With the holiday season just around the corner, many families are looking for activities to pass the time while students are on break. This year, thousands of families will take a trip to one of the roughly 2,500 zoos across the country. Visits to the zoo have always been an American pastime. But did you know Wi-Fi is now making your family trip to the zoo even more exciting?

Photo by Sarah Stockman on Unsplash

 

In the past few years, zoos across the United States, including the Cincinnati Zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo and even the San Diego Zoo, have installed high speed, public Wi-Fi networks for visitors. Visitors can now share photos and videos of their favorite animals on social media, without having to worry about running low on data. 

 

As important as Instagramming these special moments are, Wi-Fi connectivity in zoos also provides critical safety information to zookeepers. Powered by Wi-Fi, the “Internet of Things” (IoT) allows vital safety mechanisms to communicate with each other. For example, sensors are able to tell zookeepers, in real-time, whether animals are safely situated in their enclosures or if they are on the loose. 

 

Similarly, these networks can provide real-time information to zookeepers if a visitor were to fall into an animal’s enclosure. These systems even monitor whether or not animals are getting enough food and water. Hungry or thirsty animals can become potential safety hazards to zoo employees. 

 

Some zoos are implementing Wi-Fi-powered IoT systems in order to monitor animals’ comfort and save energy. The Marwell Zoo in Britain is using cutting-edge technology to monitor and adjust heating and cooling systems in order to ensure enclosures are kept at appropriate temperatures. Additionally, these sensors communicate messages back to the zoo’s central heating apparatus to inform the system if an animal has left a certain area. This way, the zoo can conserve power by heating areas only when necessary. 

 

Across the U.S. and around the world, zoos are utilizing Wi-Fi to improve safety, conserve energy, ensure animal comfort and, of course, to improve visitors’ experiences. Next time your family takes a trip to the zoo, don’t forget how Wi-Fi might be working behind the scenes to make your time there even better!