Anthony Sheridan Award at Vienna, 14/06/13

I recently purchased "What Zoos Can Do - Update 2013", which is a 64-page companion piece to the original "What Zoos Can Do" (published in 2011). Amongst the 12 additional zoos added to the book, 2 additional countries and bewildering array of statistics, facts and rankings...there is a page with photos of more trophies where each one is actually called the "Anthony Sheridan Trophy"! The Group A winner (best zoo with over one million annual visitors) was presented to Vienna and is an elephant in Swedish crystal glass. Group B received a similar trophy with a tiger's face on it (Beauval is the recipient for the best zoo with over 500,000 visitors) and the Group C winner of the Antelope Trophy for best zoo with over 250,000 visitors went to Odense.

Does anyone know if Anthony Sheridan plans to publish updates of his controversial zoo ranking system every few years?

snowleopard said:

I recently purchased "What Zoos Can Do - Update 2013", which is a 64-page companion piece to the original "What Zoos Can Do" (published in 2011). Amongst the 12 additional zoos added to the book, 2 additional countries and bewildering array of statistics, facts and rankings...there is a page with photos of more trophies where each one is actually called the "Anthony Sheridan Trophy"! The Group A winner (best zoo with over one million annual visitors) was presented to Vienna and is an elephant in Swedish crystal glass. Group B received a similar trophy with a tiger's face on it (Beauval is the recipient for the best zoo with over 500,000 visitors) and the Group C winner of the Antelope Trophy for best zoo with over 250,000 visitors went to Odense.

Does anyone know if Anthony Sheridan plans to publish updates of his controversial zoo ranking system every few years?

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I hope not because that will mean he will have produced yet more books,and yet more pointless stats and been told more ******** by zoo directors just to get him out of their office!!

zoogiraffe said:

I hope not because that will mean he will have produced yet more books,and yet more pointless stats and been told more ******** by zoo directors just to get him out of their office!!

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If you haven't got anything that's not an insult to Mr Sheridans or others you wind your neck in. This is not zoogiraffe chat!

Integrity said:

If you haven't got anything that's not an insult to Mr Sheridans or others you wind your neck in. This is not zoogiraffe chat!

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Yes but atleast I am prepared and do say it to peoples faces and not hide behind a keyboard,because you never said a word to me when you were at Twycross even when I was saying things that weren't liked!!

Maybe this is nit-picking, but one curious thing about Sheridan in his book is that he refers to Ireland as Eire. Since I'm not from the UK, I'd ask my British friends, is this what you all call "Ireland"? I'm thinking that Eire is the Irish way of saying their nation's name, right? But if so, then Sheridan is inconsistent in using this local name. He should then also refer to Germany as "Deutschland", Spain as "Espana", etc.

Like I said, this is probably nit-picking, but I was curious about it. Educate me, my British friends!

zoogiraffe said:

Yes but atleast I am prepared and do say it to peoples faces and not hide behind a keyboard,because you never said a word to me when you were at Twycross even when I was saying things that weren't liked!!

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I'm confused. Could you tell us what you REALLY think, ZooGiraffe?

ANyhuis said:

Maybe this is nit-picking, but one curious thing about Sheridan in his book is that he refers to Ireland as Eire. Since I'm not from the UK, I'd ask my British friends, is this what you all call "Ireland"? I'm thinking that Eire is the Irish way of saying their nation's name, right? But if so, then Sheridan is inconsistent in using this local name. He should then also refer to Germany as "Deutschland", Spain as "Espana", etc.

Like I said, this is probably nit-picking, but I was curious about it. Educate me, my British friends!

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Interesting question.

As I understand it, 'Eire' is the Irish language name for what, in English, is Ireland - and this is stated, in words defining those two language differences, in the Irish constitution. I think I'm right in saying that in the UK, the country was officially known as Eire until the law stating this was so was repealed in, I think, the 1980s. Those with a sharper knowledge of recent history, or a desire to hunt around on Google, may correct me here. I suppose it might be used to differentiate between the island of Ireland, and the state which takes up the bulk of that island.

I think that for an English person to use the word 'Eire' is something of an affectation - on a par with calling a narrow-striped mongoose a 'boky'. Not wrong, but not necessary.

And, earlier in the thread - hey! Grumpy ironically-named Twycross bloke "Integrity"! I'm not sure that @zoogiraffe needs to be told to "wind his neck in"! If all those who were vexed by Mr Sheridan remained silent, this would be a pretty quiet website....

sooty mangabey said:

I think that for an English person to use the word 'Eire' is something of an affectation - on a par with calling a narrow-striped mongoose a 'boky'. Not wrong, but not necessary.

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Do you agree, then, that to use "Eire" and not "Deutschland" and "Espana" is probably inconsistent?

sooty mangabey said:

I think that for an English person to use the word 'Eire' is something of an affectation - on a par with calling a narrow-striped mongoose a 'boky'. Not wrong, but not necessary.

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I rather *like* the name narrow-striped boky though I will grant that it is less justifiable than, for instance, calling the various Salanoia, Galidia and Galidictis species "vontsira", and given the choice between calling these "mongoose" and calling Mungotictis a "mongoose" I would choose the latter.

ANyhuis said:

I'm confused. Could you tell us what you REALLY think, ZooGiraffe?

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Well if you really want me to say what I think the man is starting to believe his own PR and that he is actually a world expert on zoo's,despite having visiting well under half the number of collections that many of us on here have myself included!