Short-nosed Echidna

Good thing they have been put out on exhibit again, they had been taken out a while ago.

I also like the new signs that have been installed in the Australia section.

Care to share some photos of those signs? I'd love to see them.

Ituri said:

Care to share some photos of those signs? I'd love to see them.

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I'll take photos tomorrow.

They are in the same design as the ones being installed around the zoo.

Blackduiker

For the longest, people have been calling them "Porcupines." Thank God for the new signs!

Blackduiker said:

For the longest people have been calling them "Porcupines." Thank God for the new signs!

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Yeah, the problem was that the sign for the echidna was kind of hidden.

Some Australians still refer to them as porcupines. The new signs will only be effective if people read them.

Even then, they still go "Echidna? Echidna? Oh yeah, it's a type of porcupine".

Or they may substitute the word porcupine with hedgehog.

Hix said:

Some Australians still refer to them as porcupines. The new signs will only be effective if people read them.

Even then, they still go "Echidna? Echidna? Oh yeah, it's a type of porcupine".

Or they may substitute the word porcupine with hedgehog.

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I don't remember correctly, but I think the new sign explains that this is not a porcupine.

Blackduiker

Hix said:

Some Australians still refer to them as porcupines. The new signs will only be effective if people read them.

Even then, they still go "Echidna? Echidna? Oh yeah, it's a type of porcupine".

Or they may substitute the word porcupine with hedgehog.

Click to expand...

You wouldn't think that Australians would have the problem of distinguishing Echidnas from Porcupines, being that Porcupines don't even exist in the wilds of Australia.

Blackduiker said:

You wouldn't think that Australians would have the problem of distinguishing Echidnas from Porcupines, being that Porcupines don't even exist in the wilds of Australia.

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Kids grow up in Australia reading books written in the USA and UK, where porcupines/hedgehogs are featured, and it sticks with them. By the time they see their first echidna they assume anything with spikes is a porcupine.

In recent years there has been a massive influx of children's books written about Australian animals so the kids of today are probably more aware of echidnas than their parents are.

And it doesn't help that most school teachers are zoological ********s.