One of the most important things we do as humans is look at pictures. Here at the Zoo people are taking pictures all the time to help preserve memories and share their experiences with family and friends. Oftentimes I talk to people about how so many of my life long dreams have come true and when I do I almost always tell the story of two pictures. One is a magazine cover of a mountain gorilla from Natural History magazine, the other is a rare 1972 art print of two giant pandas by Edward J. Bierly. The mountain gorilla and giant panda are two of my favorite animals and I credit these two images as powerful influences in helping me to work towards seeing them in the wild and in getting involved in conservation efforts.

The visual cortex in our brain is responsible for how we understand and process the images we see every day. According to research on this part of our brain we are learning that images are more powerful in motivating us than we ever imagined. They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, but what most of us do not know is how images are processed 60,000 times faster than words. In other words, we can understand what an image is in less than a blink of the eye or just about 13 milliseconds!

How can we increase our chances of seeing our dreams come true? Think about the power of an image. Perhaps you dream of going on a safari someday to see and experience some of the animals at our Zoo in the wild. If you have a dream job, an image representing that opportunity can help to motivate you to take all the steps you must take to see your dream come true. Do you want to go to Africa someday and see safari animals like our giraffes and zebras migrating across a savanna while watching for predators like lions and painted dogs? How about going to Sumatra to look for orangutans in the wild? To help you get there find some pictures of the animals you want to see and hang them where you can see them every day.

Images are powerful. Let images help you experience the dreams of a lifetime and let the Zoo be a place where you can motivate yourself in making a difference to help animals around the world.

You can see the two images I referred to below along with YouTube links where you can see more of my adventures.

Rick LoBello, Education Curator