Animal Stereotypes That You Hate

Corangurilla said:
Come to think of it, what even is the "default zoo monkey"? In a lot of zoo-related kids media (and I mean really young kids), most bears are brown/grizzly bears and parrots are usually represented by the Scarlet Macaw, but monkeys?
What is the first monkey that comes to most people's minds? Spider monkeys? Capuchins? Just a chimpanzee with a tail?
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This is a hard question to answer, because unlike the bears and macaws, standard monkeys in the media don’t really have a specific species they represent.

The standard monkey is always brown with a lighter belly and facial features (at least I assume we are talking about the same thing). Although several primates display some of these features, I would say no primate gets it exactly right on the dot.

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I don't really find crocodiles nearly as horrifying as many seem to. It even seems that most croc videos on YouTube are more cute or derpy than scary.

(Fun fact: the crocodile featured in the film “Black Water” was played by “Salty” a Saltwater Crocodile who now resides at the Fort Worth Zoo.)
 
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Jambo said:
They are actually quite deadly. At Australian Zoos, hotwire is in place to keep them in and all keepers, and visitors have to stay more than two metres away from the fenceline. They could easily get one of those claws through the fence. Quite a scary species, especially if disturbed. They can be incredibly territorial, especially around eggs.
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Case in point:

"A team of Wuthathi Land and Sea Custodians in Far North Queensland have captured the heart-stopping moment they were chased at full-speed by an angry territorial cassowary.

Whilst conducting track inspections in an extremely remote part of Wuthathi country, the wildlife rangers were chased for hundreds of metres while trying to escape the magnificent bird."​

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=528961312249151

(pity about the sound track they felt they needed to put over the top of it - would like to see the original footage)
 
Simon Hampel said:
Case in point:

"A team of Wuthathi Land and Sea Custodians in Far North Queensland have captured the heart-stopping moment they were chased at full-speed by an angry territorial cassowary.

Whilst conducting track inspections in an extremely remote part of Wuthathi country, the wildlife rangers were chased for hundreds of metres while trying to escape the magnificent bird."​

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=528961312249151

(pity about the sound track they felt they needed to put over the top of it - would like to see the original footage)
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Highly impressive it had the stamina to go that far at speed enough to keep up with the vehicle! I agree I would like to see the original footage, without the soundtrack. Either way much respect duly noted for the cassowary!
 
Simon Hampel said:
Case in point:

"A team of Wuthathi Land and Sea Custodians in Far North Queensland have captured the heart-stopping moment they were chased at full-speed by an angry territorial cassowary.

Whilst conducting track inspections in an extremely remote part of Wuthathi country, the wildlife rangers were chased for hundreds of metres while trying to escape the magnificent bird."​

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=528961312249151

(pity about the sound track they felt they needed to put over the top of it - would like to see the original footage)
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Even two months later, my second-ever Zoochat post is still getting talked about.
But anyways, I don't hate the "world's most dangerous bird" moniker that the cassowary has been given. What I actually hate is the sensationalism of it all. I think it was that infamous "Florida Man Killed by Pet Cassowary" story that really solidified the "murder turkey" stereotype. Never mind that this incident happened in captivity, in Florida, and that the guy was supposedly trying to take one of the cassowary's eggs.
Here's my summary of how we got to this point:
  1. "Florida Man" memes hit their stride in March 2019.
  2. Cassowary incident happens in April 2019.
  3. Articles like "Florida Man Killed by Pet Cassowary" are made.
  4. People see "Florida Man", but don't know what a Cassowary is.
  5. They read the articles, which give a brief description on the birds, particularly their speed and sharp claws.
  6. People see picture of Cassowary, they think it looks a little weird, and compare it to either a dinosaur or a turkey.
  7. "Murder turkey" internet name for Cassowary is born and is here to stay.
  8. Internet becomes collectively afraid of Cassowaries.
Do you see why this bothers me so much? Other "unpleasant" animals like sharks get their "bad reputations" brought up and refuted all the time, and yet cassowaries are demonized!
If there's anything that I think could salvage the cassowary's reputation, it's that the internet loves "father figure" memes and Cassowaries are excellent dads.
 
Jacob F said:
I feel like it's really annoying when people say that wolves are evil.
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When three wolves were shot after escaping Colchester Zoo, there was outrage and comments dangerous domestic dog breeds were more of a risk to the public.

Stories like Little Red Riding Hood have sadly done them no favours in portraying them as villains with malicious intent Instad of focussing on their positive attributes of team work or the role they play in the eco-system of culling the old and the sick animals.
 
Corangurilla said:
Even two months later, my second-ever Zoochat post is still getting talked about.
But anyways, I don't hate the "world's most dangerous bird" moniker that the cassowary has been given. What I actually hate is the sensationalism of it all. I think it was that infamous "Florida Man Killed by Pet Cassowary" story that really solidified the "murder turkey" stereotype. Never mind that this incident happened in captivity, in Florida, and that the guy was supposedly trying to take one of the cassowary's eggs.
Here's my summary of how we got to this point:
  1. "Florida Man" memes hit their stride in March 2019.
  2. Cassowary incident happens in April 2019.
  3. Articles like "Florida Man Killed by Pet Cassowary" are made.
  4. People see "Florida Man", but don't know what a Cassowary is.
  5. They read the articles, which give a brief description on the birds, particularly their speed and sharp claws.
  6. People see picture of Cassowary, they think it looks a little weird, and compare it to either a dinosaur or a turkey.
  7. "Murder turkey" internet name for Cassowary is born and is here to stay.
  8. Internet becomes collectively afraid of Cassowaries.
Do you see why this bothers me so much? Other "unpleasant" animals like sharks get their "bad reputations" brought up and refuted all the time, and yet cassowaries are demonized!
If there's anything that I think could salvage the cassowary's reputation, it's that the internet loves "father figure" memes and Cassowaries are excellent dads.
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I'll agree that incident brought the cassowart to the world stage. Even most New Zealand people I'd met prior didn't know the dangers of encountering a cassowary and comments on videos of people having close encounters with them were filled with comments saying they were obviously a tourist as no Australian would get that close.

I've seen them in the wild before and as long as you use commonsense and don't get too close, they're nowhere near as dangerous to people as as the memes portray. Potentially dangerous, absolutely; but it's within our control to limit that potential.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I'll agree that incident brought the cassowart to the world stage. Even most New Zealand people I'd met prior didn't know the dangers of encountering a cassowary and comments on videos of people having close encounters with them were filled with comments saying they were obviously a tourist as no Australian would get that close.

I've seen them in the wild before and as long as you use commonsense and don't get too close, they're nowhere near as dangerous to people as as the memes portray. Potentially dangerous, absolutely; but it's within our control to limit that potential.
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Magpies kill more people (or more specifically, cause more deaths) than cassowaries. Again though - like cows, humans are much more likely to come into contact with magpies than they are with cassowaries.

I also dislike the magpie stereotype (which is largely true though - they genuinely are feared here in Australia - for very good reason), having grown up in regional areas where we actually had a great relationship with the local magpies and they would regularly come caroling at our back door and never swoop us. They are beautiful birds with amazing songs - but they can also be terrifying and actually dangerous.
 
Simon Hampel said:
Magpies kill more people (or more specifically, cause more deaths) than cassowaries. Again though - like cows, humans are much more likely to come into contact with magpies than they are with cassowaries.

I also dislike the magpie stereotype (which is largely true though - they genuinely are feared here in Australia - for very good reason), having grown up in regional areas where we actually had a great relationship with the local magpies and they would regularly come caroling at our back door and never swoop us. They are beautiful birds with amazing songs - but they can also be terrifying and actually dangerous.
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Magpies only swoop when they are protecting their nest; so during spring (or magpie season as it's known), going for a walk or a bike ride can be rather dangerous.

I personally, have been swooped multiple times before, and i've found most swoop just to scare, not to actually physically hurt you. There's been many accidents I know of where a magpie's swooped a bike rider, and they've fell and seriously injured themselves.

I respect magpies though; there's no other bird like them in the world.
 
equidae said:
That said, cassowaries are pretty new to the global "villainous animal" scene. It took sharks decades for people to start questioning their reputation. The same will be done with cassowaries in time.
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Well it’s best known that they can inflict some quite serious injuries, encountering a shark would be way less unsafe than a cassowary. They live in the forest, so encountering a cassowary is more unlikely than encountering a shark. So I think cassowaries are best explained as a family of peaceful birds but capable of serious injury infliction. That should make them respectable, not fearable
 
Two things that annoy me.

1. When people call an animal "fearless" when for the record there's no such thing. All animals are afraid of something, like fire for instance.

2. When people call something a "perfect predator". Truth is, there's no such thing as a perfect predator because all of them have a weakness of some kind, hence is one reason why many fail more then succeed when hunting.
 
equidae said:
You could say pretty much the same thing about sharks.
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Yes but encountering a shark is way more safer than encountering a cassowary.

I’ve went on snorkelling trips in the Maldives and have encountered blacktip reef sharks multiple times.

That’s the point, nobody should be scared of a shark since they’re so diverse in terms of size, temperament etc. Cassowaries aren’t really diverse and they all possess the same capabilities
 
Pantheraman said:
Two things that annoy me.

1. When people call an animal "fearless" when for the record there's no such thing. All animals are afraid of something, like fire for instance.

2. When people call something a "perfect predator". Truth is, there's no such thing as a perfect predator because all of them have a weakness of some kind, hence is one reason why many fail more then succeed when hunting.
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One could argue Humans are the prefect predator.
 
Oh where do I begin about which animal stereotypes I despise.
1. Goats eat EVERYTHING--- as someone who has worked with goats before, it is more like they actually mouth everything rather then try to actually eat it.
2. Snakes are disgusting evil dangerous animals-- honestly I will never understand how a animal that only goes to the bathroom like once a week is considered disgusting by many, and not to mention snakes are actually more likely to hide from people rather then go and attack, plus not all snakes are venomous, and even with the ones that are, they do have anti-venom treatments.
3. When ever someone sees a Alpaca and Llama they automatically get on the defense and be like "watch out they spit." First off alpacas and llamas only spit when they are annoyed or mad about something. Simply watching them is usually not enough to make them want to spit at you.
 
Sphenisciologist said:
The standard monkey is always brown with a lighter belly and facial features (at least I assume we are talking about the same thing). Although several primates display some of these features, I would say no primate gets it exactly right on the dot.
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Don't forget brachiation! Your "standard monkey" often gets around by swinging from branch to branch, while real monkeys move over the branch more often than under it. A lot about how your stereotypical monkey moves seems like it comes from gibbons.

Speaking of gibbons, I've actually been using the "monkeys love bananas" thing to my advantage lately. I volunteer at my local zoo interpreting at the gibbon enclosure, and I've been using kids' assumptions that the gibbons eat bananas to talk about the importance of fruit in gibbons' diets. (Gibbons are mainly frugivores, with about 2/3 of their diet in the wild being fruit.) (And, yes, the vast majority of guests call the gibbons "the monkeys"...it's usually too rude to straight-up correct people, and it's so pervasive it'd be a losing battle anyway. I've stopped even being fazed by it at this point and just appreciate when somebody comes along that knows they're apes.)
 
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