What is/are the worst kinds of zoo visitors?

The Alligator Lad

The Alligator Lad

Active Member
Thought It would be interesting to post this as I saw things like this for theme parks. Keep discussion civil (for obvious reasons) and keep people that you wish to discuss anonymous. I would be very interested to hear your thoughts!
 
School field trips. You arrive early on a weekday thinking you will have no crowds at the zoo and thousands of annoying screaming kids are everywhere. And I swear to god every zoo in this country has a school field trip every day of the school year.
 
I would say people who think they know what is right for an animal such as someone thinking that the animal or zoo should be shut down/removed. An expanse would be at Paignton Zoo where someone once loudly remarked “This Gorillas should be sent to Africa, they should not be kept here.” I managed to persuade them that they are important both for educational reasons and because it is not necessarily safe for that animal currently (e.g. we need a captive population). I just feel that if a person like so was not willing to be told of the reasons, unlike this person, then they would be a real pain :p. With animals such as cetaceans and/or other animals such as elephants than I believe that people can have their own views. When the animal is necessary to protect a species from extinction, then I wish people would actually read the signs.
 
SusScrofa said:
And I swear to god every zoo in this country has a school field trip every day of the school year.
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I think is is entirely plausible that might be the case.

Some quick googling of several countries suggest that there are typically 300 times as many schools as there are zoos. Not every trip is going to be to a zoo, but they will likely to be one of the more common destinations. Also the whole school is unlikely to go on the same trip. There will probably be different trips for different classes, year groups, etc, so multiple trips per school.

Now consider how many days are available for trips. Weekends are out, so are school holidays, public holidays, etc. Also schools won't plan outdoor trips for times of the year when the weather is expected to be bad.

It doesn't sound ridiculous that apart from the depths of winter a zoo could have a school party booked in for the vast majority of term time days.
 
NMM said:
I think is is entirely plausible that might be the case.

Some quick googling of several countries suggest that there are typically 300 times as many schools as there are zoos. Not every trip is going to be to a zoo, but they will likely to be one of the more common destinations. Also the whole school is unlikely to go on the same trip. There will probably be different trips for different classes, year groups, etc, so multiple trips per school.

Now consider how many days are available for trips. Weekends are out, so are school holidays, public holidays, etc. Also schools won't plan outdoor trips for times of the year when the weather is expected to be bad.

It doesn't sound ridiculous that apart from the depths of winter a zoo could have a school party booked in for the vast majority of term time days.
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I would guess most zoos never (or only very rarely) have school field trips. And due to budget cuts and safety concerns, more and more schools are no longer holding field trips at all.
 
SusScrofa said:
School field trips. You arrive early on a weekday thinking you will have no crowds at the zoo and thousands of annoying screaming kids are everywhere. And I swear to god every zoo in this country has a school field trip every day of the school year.
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I personally believe that School Trips are important and beneficial for the zoo in the way of reviews and education but when you are watching a notorious shy animal and a group of 30 unruly children arrive, than it’s a pain ;)
 
birdsandbats said:
I would guess most zoos never (or only very rarely) have school field trips. And due to budget cuts and safety concerns, more and more schools are no longer holding field trips at all.
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Your state must be a paradise for zoo visitors then ;). Of the many zoos and aquariums I've visited on weekdays this year alone, EVERY one has had a school field trip. Well, all except roadsides in middle of nowhere and small nature centers maybe. And not just one or two classes, but hundreds of kids. I get the educational aspect and all, but it still annoys the heck out of me.
 
SusScrofa said:
Your state must be a paradise for zoo visitors then ;). Of the many zoos and aquariums I've visited on weekdays this year alone, EVERY one has had a school field trip. Well, all except roadsides in middle of nowhere and small nature centers maybe. And not just one or two classes, but hundreds of kids. I get the educational aspect and all, but it still annoys the heck out of me.
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I would be shocked if more then like 4 or 5 zoos in all of Wisconsin have even one school field trip annually.
 
SusScrofa said:
School field trips. You arrive early on a weekday thinking you will have no crowds at the zoo and thousands of annoying screaming kids are everywhere. And I swear to god every zoo in this country has a school field trip every day of the school year.
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At least the benefit is when they leave before the school day ends, and then for the remaining couple of hours the zoo is lovely and quiet given it's still term time.
 
birdsandbats said:
I would be shocked if more then like 4 or 5 zoos in all of Wisconsin have even one school field trip annually.
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Racine. Milwaukee. ICF. Green Bay. Henry Vilas. There's five there, being the five AZA facilities, which generally all receive field trips. And I've never worked at a non-AZA facility (including some pretty small ones across two states) which also didn't get their share of field trips. So I'd say they're probably more prevalent than you might suspect
 
Aardwolf said:
Racine. Milwaukee. ICF. Green Bay. Henry Vilas. There's five there, being the five AZA facilities, which generally all receive field trips. And I've never worked at a non-AZA facility (including some pretty small ones across two states) which also didn't get their share of field trips. So I'd say they're probably more prevalent than you might suspect
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I know for a fact Henry Vilas, Milwaukee, NEW, ICF, and Bay Beach all receive field trips (although ICF doesn't get them annually). Racine probably does as well. I suppose Reiman Aquarium probably counts, although I'm not sure the aquarium specifically receives field trips.

Bay Beach doesn't specifically receive field trips but it does have a pre-k and Kindergarten inside the grounds, if that counts

After that, nearly all zoos in Wisconsin are either private "roadside" zoos (often in the middle of nowhere) or very tiny municipally-owned zoos. The municipally-owned facilities certainly don't have field trips often, but may have a trip from the local school once a year or so in some cases. I doubt any of the "roadside" zoos get much of anything in this department.

EDIT: Just remembered I've actually been on a school field trip to the MacKensie Center as well.
 
One thing influencing this is just the sheer number of zoos in Wisconsin. If a school wants to go on a field trip to a zoo, sure there's probably a few close-by "roadside" or municipal zoos, but it's just easier to drive another half hour or so to go to one of the AZA zoos. Wisconsin's AZA facilities all correspond with the state's major population centers so chances are they aren't far from one of them. For example, my school would always go on field trips to the NEW Zoo, despite the fact that there were several zoos much closer than that.

But of course, it's getting harder and harder to even find school willing to take field trips anymore, at least in this state.
 
NMM said:
Some quick googling of several countries suggest that there are typically 300 times as many schools as there are zoos. Not every trip is going to be to a zoo, but they will likely to be one of the more common destinations. Also the whole school is unlikely to go on the same trip. There will probably be different trips for different classes, year groups, etc, so multiple trips per school.
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My high school is right across the road from my local zoo, so once we just walked over to the zoo for a single science lesson:). I managed to spot an orangutan while we walked to the classroom area.
 
I once saw some people in the Humboldt Penguin habitat at Houston zoo who were teasing the penguins by swiping their rolled-up zoo maps along the glass. And monkey see, monkey do, so all the little kiddies started doing it as well. You would think that adults would follow one of the oldest rules at any zoo.
 
Loud and obnoxious kids are no fun, but to me the absolute worst zoo visitors are irrationally angry parents. Some people have no shame yelling at and berating their kids for everyone around them to hear, often just for minor things. During a visit to Brookfield last fall I was entering Tropic World and a dad was full-on screaming at one of his kids and threatening to throw them in with the gorillas just for running around. That's just one example I've observed over the years; I've seen parents hitting their kids at zoos, threatening them, cussing them out, etc, and it genuinely sours my mood every time.

Oh, and people who go out of their way to terrorize free-ranging peafowl. Dishonorable mention to parents who do nothing/encourage the behavior when their kids do it.
 
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