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

KevinB said:
People who climb on rocks despite plenty of signs saying not to do that, in multiple languages.

Parents who don't keep their children sufficiently in line and let them run around to run into or be run into by other visitors on walkways, or to run around, play around and scream in queue areas.
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A funny instance of something like this was my last trip to the Toronto Zoo, during a White Rhino animal talk, I saw this one kid who REALLY wanted to climb over the rocky barrier into the enclosure. Thankfully the parents were sane.
 
I was at the LA Zoo at the Lair. Then out of the blue came a massive field trip.

Screaming
Ewwing
Banning

Then one thing struck me.
One kid was screaming at the top of his lungs. And then finished. "AHHH a Fish!"
 
Mr. Kiwi said:
I was at the LA Zoo at the Lair. Then out of the blue came a massive field trip.

Screaming
Ewwing
Banning

Then one thing struck me.
One kid was screaming at the top of his lungs. And then finished. "AHHH a Fish!"
Click to expand...
I was at the L.A. Zoo yesterday and also saw several field trips. I naively thought that since school was out of session, there wouldn't be any, but apparently it's the start of summer camp field trip season. Field trips have changed a lot from when I was a kid. Teachers used to be really strict -- everyone had to walk in a straight line and be quiet. Now rules have gone out the window and it's a free-for-all!
 
Lori Patton said:
I was at the L.A. Zoo yesterday and also saw several field trips. I naively thought that since school was out of session, there wouldn't be any, but apparently it's the start of summer camp field trip season. Field trips have changed a lot from when I was a kid. Teachers used to be really strict -- everyone had to walk in a straight line and be quiet. Now rules have gone out the window and it's a free-for-all!
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I was there on Monday how bout you?
 
Mr. Kiwi said:
I was there on Monday how bout you?
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@Mr. Kiwi I was at the L.A. Zoo on Wednesday. I went there mainly to go shopping because the gift store always closes at least 15 minutes early so I usually miss out at the end of the day. There were multiple field trips there and the store had a sign that at least one adult had to supervise every six kids inside.
 
The adults that cant control the children they're supposed to be minding.
The amount of times I've had kids stepping on my toes and footrests of my wheelchair because they think its a climbing device, or when they just slide in front of me so I cant see anything in the enclosure even though they could have picked the other half of the glass screen to stand in front of! ( I purposely make sure I get as up close to the glass as I can and they still squeeze in...)
 
teddy panda said:
I feel really bad because as a kid I really enjoyed field trips to the zoo/aquarium and I love to see kids learning about wildlife, but I get unreasonably irritated when I'm in a quiet exhibit and a very loud field trip group or family comes right behind me
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I fix this conundrum in my head by reminding myself that there's no way I was that loud or unruly as a child- or at least that this post-COVID set of kiddos is uniquely.... undersocialized. Though this perhaps encroaches into not-zoo-talk territory, there's definitely a growing sentiment in many areas, particularly education, that kids right now are particularly struggling with social behaviors and etiquette. Plenty of things to blame or point to but that's largely irrelevant- the point is that there's probably more screamers than there used to be.

I'm thrilled, always, to see a child- even a toddler!- respectfully enjoying a zoo, enraptured in the wildlife. I'm tolerant of clearly-tired or hungry kids who are just feeling some big feelings. I lose patience quickly with the kids just being loud to be loud, and parents not doing anything about it... I'm more patient with educators because there's only so much you can do to wrangle 30 first graders.
 
Harassing the animals. And, most of the times I've seen people harassing animals with my own eyes, they're usually doing it to leopards. I have never seen an animals getting harassed at a zoo more than leopards. Whether it may be adults, kids or teens, or people old enough to know better, it is very common. So many times the poor leopard is snarling, or even growling, or hiding in a corner, but the people continue to shout, scream, throw objects at it and even spit on the enclosure.
 
Screaming children. Gotta love it when you're watching the fish or the hippos and there's a child next to you slamming the glass and yelling with their parents saying nothing to them about it.
 
Dean611 said:
with their parents saying nothing to them about it.
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Parents letting their spawn do as they wish with screaming, running, slamming windows and so on, however irritating and sometimes dangerous it can be to visitors and animals, is one of my biggest sources of irritation and stress at zoos.

And saying something about it or even giving a dirty look at the parents, who often pay more attention to their phones than to their kids, can be quite dangerous, and certainly won't be welcomed.

Not all parents like this, but way too many are.
 
People who make jokes or comments about you taking a lot of photos of animals, exhibits or other structures. Can't people just leave other visitors alone and concern themselves with their own visit and issues?

The same idiot who did this to me last Sunday was also letting his gremlins run around between other visitors and scream as much as they liked, so a real exemplary parent that one :rolleyes:...
 
Last time I was in the zoo I overheard a mother and kid talking:
"And do you know what they have in this next exhibits?"
"Bambis!"
"That's right, let's go see the bambis!"

Now I might not be an official zoo guide, but I do like giving some education to fellow visitors. So I said with a friendly smile "Those are hog deer, they're from India"

As I walked past I heard the mother say to the kid.
"There's hogs and there's deer, but there's no such thing as a hog deer. That man was lying to you. Besides, they don't have deer in India"

I've met some very stupid people (my uncle, for example) but that lady really took the cake.
 
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