Demographics, format, or topic – what influences the success of an environmental education program at the zoo?

Zoos offer a variety of educational programs, but the question arises as to what makes a zoo program particularly successful. We examined how different factors of a zoo program, such as visitor demographics, program format, and program topic, influence the outcomes of zoo programs regarding the variables of environmental concern, connection to nature, interest in species conservation, and attitudes toward biodiversity loss. A tree-based regression model called XGBoost was developed for this purpose. The results show that the demographics of the program participants play an important role in predicting the success of an educational program, followed by the topic and then the format. Animal contact and the inclusion of conservation in the program were positive predictors of its impact for many of the measured variables. This study provides valuable insights into the various leverage points of educational programs and the practical application of evaluation.