Circles of Connection: Visualizing Human–Nature–Animal Bonds Through Participatory Art in Wildlife Tourism

Understanding human–nature–animal relationships is central to conservation and visitor management, yet these relationships are commonly studied through language-based surveys that may exclude participants across age groups and diverse cultural or educational backgrounds. This limitation highlights the need for more inclusive and experience-sensitive approaches capable of capturing relational meanings beyond verbal expression. This study adopts a visual participatory approach in which volunteer tourists were invited to draw circles representing themselves in relation to images of a giant panda, nature, and a pet. Extending the visual idea of Schultz’s Inclusion of Nature in Self in the Connection to Nature Index, more than 1000 tourists at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding produced over 3000 drawings. These drawings were systematically coded along three dimensions—circle size, orientation, and spatial relationship—and analyzed using multinomial logistic regression and non-parametric tests. The results reveal consistent yet differentiated patterns of visual representation. Participants most frequently expressed relationships with nature and pets through enclosing circles, suggesting spatial inclusion, whereas relationships with the giant panda were more often represented through separate but proximal positioning, indicating a more mediated or observational mode of connection. Demographic factors, including age, residence, and visitation stage, significantly influenced drawing configurations, supporting the interpretation of connection as a context-sensitive and dynamic process rather than a fixed individual trait. Associations between drawing dimensions and self-reported pro-environmental orientation and momentary well-being were observed, although these relationships should be interpreted cautiously given the use of brief, context-specific indicators. Overall, the findings demonstrate that participatory drawing can function as both a research instrument and an engagement tool, enabling diverse visitor groups—including children—to express relational understandings of nature and wildlife. For conservation practice, such visual methods offer a scalable and low-barrier approach to visitor engagement, with potential applications in environmental education, interpretation design, and the assessment of human–animal relationships in situ.