Philadelphia Zoo Object

Decreasing Population of Sumatran Orangutans 

Visual Tool

The object that I chose to write about at the Philadelphia Zoo was a visual tool that explained to zoo visitors the decreasing population of wild Sumatran Orangutans since 1933, since the over consumption of Palm Oil.  Learn more about this issue by visiting The Orangutan Project and the Sumatran Orangutan Society. 

This tool is made up of two tubes that are filled with toy orangutans, with one representing the year 1933 and the other representing 2012.  The 1933 tube is very full and the 2012 tube has significantly less orangutans in it.   People who would find this tool very important are those who more readily retain information through visual observation.  It is also important to educators because it could be useful in presenting the information to a young audience.  Students could easily understand that there are a lot less orangutans in the environment now than there were before.  Then, it could be guiding students to ask questions about preventing the decline in population and possibly how we could help to increase the number of orangutans over the years.  The object is on display for that reason, to get visitors to understand how humans are negatively effecting the environment and what we can do to help this issue. 

This item was most likely designed by the exhibition team in order to convey the message about the negative effects of the consumption of palm oil.  This visual tool can be found in the Primate Reserve, on the second floor where the Palm Oil exhibit and information can be found.  This didactic tool is written in a way that can be easily understood by any visitor.  Children and adults can both easily grasp the concept with this imagery and text combination.  The placement of this objects is perfect, because visitors can actually observe the animals that are effected by palm oil consumption right there in front of them.  Not only does that put into perspective the subject of the material, but it also has an emotional effect on the visitors attending the exhibit.  After realizing that it is a life threatening problem to the animals, perhaps they might want to try and save the animals by lowering the consumption of palm oil, or just not using products that contain it at all.  I believe that was the intent of the exhibition designers in order to make a statement and demonstrate the human impact on nature and the environment. 

Biology and natural science might enhance my understanding of this topic a little more.  I know that animals are affected by their environments and humans can play a large role in destroying environments; however, I am unsure as to the extent of animal reliance on palm oil.  Also, I do not know what types of products we can use in replace of palm oil.  I think that showing the science behind all of this information could only benefit the visitors’ understanding of the material.  As long as it is presented in a way that all visitors could easily understand the material.  It might also be a good idea for the Zoo to have sources and brochures for people to learn how they can contribute to saving the rainforest.  There is also more information on the Rainforest Action Network's website, explaining this issue in further detail.  This site is also a way for people to get involved and help save the rainforest.      

An audience that might not be interested in this visual tool located in the Palm Oil exhibit, would be companies that use palm oil in their products.  This could be a problem for their business, if more people are educated about the subject.  Likewise, those companies might have a different story to tell.  They might make the point that there are too many products that rely on palm oil in the ingredients, and stopping the use of the product would dissatisfy customers, and destroy the economy.  Because the companies would have to most likely find materials to use that are more expensive than palm oil, there would be a dent in the market.  

To engage visitors with this information, I would develop a tool that could have an even larger emotional impact on visitors.  I would attempt to collect different types of product containers that contain palm oil in the ingredients.  This could have a huge effect on people, because then they could see how much they have contributed to the lowering population of Sumatran Orangutans.  Or it could even be more effective if there was a comparison of the number of products a household would consume in "x" amount of time that would contribute to the mortality of "x" number of orangutans.  This would definitely deliver the message that the Philadelphia Zoo is trying to convey through this visual tool and exhibit.