Is it possible to get rid of your zoo interest?

When my younger brother was born (I was four at the time) my aunt didn't want me to feel left out with a new baby being around, so she bought us a membership to Brookfield Zoo. For the next nine or ten years, we would go to the zoo at least once a month. We did everything extra that we possibly could. Animal "adoptions," tours, encounters, keeper for a day - if they offered it we did it. I'd read the monthly member magazine. We'd hang out in the giraffe barn for hours referencing the binder with their patterns to figure out who was who. I owe a huge part of my childhood to her and to Brookfield Zoo.

As high school came along, trips weren't as frequent. I was busy with school activities and my aunt found it a little harder to get around. I think our last visit to the zoo together was in 2005 or 2006. Fast forward 10 years and she unfortunately passed away on my 26th birthday. Two months after the funeral, I came home from college for Thanksgiving break. First place I went was Brookfield Zoo. So many things were still the same and brought so many incredible memories back to me. Since then, zoos have come back to me in such a profound way. To visit, to explore another side of my photography, and to remember all the great times I had with my aunt.

So, I guess I already lost my interest in zoos for a little bit. I don't think I ever really lost interest per say as much as it was just a part of growing up. I don't think my interest is going anywhere for a long time though. Go figure I'd end up marrying a keeper!
 
My interest in zoos has never completely gone away, but there are times when I'm not as interested in them. I've noticed my interest is at its highest point in spring/summer. This is where most of my visits occur, visiting my hometown zoo about once a month with at least one visit to a zoo or aquarium I haven't visited yet. I'm also slightly more active on ZooChat during that time. In the fall/winter my interest is at its lowest point. I still try to get in at least one visit during that time, but it isn't easy with a busy college schedule.
 
I guess this happens for most people, but what I found interesting is that according to studies, boys are way more likely to have addictions then girls.
 
felis silvestris said:
I know, I wasn’t actually going to them, I was just spending ages on zoochat as a guest :D
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Addiction is a complex definition, but one component is continuing to engage in it, despite it having a negative effect on your life.

If you were merely spending time on ZooChat to distract yourself during a time of global uncertainty, that’d be called having an interest (in this case Zoology).
 
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Zoofan15 said:
Addiction is a complex definition, but one component is continuing to engage in it, despite it having a negative effect on your life.

If like most the world, you were merely spending time on ZooChat to distract yourself during a time of global uncertainty, that’d be called having an interest (in this case Zoology).
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On a serious note I can relate to this as I had a lot of free time during quarantine, none of which I was spending at the zoo; however, after quarantine when I began visiting zoos again (fairly frequently) I stopped spending lots of time on ZooChat.
 
I would say obsession is the right word for it, at least that's what my family says sometimes. I turned 14 a month and 12 days ago and as some zoochatters know I have been visiting Colchester Zoo regularly for most of life. I have visited some other zoos before becoming a zoo enthusiast, including Chester, but my obsession was mostly sparked by reading the book "The Story of Colchester Zoo", which also started me having an interest in History. I was interested as much with the theming, history, and character of the zoo as I was with actually seeing animals, which is I think the aspect of zoos that attracts most people (it does for me, just not as much). This is probably why I am attracted to the group of elephants out of the animals at Colchester Zoo. Since then, I have always had a zoo pass and visited most half terms, and constantly kept updated with the news page. Moments that stand out to me so far: My Rhino Keeper Shadowing experience in March 2019, visiting early for a special event with only my grandad in summer 2019, finding out new orangutans were coming to the zoo on my 12th birthday. However, with visiting and checking the news being the main ways I was staying interested in zoos, my interest fell away quite drastically in lockdown, as it had already been struggling before as I had just started Year 7, it was mainly being kept afloat by the mass of babies born at the zoo recently but I really didn't think about zoos much in lockdown, although I think I would have really benefited from being on zoochat at the time. But in March last year when I started going to school normally again after a brief period of home learning, I had a sudden urge to rediscover my biggest interest and I did. I had a Mandrill Keeper Shadowing and rediscovered my second home and I have been improving in knowledge ever since. Maybe I only lost interest because I am a teenager, but I think it is fairly justifiable as I had a lack of ways to sustain my interest in lockdown.
So, I did lose my interest but it came back stronger than ever. I think it is fitting that I am finishing writing this driving past Familiar Friends on my way to visit for my Aadvark Keeper Shadowing.
 
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