Things people do that irritate you when you go to the zoo? #2

aardvark250 said:
ok sure people dont read the sign. But ask yourself, when you walk into an aquarium with tank as big as Georgia's, do you read all the sign there? Is the sign really sufficient? or how about a huge walk through aviary? How about in an art museum? Do you understand all the things written in the sign? People dont read sign not because they're ignorant, but because they aren't interested in absolutely everything. Also people want to enjoy themself in zoos not reading boring facts, and thats understandable.
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Would like to add that I'm not saying people shouldn't read the sign. Sign are educational and with some simple interactive facilities, children and adults would gain a lot from it. However, I do know a lot of inaccurate signs and some not-so-good ones. (like printing out a paper and said "RACCOON" yet the photo is a coati and the animal is a raccoon dog, yes i'm pretty sure a chinese zoo do that) If zoos don't do their stuff right they shouldn't expect the visitors to.
I think zoo should be a form of "edutainment", by attract people to the zoo they can have fun and learn too. People don't read sign because they don't want to learn (no one want to learn the things they aren't interest in a Sunday morning) That can be true about the playground too. Playground is not a waste of space because children will go, and children will look at animals and learn while having fun too. Zoos should make ways to attract people and children to learn, not forcing them to read a boring sign. (So educational show is a good idea! Animal ambassadors will interact with people and they will hear from the keeper, thus leading to a more interesting learning experience)
 
Great Argus said:
Roughly 90% of the public will not read a sign even if they're standing next to it. They're far more likely however to ask someone that's working with the animal or presumed to be coming from working with the animal. Or they'll just pin it to the closest thing they know.
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this is just untrue
 
Cat-Man said:
this is just untrue
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From my experience, I’d beg to differ. I’ve even been guilty of this myself; proudly proclaiming what animal it is only to have misidentified it (although I usually read the sign afterwards to check and subsequently amend myself following an error). You’d be surprised how confident people can be when they think they’re right.
 
Cat-Man said:
this is just untrue
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From my experience as both animal caretaker and as an observant member of the public, I'm quite certain the percentage I stated is reasonably accurate. Doesn't matter if it's a cheap printout in a case or an expensive professional one, signs go unread most of the time.
 
When people complain about not seeing the animals. It’s not guaranteed that you see every species at the zoo. Also some people think they’re hiding without realizing that there is a second enclosure for them.
 
TinoPup said:
People don't know gibbons aren't monkeys. We're taught from infants that swinging things in trees are monkeys, which should be considered a synonym for primate. Unless someone's really into animals, they don't learn that the latter isn't true, or that gibbons only fit into that and not the former. Signs rarely specify that they aren't monkeys.

Mud *is* usually considered a solid, or a non-Newtonian fluid, unless it's extremely watery. Mud is never considered a regular liquid.
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haha, Yes, that was a pretty bad example for the Mud. The catcher is though, is that she was standing right near in the Sign that has big bold Letters that says HEY HEY WERE NOT MONKEYS!, I'll try to find a picture at some point. I wonder if there's one int he gallery? It's so cool how One conversation can spread to another so quickly with so many different opinions and Members, things that Irritate you in zoos was the first thing, Then it was Do you Read zoo signage, and Now it's do you teach your Children the difference between obscure animals!
 
Zoofan15 said:
Thanks to YouTube and online media, kids are far more aware of the natural world than previous generations.
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I can confirm that animal shows for children on YT, Amazon Prime etc. can further the interest of children even in rather obscure animals like gila monsters or Saw-scaled vipers. However, despite the best efforts of these shows, zoo schools, dedicated zoo ambassadors etc., this interest and knowledge is lost among most people during adolescence, resulting in the ignorant parents who can't even be bothered to read a giant sign. To keep this bright flame of intellectual open-mindness burning beyond childhood is every educator's goal, but often a rather frustrating task.
 
People who let their nasty screaming kids chase the Mara at whipsnade and do nothing about it. Stop chasing the little Mara!

Obvious disclaimer that not all kids do this and not all parents etc etc and lots of kids are having fun and well behaved and having a lovely time and that’s great. But really. Every time.
 
Lafone said:
People who let their nasty screaming kids chase the Mara at whipsnade and do nothing about it. Stop chasing the little Mara!

Obvious disclaimer that not all kids do this and not all parents etc etc and lots of kids are having fun and well behaved and having a lovely time and that’s great. But really. Every time.
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the same thing happens whenever im at the toronto zoo once to the entente that someone tryed to pluck out a tail feather.
 
A few weeks ago I went to a zoo that had laughing kookaburras, I took a few photos and both kookaburras were just happily sitting on their branch, but a guy came up and started rattling and banging the outside of their cage to scare them, because he wanted to hear them make their iconic laughing sound. They eventually did and the guy was pretty pleased with himself, but I was down right horrified.
 
Leaf Productions said:
One of my least favorite things at zoo's is when people start threatening you with lawsuits.

There wasn't a sign that told me I couldn't go in the Arapaima Tank.
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FBBird said:
…,or indeed one that told me not to chuck that irritating kid in the piranha tank:)
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and that's why you need fencing in zoos. Please don't do open topped piranha tank.
 
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