Today, most zoos agree their primary goals are conservation, education and research. However, most zoo visitors claim their primary reasons for visiting zoos are related to recreation. Recreational aspects of zoos are a large part of their work and financially, zoos still rely on visitors for their survival.  Furthermore, educational efforts are dependant on having visitors do educate. 

As the visitors play a fundamental part of the zoo setting, it is important to understand how the animals perceive these visitors.