Take children birdwatching and they will soon learn to identify different birds. Show them an educational video and they still won't distinguish a starling from a sparrow. Something about the experience and sense of occasion that children feel when they see a live animal, even if it is only in a zoo, cannot be replaced by other teaching aids. This is the key to the powerful educational potential of good zoos. So the onus falls upon the teacher and the zoo itself to ensure that this opportunity is used to the best advantage.
Good zoos recognise the responsibility they have to educate while they entertain.
Perhaps the most important indicator of commitment here is the information provided on each enclosure. While no one expects an encyclopaedia of information alongside every cage, an accurate, legible label is essential. What appears on the label tends to vary considerably from zoo to zoo. An illustration of the animal in its native habitat perhaps, a distribution map, life style, main source of food, litter size, gestation time, and so on. It helps if the label adds something unique or interesting about the animal concerned.