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

BeakerUK said:
I once visited Chester Zoo in the summer holidays (sometimes being a teacher is a real pain). It was obviously very crowded, and at plenty of enclosures I would patiently wait my turn for a space to view the animals. At the Komodo dragons indoor enclosure, I had waited for a while and finally had a small space at the very edge of the window. Almost immediately a random mother walked up, and literally shoved her two children into me, pushing me out of the way so they could take my space. No matter how long I have waited, if someone says excuse me, I am likely to move out of the way, but I couldn't quite believe being actually physically shoved out of the way. And being terribly British, I just walked away.
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Once at Wild Discovery, I was at the Dik Dik indoor viewing and someone walked in front of me and hogged it for 25 minutes just to distract and scare the Dik Diks, it is very annoying when someone does that. Usually, I would come back when it's less busy to avoid people. :D
 
I'd like to add, based on my training and experience, that it's not at all expected (or even suggested) for guests to police other guests' bad behaviour (excluding extreme situations). This isn't to say we should always offload responsibility onto others/not take action when we see something wrong, but people respond differently to someone in plain clothes telling them to stop, as opposed to a staff member in uniform, and the former can lead to even more conflict. Often the best thing one can do is give a clear description of the incident and the guest(s) involved to the nearest staff member, and let them handle it.
 
You're working in an exhibit and someone (always male) says "what sort of animal are you"?
One time we were short staffed and the curator, asst curator and lead keeper were all scooping poop in elephant yard. Dad says to kid "that's what you'll be doing if you don't go to college". Keeper's response "that's Dr. Becky...PhD. on left, Dr. Maria.... PhD. in middle but sadly the lead keeper Kathy on right only has Master's". True story - except for their names.
 
kermodei said:
based on my training and experience, that it's not at all expected (or even suggested) for guests to police other guests' bad behaviour (excluding extreme situations). This isn't to say we should always offload responsibility onto others/not take action when we see something wrong, but people respond differently to someone in plain clothes telling them to stop, as opposed to a staff member in uniform
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I did not suggest "policing" other guests. Yet in the case of animal harrassment aka "extreme situations", you should not just idly stand by and then complain online afterwards. And while uniforms can have an hectoring effect on some people ("Die Uniform verschafft Respekt, ganz gleich wer auch darinnen steckt" Carl Zuckmeyer, "Der Hauptmann von Köpenick"), they can also aggrevate others. Based on my training and experience(sic) [including really hostile situations with weapons drawn] , the way how you conduct the intervention can be more helpful than just relying on your uniform.
 
This thread reminds me of when I was at the zoo and a kid ran to a goose nest and was trying to steal the eggs. He grabbed the goose by the legs and proceeded to take the eggs. The mother geese quicky pecked at his nose and eyes until they were bleeding. The kid got dragged by his parents while I and the rest of the vistors stared at the penguins(or the goose).

These two things make me mad or enraged while at a zoo

Harming the flora
I hate when people rip the flora in an area of the zoo not only does it destroy the living plant but also the horticulturist hard work.

I also don't like when people attack free flight animals accident or not. It still harms the animals.
 
Great Argus said:
Or they take it a step further - "Look, it's the native Californian exhibit!" Gotten variations of that one more times that I care to bother remembering. :p
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In one zoo where I was working in an empty enclosure for several days I put up a sign on the wire reading "Human. Hand-raised" after the first day of people asking "what kind of animal are you?" - it got a good reaction from all visitors.
 
1) parents just letting their kids harass the free roam animals
2) people just having the chains of the exits of free fly bird houses for long periods of time defeating the whole purpose of them
3) zoo workers using favoritism to build the enclosures
4) people banging on reptile enclosures glass when they specifically tell you not to
5) people ruining the views of the animals by either just being at the worst position they could be at or just pointing their large cameras at the enclosures and taking photos with their flash on
 
ilovetimberdoodles said:
1) parents just letting their kids harass the free roam animals
2) people just having the chains of the exits of free fly bird houses for long periods of time defeating the whole purpose of them
3) zoo workers using favoritism to build the enclosures
4) people banging on reptile enclosures glass when they specifically tell you not to
5) people ruining the views of the animals by either just being at the worst position they could be at or just pointing their large cameras at the enclosures and taking photos with their flash on
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Few ‘large cameras’ have built in flash and few people using them will be bothering with a flash gun. So it might be challenging to see people doing that.

It’s worth remembering that while you might not like photographers, everyone wants to get a view not just you as an individual and eveyone paid to get in - if an enclosure is busy best advice is to come back later.

I remind myself of this when people are barging me out of the way at enclosures for their ‘moment’. The average dwell time at an enclosure is so tiny for most people (seconds in some cases) you’ll probably get a better view at some other point.
 
Lafone said:
Few ‘large cameras’ have built in flash and few people using them will be bothering with a flash gun. So it might be challenging to see people doing that.
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I think that to most zoo visitors who take photos on their phones, a basic DSLR seems like a "large camera" - so not what a photographer would think of as a "large" camera.
 
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