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

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Did I ever tell you guys about the time I caught a kid poking the Leopards with a Peacock display feather? lol
 
Paix said:
Yeah I get the feeling, whilst at Blackpool zoo, a Dwarf Mongoose was called a Furry Lizard. I burst out laughing, and got a few strange looks! :D
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Well, go back far enough and that's exactly what all mammals are! And a lot of the earlier mammals looked not unlike good ol' Helogale. :D
 
Twiglet2010 said:
I A woman standing next to me with a friend told the friend that the reason for this was because "their hair falls out when they get stressed, usually when another gorilla is introduced to the group" I pointed out that they are all chimps but the woman said "no dear, they're all gorillas, I know these things you see"
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An interesting explanation. It sounds as if she had gained this information somewhere but misinterpreted it as their hair normally only falls out if they pluck it, apart from the odd case of Alopecia (as with the Twycross chimpanzee). But as she thought Monkeyworld had Gorillas she obviously had an interpretation problem on that too.
 
I doubt she heard anything from a keeper/keeper talk Pertinax, as it was early morning so before all the talks. I tried to explain to her that it was due to over-grooming by other members of the troop, but as she admitted to me that she was "an expert in such matters" I left her to it, she was obviously unwilling to listen to advice and information or read the chimp bio's that are on the wall!
 
Twiglet2010 said:
I doubt she heard anything from a keeper/keeper talk Pertinax, as it was early morning so before all the talks. I tried to explain to her that it was due to over-grooming by other members of the troop,
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No, I meant she'd got this information somewhere/sometime in the past, not from Monkeyworld.

Its actually sometimes quite hard to discover the real reason for something like hair loss. Some monkeys/apes do pluck their hair from stress, whereas in other cases its due to overgrooming by other members of the group- such as Twycross' Bonobos or Colchester's Mangabeys. Its rarer for it to fall out of its own accord though...
 
Another thing I hate is when my mum runs out of the reptile house at Taronga because it is 'too humid' in this particular area.

grrrr
 
It did not happen in a zoo, but here it goes:

Today, I was out for a walk with a "mate" of mine. Suddenly he picks up a frog (common frog), flings it in the air and tries to kick it. He misses, but still it falls down and is dead. When asked why the HELL he did this to an innocent animal that he did not even have anything against, he replied: "Because it's funny". I can sort of understand that you kill a spider if you are afraid of them, but why kill a random frog that has not bothered you the least - and they are even protected in Denmark, so I could actually have turned him in to the police, but I think that is overdoing it, and the police probably would not bother. Nonetheless, I felt like hitting him at the side of the head, but I restrained myself because I do not like violence and I would not be better than him, then.
 
Hvedekorn said:
Nonetheless, I felt like hitting him at the side of the head, but I restrained myself because I do not like violence and I would not be better than him, then.
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:mad: I can understand your anger at this mindless cruelty and admire your self control.
 
I just want to inject a different point of view into this discussion. The reputation of zoos is changing. The people who take their kids to the zoo now know zoos as carnival-type places. This explains the bad behavior that is tolerated by parents/grandparents/guardians. At my home zoo, we are trying to change our image into a place of learning and conservation, while maintaining a joyous atmosphere. We have volunteers all over the zoo, willing to show people cool artifacts and educate them about the animals in the zoo and the wild. I know that many zoos have a similar program, and from my point of view, it is working. Sure, I get annoyed when people call wild dogs hyenas, or when there is a stroller traffic jam, but I also understand that going to the zoo is big, sometimes stressful event for families. I try to help people have the best experience possible at the zoo, because the more they come back, the more learn about the world and it's creatures, and how to behave in a public place.
 
was at twycross today and was told P**s off when we commented it was irresponsible to feed ice cream to one of the gibbons , apparently this would have been the best 2 minutes of his day ! it might well have been his last 2 minutes how do they know what harm they are doing ? there were 3 signs in front of us saying not too feed , spoke to a keeper and was so disheartened when she said it can be a real problem but its so difficult to do anything about it i cant imagine they have recourses to have people on patrol (not that it should be needed ) she also said many gibbons have an intolerance to lactose , these people were around our age as well 40+ i have to say this the first time ive had a bad experience like this
 
mazzy said:
was at twycross today and was told P**s off when we commented it was irresponsible to feed ice cream to one of the gibbons , apparently this would have been the best 2 minutes of his day ! it might well have been his last 2 minutes how do they know what harm they are doing ? there were 3 signs in front of us saying not too feed , spoke to a keeper and was so disheartened when she said it can be a real problem but its so difficult to do anything about it i cant imagine they have recourses to have people on patrol (not that it should be needed ) she also said many gibbons have an intolerance to lactose , these people were around our age as well 40+ i have to say this the first time ive had a bad experience like this
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Its not an un-common problem at Twycross as the place seems to attract more than its fair share of this type of idiot within its visitors.
 
mazzy said:
was at twycross today and was told P**s off when we commented it was irresponsible to feed ice cream to one of the gibbons , apparently this would have been the best 2 minutes of his day ! it might well have been his last 2 minutes how do they know what harm they are doing ? there were 3 signs in front of us saying not too feed , spoke to a keeper and was so disheartened when she said it can be a real problem but its so difficult to do anything about it i cant imagine they have recourses to have people on patrol (not that it should be needed ) she also said many gibbons have an intolerance to lactose , these people were around our age as well 40+ i have to say this the first time ive had a bad experience like this
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are they crazy!? i wouldn't want to go near a gibbon's mouth - those teeth!!
 
zoogiraffe said:
Its not an un-common problem at Twycross as the place seems to attract more than its fair share of this type of idiot within its visitors.
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My guess is that the old style Primate 'cages' at Twycross also invite more of this as people can get very close by leaning over the barriers or even touch monkeys through the little grilles above the doors in the indoor passageways. In many other zoos there are wide water moats, and electric fences etc. between public and monkeys.
 
Gigit said:
mazzy said:
. I think it would be a good idea for zoos to have identifiable volunteers at trouble spots. It wouldn't cost anything and might stop some of the worst behaviour.

Sorry Gigit, I've messed up your post by editing it( my mistake).

Wrongdoers in Zoos will often react very quickly if they think they are being watched by authority. Several times in various zoos I've seen people(mostly youngsters) quickly turn away from feeding or teasing animals because I've suddenly appeared, just a man alone and walking purposefully is enough for them to think its a member of the staff (always wrong, I'm not!)
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Pertinax said:
Gigit said:
mazzy said:
. I think it would be a good idea for zoos to have identifiable volunteers at trouble spots. It wouldn't cost anything and might stop some of the worst behaviour.


Sorry Gigit, I've messed up your post by editing it( my mistake).
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Tut tut ;)

I think I said that, publicly, I try to ignore ignorance as it's their problem not mine, but that I get angry when I see people feeding or teasing animals. I recently asked some foreign students to stop throwing berries from a nearby bush to the macaques, and they did but with a scowl. I think it would be a good idea for zoos to have identifiable volunteers at trouble spots. It wouldn't cost anything and might stop some of the worst behaviour.
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Gigit said:
I think it would be a good idea for zoos to have identifiable volunteers at trouble spots. It wouldn't cost anything and might stop some of the worst behaviour.
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we must remember that not all zoos (some of the smaller ones) have the resources to support a volunteer program.

anyway...visitors what are you gonna do? :)
 
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