Zoos, éducation et malentendus

In the current debate about the zoo's educational role it is usually assumed that the emotional aspect of the zoo experience impairs the scientific knowledge that people can gain from their visit. First we briefly describe four human-animal interactional patterns that can be observed in a zoo, and we recognise that indeed, in that context, the emotion experienced by the public impairs its knowledge of the animals. Then we present the Hediger distinction between an object and a subject animal and we hypothesise that the visitor's emotions impair animal knowledge only when the exhibited animals are objectanimals. Those are incomplete animals ; they are not complete beings in relation to their evolutionary environment. It is our view that when the exhibited animals are more complete organisms, the emotions can be a tool for a better knowledge of the animals.