For most kids, you can’t beat a trip to the zoo.
And for those unfortunate kids whose immune systems are too weak to endure such an excursion, they now have the chance to experience it from their hospital beds.
That’s thanks to a clever partnership involving the San Diego Zoo’s 24/7 streaming service, one that brings the sights and sounds, if not the smells, of the zoo directly to them.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Wildlife Explorers Channel streams around-the-clock animal encounters and educational programming in hospitals, bringing the joy of the zoo into patient rooms.
What started locally at Rady Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego has grown into a global network now reaching more than 400 hospitals and medical facilities across 48 states and 12 countries besides, with an estimated 25 million viewers annually.
The channel features wildlife filming from across the globe, but also close encounters and presentations with the zoo’s animals, 24/7 wildlife cameras in the zoo enclosures, and other tailormade educational programming.
“Many of our patients have weakened immune systems, so they’re unable to go to places like the zoo and the channel has brought the zoo to them,” said Margaret Fitzgerald, Manager of the Hematology and Oncology Unit at Rady Children’s Hospital.
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“It has had a huge impact, on our patients. I do recall one time there was a little girl who was about 3 and her mom had to go to work, and she was sad because her mom had to go, but then we turned on the zoo channel and she just lit up!”
The program has also expanded beyond hospitals to senior centers and clinics, and in 2023, tablets preloaded with the channel’s content were delivered to a children’s hospital and school in Ukraine, further expanding access globally.
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