and place attachment (Place Identity {PI}, Place Dependence {PD}, Place Affect {PA}, Place Social Bonding {PSB}). The constructs were assessed on a 5-point Likert scale, where scores of 1.0-1.7, 1.8-3.4 and 3.5-5.0 signified agreement, indifference and disagreement, respectively. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Structural Equation Modelling and ANOVA at α0.05. Majority of the respondents were male (52.3%), single (86.7%), Christian (79.5%), Nigerian (95.2%), within the age range of 18-27 years (77.3%), possessed tertiary education (79.0%), and earned less than ₦50000 monthly (75.3%). Most visitors to UI Zoo were repeat visitors (58.5%) while 82.8%, 55.4% and 64.5% were first time visitors in OAU Garden, FUNAAB Zoo and FUTA Park, respectively. All the respondents came by road, 49.6% were local travelers and 61.3% stayed less than three hours on site. Highest environmental attitude factor was: ‘humans have the right to modify the natural environment to suit their needs’ (1.54±0.76) while the highest motivation factor was: ‘to experience and appreciate nature’ (1.30±0.62). Also, an indifferent attitude to PI (3.32±1.35), PD (3.25±1.38) and PA (3.44±1.23), and disagreement with PSB (3.53±0.96) was recorded. No significant relationships existed between visitors’ motivation and environmental attitude (Z = 1.24), and between motivation and place attachment (Z = 1.30). There were significant differences however in visitors environmental attitude (F = 13.53), motivation (F = 7.30) and place attachment (F = 20.10) among the zoos. The zoo visitors’ environmental attitude was anthropocentric. Their motivation was primarily to experience and appreciate nature but with indifference to zoo attachment. No interrelationship exists among the environmental attitude, motivation and place attachment of visitors to the zoos.