Being a zoo-goer, what are your greatest fears?

zoogeekmaelstrom

zoogeekmaelstrom

Well-Known Member
Personally, I fear that there's not enough time to see bucket-list animals like a time when I missed seeing aye-ayes because I was too intruiged with the reptiles at Ueno Zoo. I also fear that an animal might be off-display or simply gone when I arrive to the zoo and bad weather (I have a habit of constantly checking the weather app the days before I go to the zoo).
 
I’m possibly a glass half full zoo visitor but being out and about at a collection or a wildlife area is my idea of a happy place. So I don’t actually worry about not seeing something or the weather being terrible. I’ve spent hours waiting for Kingfisher and ended up with pictures of some ducks and had a great time. I can’t count the hours I’ve spent at collections waiting for animals to wake up!

I miss seeing animals all the time but that’s the thing about a good collection - it’s the animals choice to be seen. There’s probably going to be another time and when you do see one you’ve wanted to see for ages it’s awesome. I feel lucky to be able to spend time on my hobby. It makes working worth it.

Here in the U.K. you get used to all sorts of weather if you want to spend time outdoors (I also use the AccuWeather app; as a photographer it’s handy to know when the sun might come out next).

If you’re in Hong Kong you are of course dealing with more extremes of temperature etc.

There’s always something that’s been fun on a trip out for me though.
 
Scottish Wildcat said:
Not related to the thread, and a bit of a fantasy scenario, but ever since I was a kid I've always thought the scariest scenario I could possibly imagine is having no prior knowledge of what a chimp is and coming across one in the wild
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Honestly, kind of terrified by the existence of Chimpanzees in the first place. And I do have knowledge of what they are.
 
zoogeekmaelstrom said:
Personally, I fear that there's not enough time to see bucket-list animals like a time when I missed seeing aye-ayes because I was too intruiged with the reptiles at Ueno Zoo. I also fear that an animal might be off-display or simply gone when I arrive to the zoo and bad weather (I have a habit of constantly checking the weather app the days before I go to the zoo).
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When I went to the Cincinnati Zoo in 2019, my worst fear was the Aardwolves being off-display because I believed that was my one shot at ever seeing them without going out of country. Thankfully, they were on-display, but the aardvarks weren’t and I was a little salty.
I’ve also had recurring nightmares about witnessing the death of the Phoenix Zoo’s last elephant (Marius style), and I thought those fears came true when she wasn’t outside when I went this January. Thankfully, she’s still alive, but man, it felt like a nightmare come true. :oops:
 
One of my fears is the Bronx going the San Francisco route and having some clause that'll never allow them to have elephants ever again forever.

This would be absolute bull honkey
 
For me its not having enough time. I go to my home zoo enough that this doesn't stress me out nearly as much because I always know I will be back soon but when I went to the San Diego Zoo I really felt stressed about this. To be honest while I had a great time I feel like I had the time to actually appreciate the zoo for what it was, instead focusing on how to be most efficient in photographing my target species. I felt like I could not really spend the necessary amount of time with any given species without giving up the ability to photograph others. Of course it is also very frustrating when your target species no-show or are off exhibit, or even if they aren't positioned well for photos.
 
I would be afraid of animals being put in danger, such as natural disasters, fires, nefarious guests, disease, etc.
 
The only thing I can think of now is that I basically always have "fear of missing out".
I just very often think about that there are so many species that basically are dying out from European zoos (and zoos in general), and that It will be so much harder (and expensive) to try to see these species in the wild...
 
zoogeekmaelstrom said:
Personally, I fear that there's not enough time to see bucket-list animals like a time when I missed seeing aye-ayes because I was too intruiged with the reptiles at Ueno Zoo. I also fear that an animal might be off-display or simply gone when I arrive to the zoo and bad weather (I have a habit of constantly checking the weather app the days before I go to the zoo).
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That the AZA will start listening to animal rights activists, which it seems we're headed in that direction...
 
Daniel Sörensen said:
The only thing I can think of now is that I basically always have "fear of missing out".
I just very often think about that there are so many species that basically are dying out from European zoos (and zoos in general), and that It will be so much harder (and expensive) to try to see these species in the wild...
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Absolutely this. This is what has prompted me to designate 2023 as the year of European zoo trips, to try and see some of these species.
 
ZoologicallyDepraved said:
Remember when they invited the HSUS to a conference?
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HSUS does seem as radical as some other animal rights organizations (such as PETA) and there is a wide range of opinions among HSUS members. The particular person from HSUS invited to that conference seems to support the AZA.
 
For me it would be no-shows and not being able to do everything. A couple years ago at North Carolina Zoo I waited quite a while at the grizzly habitat as they're one of my "bucket list" animals. I never saw him.

For the other, that usually occurs when a zoo I go to for the first time has a bunch of my "bucket list" species and I don't know where to start and if I'll see or get to everything. For example this past November at ZooTampa for the first time, my goal was to see the shoebills, tomistoma, gharials, painted dogs (seen these guys quite a bit but I always love seeing them), koalas (seen only twice years apart), and other animals I rarely get to see or never saw before. Saw all I wanted that day, with a few surprises.
 
birdsandbats said:
HSUS does seem as radical as some other animal rights organizations (such as PETA) and there is a wide range of opinions among HSUS members. The particular person from HSUS invited to that conference seems to support the AZA.
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HSUS is basically the more public-friendly branch of PETA. Most of the board members and other people work, or have worked, for both, and their goals are ultimately similar, just with different approaches. AZA inviting someone doesn't mean they agree with them, though; they have to make a show for the public, too.
 
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