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

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Yes, of course in those instances it's completely acceptable, but you agree with me, don't you?

Although a member once said that people will never cease to amaze him/her, nothing's really new with the non-zoo nerds in my eyes. :p
 
BeardsleyZooFan said:
Oh I'm not the heartless monster I seem to be. It's a baby, and you can't control the little tyke. However, Sasquatch the lynx didn't understand.:p
When kids make mistakes identifying an animal, it doesn't bother me too much. When an adult, just a teensy twinge. But when the sign is right in front of the person, then it gets irritating. I mentioned this earlier in the thread but when there was a sign that was clearly right in front of a man that explained that the Andean Bear was sent somewhere else, he told his daughters "Come on look harder, he has to be in here somewhere!"
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This is a successful tactic of parents across the world who are trying to have a few minutes peace from the kids :)
 
What annoys me is when you are having a laugh with friends, bandying about your in-jokes, using the daft names you've heard people call animals in zoos and some no-sense-of-humour zoo-nerd overhears it and gets all uppity and [namelessly] shames you on Zoochat! :)
 
OrangePerson said:
What annoys me is when you are having a laugh with friends, bandying about your in-jokes, using the daft names you've heard people call animals in zoos and some no-sense-of-humour zoo-nerd overhears it and gets all uppity and [namelessly] shames you on Zoochat! :)
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Yeah, that IS the worst!
 
I know it's not literally at a zoo but this kind of got to me. The person who took this photo mislabeled it blue-throated monitor, when it is an ornate. She is also the main photographer for the zoo.

[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemperleconnie/7945745574/in/pool-cincinnati_zoo/"]Cincinnati Zoo ... Blue - Throated Monitor | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]
 
Today in Louisville I saw a kid throw an acorn at an addax and an Amur tiger eating a pencil!
 
Letter: Zoo is not an amusement park - The Sunday Times – Sri Lanka

I was forwarded this the other day - A letter written by Jayanka de Silva,
Moratuwa

I went to the Dehiwala Zoo on a recent Poya Day. I used to go quite frequently, but had not been in a long time. It was fine day and I was glad to have a few hours to enjoy my hobby of observing nature.

There was a large crowd and long queues at the ticket booth. I walked around for a while, then sat on a bench to observe one of my favourite animals, the endangered Orangutan. The animal was perched high on a log railing and enjoying the morning sunshine. A lady sitting on a bench next to mine gave her son a piece of bread.
“Try to get him to come down,” she said. The boy waved the piece of bread at the poor creature. “Throw it to him, then he’ll come down,” the mother said. All those who were standing in front of the cage wanted the animal to come down. In disgust, I got up and left. There was a large notice board right next to the Orangutan’s enclosure that read: “Do Not Feed The Animals. Do Not Tease The Animals.”

I walked around and arrived at the Hippopotamus enclosure. A little hippo was craning its head upwards, and a visitor was dropping Marie biscuits into its open mouth. The poor creature kept opening its mouth to passersby in the hope of getting more biscuits. The animal was a source of great amusement to the crowd.

Disgusted once again by the visitors’ bad behaviour, I went on my way. I came to the monkey cages. The playful primates usually cheer me up, but on this occasion, I saw a terrible scene. Visitors were tormenting a poor Capuchin monkey. They were poking and prodding the little animal with sticks until it ran to the top of the cage to get away from its tormentors. After that, I left the zoo.

Visitors should remember that the zoo houses wild animals, not domestic pets. They require a specialised diet based on what they would eat in the wild. Bread and Marie biscuits are not a part of any wild animal’s diet. Feeding the animals such things can cause indigestion and make the animals sick.

Any wild animal’s preferred habitat would be the wild, not a cage. These animals are not there by choice. They were caught and brought to the zoo. They are prisoners of the zoo. Because we destroy their natural habitat, they end up in zoos. It is by no means a wonderful life for these caged creatures. If given the option, an animal would choose the wild over a zoo cage, no matter how harsh that natural habitat may be.

Last, and most important, please do not think animals are kept in a zoo to entertain us. A zoo is not an amusement park. A zoo is a conservation effort. We are expected to observe these animals from a distance, show them respect, and admire their grace and beauty. The next time you go to the zoo, please make sure you allow those poor animals to live in peace.
 
1-when people horribly mislabel animal for example in one zoo somebody pointed at a lemur and said "look,a baboon"
2-people who shout at sleeping animals,worst example is when someone started wildly yelling at a baby lion for no apparent reason
3-hitting on exhibit structures,many examples.
4-teasing animals,oddly monkeys are picked on the most.my first memory of a zoo is when Edinburgh housed gorillas and people laughed at it and threw peanuts.but my worst example must be from my recent trip to Basel zoo .ther was two children pressing dolls to the glass distressing a young chimp, the chimp then proceeded in swinging against the glass.the chimp was clearly but the kids and their parents just laughter hysterically .
 
A child refused to accept the fact that what he called a crocodile was actually a Dwarf Caiman. His dad said "Actually it's called a caiman."
"Well I like to call it a crocodile." I guess that since he's a kid I would have cut him some slack but then he started screaming "CROCODILE!!!"
Also, two dudes were standing in front of a turtle enclosure, and the viewing window was small. I waited for about two minutes, and they still wouldn't budge, not even slide in a bit to let me take a look. Frustrated, I soon took off.
 
On my last visit people were screaming at Suci the Sumatran rhino, "GEORGE!!!" (where the hell did they come up with that name?) and it spooked her off.
 
SMOKING

It is a topic previously covered in detail, but.....!!

Smoking in zoos. There is just no need for it, there should be at the very best for smokers a designated smoking shelter with plenty of sand or ash tray area for smokers to leave their cigarette ends. Ideally all zoos should be no smoking areas. I don’t want to see people dropping cig ends around the zoo, I despise seeing parents pushing buggies (strollers in US) with a cig sticking out of one hand and other kids hovering around the cig. I have a childhood memory of being in an aquarium and getting burnt (total accident I am sure and nothing bad but it sticks in my mind) on the hand by some chap who had a cigar. As more and more public places around the world start to ban smoking, I believe it is now time zoos start to follow suit. I smoke a few cigs a day myself, but don’t have any trouble doing without when required.
 
Nathano said:
I know we are kinda beating a dead horse here but, since "General Zoo Misconceptions" got a third iteration, so I think this thread should too. Anyway there are several things that irritate me that are worthy for inclusion:
  • People who think they are clever when they are actually not.
  • People who bang on glass or shout at animals
  • People who break the rules, feeding animals, using flash photography in nocturnal houses etc.
I can imagine this sort of thing is universal on a site full of fellow zoo goers!
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Yes (Although that's all of us at times)
Yes
and Yes (although I accidently had my camera flash on in ZooAmerica;s nocturnal exhibit and didn't know for a while:o. Sorry little Ringtail!!)

I find it irritating when people go to a zoo and automaticly assume all zoos have penguins, tigers, Polar Bears, lions, gorillas, elephants, and Giant Pandas. I noticed this a lot my last trip to Beardsley. I overheard people looking at the map and trying to find the G. Pandas and African Elephants.

When people don't recognize and animal and assume it's something completely different. Like an Lion to a Tiger (or an Ocelot to a Tiger). Better yet is when a father tells his kids that an Indian Rhino is a "Rhinosaurus" and talks about it like a Dinosaur. (All of these examples really happened and are stated on the New Tiger Exhibits thread. Same with the one from the top example)

When people go to a zoo and rant their feelings about animals in captivity and assume the worst possible treatment of the animals. This happened to me at the Beardsley Zoo this guy got all worked up after seeing the Bald Eagles (don't know why, they have one of the best exhibits) and then went on to say that the zoo clipped their wings even though, literaly less then a half a foot away from him, there was a sign saying the birds were rescued from the wild and couldn't be returned back into the wild. After this was pointed out to him, he stomped away.

When people go to zoos/aquariums and just stay on there phones and do work all day don't pay attention to the animals have the time, Dad!!:D (Although he's getting better and pays attention most of the time when we are at the Bronx Zoo and when we visited the National Zoo.:))
 
Pootle said:
It is a topic previously covered in detail, but.....!!

Smoking in zoos. There is just no need for it, there should be at the very best for smokers a designated smoking shelter with plenty of sand or ash tray area for smokers to leave their cigarette ends. Ideally all zoos should be no smoking areas. I don’t want to see people dropping cig ends around the zoo, I despise seeing parents pushing buggies (strollers in US) with a cig sticking out of one hand and other kids hovering around the cig. I have a childhood memory of being in an aquarium and getting burnt (total accident I am sure and nothing bad but it sticks in my mind) on the hand by some chap who had a cigar. As more and more public places around the world start to ban smoking, I believe it is now time zoos start to follow suit. I smoke a few cigs a day myself, but don’t have any trouble doing without when required.
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I love this example. I especially like that you're saying this even though you're a smoker yourself. I really hate when people smoke in large crowds/lines, upwind of you, and around their children and pets.
 
BeardsleyZooFan said:
Also, two dudes were standing in front of a turtle enclosure, and the viewing window was small. I waited for about two minutes, and they still wouldn't budge, not even slide in a bit to let me take a look. Frustrated, I soon took off.
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Did you ever stop and think "Maybe these guys must really love themselves some turtles"? Gosh, inconsiderate jerks like you really tick me off. :D
 
AnaheimZoo said:
Did you ever stop and think "Maybe these guys must really love themselves some turtles"? Gosh, inconsiderate jerks like you really tick me off. :D
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no AnaheimZoo, only Zoochatters are allowed to look at animals in zoos. Anyone else who takes an interest is a jerk and a loser. Especially if they don't even know how to pronounce a foreign word like sifaka or gerenuk. Dumb-asses.
 
Chlidonias said:
no AnaheimZoo, only Zoochatters are allowed to look at animals in zoos. Anyone else who takes an interest is a jerk and a loser. Especially if they don't even know how to pronounce a foreign word like sifaka or gerenuk. Dumb-asses.
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I've never heard Gerenuk said out-loud so I have no clue weither or not I pronounce it right. The correct term is ZooChattians, not Zoochatters. Bumb-ass:D

I hate it when people giggle when they hear animal names that sound or look innaproppriate (like Bolivian Grey Titi or Somali Wild Ass). Also, when people go up to an exhibit, look at the animal, and say "What the hell (or f**k) is that!?". Poor tapirs probably hear this all the time.
 
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