Animals That Simply Don't Interest You

Grant Rhino said:
I've never been a fan of seeing domestic animals in zoos, unless they are really interesting looking or striking or extremely cute etc - and of course if they aren't in a "farmyard area", then I don't understand why they even display them. Even semi-domestic animals such as water buffalo bore me to tears.

I also get a bit bored when a zoo displays far too many species of ungulate. Don't get me wrong, I do like ungulates, but I don't really want to see 7 species of deer, 7 species of wild goat, and 7 species of antelope all in the same zoo. I much prefer zoos which display one deer species, one antelope species and then use the leftover resources to display other interesting animals. I think that Mogo Zoo (in Australia) really does this well. The ungulates they have on display are White Rhinos, Giraffe, Zebra and Fallow Deer (and the deer can be fed) - I really like this model because all four ungulates are very different to each other. Another zoo in Australia (Altina) simply displays every ungulate species it can get its hands on, and I just find it a boring zoo for that reason.

The other thing I find is that I don't really get excited about seeing an animal which I feel is "out of place" - so if a zoo has an African savannah theme, then I feel that Gorillas are out of place as rainforest animals, and I've got myself in the headspace to see savannah animals.

Like others who've commented here, I'm also not a great fan of chimpanzees - and I don't really know why. Perhaps it's that their simply too similar to humans and I go to zoos to get away from people.... who knows.... I love watching most primates, but for whatever reason chimps just don't do it for me.

And of course, as an Australian, most Australian animals are less interesting to me than exotic animals for obvious reasons.

That said, I love visiting zoos and I do tend to enjoy watching any animal - even the ones I'm not too enthusiastic about.
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I was going to write all sorts of snarky things about your anti-ungulate sacrilege (I love seeing multiple species of cattle, deer, antelope) and the got the the part about Chimpanzees and well...agree completely.
 
Alex Bensky said:
The Detroit Zoo has the National Amphibian Conservation Center, it seems to be well-regarded, and I just have never been able to summon up much interest. I live within walking distance of the zoo so I go often and generally I don't even bother stepping in. I can't explain this.

National Amphibian Conservation Center Archives - Detroit Zoo
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It’s actually a similar story with me; I visit Detroit Zoo every year, but only once out of 7 visits last decade did I actually visit the Amphibian Center. I’ve frankly never visited Detroit long enough to see everything, and my limited time allotted at the zoo is usually spent at exhibits of animals that interest me more than Amphibians.
 
For me, I think Meerkats and Asian Small-Clawed Otters take the cake.

Porcupines are interesting. I do see why they wouldn't interest me but at the same time I think they're a lot more unique than the classic Meerkat exhibit every zoo in the world has (obviously being sarcastic but probably not far off honestly).
 
OstrichMania said:
For me, I think Meerkats and Asian Small-Clawed Otters take the cake.

Porcupines are interesting. I do see why they wouldn't interest me but at the same time I think they're a lot more unique than the classic Meerkat exhibit every zoo in the world has (obviously being sarcastic but probably not far off honestly).
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Isn’t the “meerkat epidemic” at zoos mostly a UK thing? I’ve often heard people from there complaining on this site about how every zoo has far too many, and while they’re certainly a common zoo animal over here in the states, only about 60% of the zoos I’ve visited in my 17 years have had them.
 
evilmonkey239 said:
Isn’t the “meerkat epidemic” at zoos mostly a UK thing? I’ve often heard people from there complaining on this site about how every zoo has far too many, and while they’re certainly a common zoo animal over here in the states, only about 60% of the zoos I’ve visited in my 17 years have had them.
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Oh yeah, it is very big in the UK. Almost every zoo has one, so my results may just be a bit biast. I also think the exhibit design may have something to do with it. Almost all meerkat exhibits are based on a desert and are either circular or walk-through. Also, the animals mixed in with them are mostly the same ones, such as porcupines, hence why porcupines aren't very interesting too.
 
OstrichMania said:
For me, I think Meerkats and Asian Small-Clawed Otters take the cake.

Porcupines are interesting. I do see why they wouldn't interest me but at the same time I think they're a lot more unique than the classic Meerkat exhibit every zoo in the world has (obviously being sarcastic but probably not far off honestly).
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Many zoos have them but as they are primarily nocturnal they make uninteresting exhibit animals for most people. Meerkats, on the other hand, hold the visitors' attention.
 
zoomaniac said:
All domestic species (except reindeer, yak and the two big camelids).

7 years ago, I even thought that those animals just take space off. Space, that could be used for "more important" and threatened animals. Now, with having kids, I understand the value of petting goats, sheeps and donkeys. But there is no need to have more then one race/type of it!!!
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I would agree with you if it was like a one or two off exhibits or sorta a petting zoo. But if there was a theme I wouldn’t necessarily be against it
 
Meerkats have exploded across the US zoo scene as well. Personally, I suggest replacing them with dwarf mongoose, which are much cuter due to their small size and fluffier appearance.

~Thylo
 
Meerkats, capybaras, and small-clawed otters are overly common in zoos, and I tend to not photograph them if I’m on a zoo tour and have seen them almost every day.

Also, zoos that keep common pet herps, like ball pythons, central bearded dragons, and some of the Testudo tortoises, as well as the three or four most common poison dart frog species. Really they could have spent the same space and food/equipment budget on endangered herps.
 
Most of the standard "ABC" African megafauna bores me something chronic in zoos. Animals like African elephants, hippos , rhino , giraffe , lions, antelope , zebra etc. The same with some Asiatic megafauna like tigers and Asiatic elephants. Granted, they may be crowd favourites but they just don't really interest me personally.

I don't particularly like chimpanzees either , which isn't to say that they are not interesting because they most certainly are. But I find that I am disturbed by their similarities to human beings and don't particularly like them as individual animals.

Apart from these larger species I would say obvious contenders for "Not interesting" IMO would have to be meerkats , Bennets wallabies and several other of the smaller mammals which typically are crowd favourites and commonly kept by zoos but which I personally find uninspiring.
 
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Meerkats are definitely one. Asian small-clawed otters, sometimes African elephants, white-tailed deer, Grant's zebra, the more common tamarins (golden lion, cotton-top, etc.), don't really get to me as much as they used to. Small exotic birds too, such as superb starlings and rollers.
 
Davdhole said:
Meerkats are definitely one. Asian small-clawed otters, sometimes African elephants, white-tailed deer, Grant's zebra, the more common tamarins (golden lion, cotton-top, etc.), don't really get to me as much as they used to. Small exotic birds too, such as superb starlings and rollers.
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I agree with most of these, but white-tailed deer are not common in European zoos.
 
Davdhole said:
Meerkats are definitely one. Asian small-clawed otters, sometimes African elephants, white-tailed deer, Grant's zebra, the more common tamarins (golden lion, cotton-top, etc.), don't really get to me as much as they used to. Small exotic birds too, such as superb starlings and rollers.
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Not criticising your opinion here it’s completely valid but I want to say something. Of how lucky all of you that live outside Australia and New Zealand are to see all these exotic animals, I’ve even travelled to the states before and I still haven’t seen ‘common animals’ such as NA river otters, superb starlings, lilac breasted rollers, red river hogs, American alligators (I’ve seen them in the wild, never in captivity), snapping turtles, Golden Lion Tamarins, Anacondas, Sloths, Armadillos, ANY Asian species of monkey, Burmese pythons, Leopard geckoes, ANY deer. heck I’ve never even seen a Boa Constrictor.

Even with aquarium fish, you know how much I’d love to see an Arowana, or a Pacu, and you all have these in your pet stores.

if you don’t include my trip to the USA and you don’t include animals that can no longer be seen in Australia then these important group/species would be missing.

Porcipines
Naked Mole Rat
Okapi
Brown Bear
White Nosed Coati
Giant Anteater
African Elephant
Many more
 
Species that I find interesting that the general consensus is they generally aren’t.

Asian Small Clawed Otters (or otters in general): I love this species (and other otters), to death, I just adore their movement and their quirky behaviour. Plus they are the only Mustelid left in Australia.

Meerkats: I do occasionally grow tired of meerkats but I will always stop and look for at least five minutes, I do think they are adorable but also super over represented, unfortunately they are the only mongoose in Australia.



Animals that don’t interest me much.

Domestics: for obvious reasons

Hoofstock in general: I do like ungulates, I’m just a fan of smaller animals and I’m more likely to watch them, dosent help that almost all ungulates (Exceptions of Okapi, Bongo, Zebra, Hippo, Pygmy Hippo, Brazilian and Malayan Tapirs and Giraffes) I’ve seen have been on Safaris (DAK and Weribee Zoo) so I haven’t had good looks at them anyway. The other reason I’m not as interested is complex taxonomy, it’s just so brain numbing, I can’t form my opinions on it.


Koalas: This only applies when they are asleep, and I’ve seen a LOT of koalas in my life and I’ve only seen two individuals awake, one of which was in the wild. When they are eating they are cool but other than that they are just overrated, conservation hogging and worst of all being saved where invasive (kangaroo island during the bush fires).

Bush Stone Curlew: It’s kinda creepy and although they are cool they aren’t fascinating to watch.

Owls: This really depends on the enclosure and how it’s built, enclosures such as the one at Moonlit Sanctuary give the Owl privacy while also letting you view it closely whereas at other places all I see is a medium sized blob of feathers in the dark back corner of the enclosure.

Emus: I don’t have to explain this!

Most Megafauna that isn’t showing interesting behaviour

I do enjoy some megafauna even when asleep though like Tapirs, Snow Leopards and Orangutangs.

This thought mainly applies to Lions, Tigers, Asian Elephants, Hippos, Saltwater Crocodiles, Reticulated Pythons, Common Macropods etc.
 
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