Ever wondered what MPs think about zoos?

Or boxing? Or Bolivia?

That is where All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) can come in.

In the last parliament there were APPGs on everything from space to war heritage, from accident prevention to the Bahá'í faith and basketball.

In fact, lots of sports had APPGS devoted to them.

So too did dozens of countries, from the large, such as America, to the tiny, like the Pitcairn Islands.

Interested in drones? There was an APPG for that.

There were groups on nuisance calls, on debt and personal finance, and on public health.

Then there were those dubbed as 'if Carlsberg created All party groups'.

These included on beer and jazz appreciation.

The new register of APPGs either reformed or newly established after May's General Election will be published at the end of this month.

But already many SNP MPs have signed up.

Dr Paul Monaghan, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, was recently elected vice chair of the anti-corruption group, whose remit is to consider 'illicit financial flows".

He is also vice chair of the group on the death penalty, which lobbies countries that still retain capital punishment, and the Syria group.

Dr Lisa Cameron, the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, tweeted recently that she had become the chair of the disability APPG.

Other SNP MPs are members have joined APPGs on media and a host of other topics.

And it is not just SNP politicians.

Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem former Scottish Secretary is the vice chair of the group on broadband, a big issue for his constituents in Orkney and Shetland.

Ian Murray, Scotland's sole Labour MP, is a member groups including on Sudan, cancer and trade unions.

The APPGs themselves are informal and have no official status within Parliament.

But they can be a way for MPs to try to shape decision making.

However, APPGs have also triggered controversy in the past, amid allegations they are targeted by businesses and lobbyists offering sponsorship and freebies.

In 2014 APPGs were issued with a set of new stricter rules which recently came into effect.

Participation in the groups is voluntary and, in truth, dependent on an individual MP's genuine interest and energy.

Many MPs join groups but do not end up attending meetings or playing much of an active role.

But, interestingly, senior SNP sources believe that APPGs could have beneficial 'spin off' effects for the party, now that it has an extra 50 MPs.

They see the groups as a place where MPs from other parties and other parts of the UK can meet and get to know the, mainly new, SNP MPs, away from the combative Commons chamber.

The party does not believe it will convert opponents to nationalism.

But getting to know and, indeed, finding common cause with nationalists - perhaps for the first time - could, they believe, help the long process towards lowering opposition to independence in other parts of the UK.

That hope could prove overly optimistic.

In response, in part, to the SNP's election success a new APPG for London has been formed, amid fears the capital could lose out to places like Scotland.

Will the road to de-risking independence involve some jazz appreciation?

Time will tell.

But it is certainly an interesting idea.