General Zoo Misconceptions

I agree with you totaly their its an excellent zoo and anybody who is serious about visiting should visit i always try to get over at least once a year to see the zoo.
 
Confronted with a magnificent lion glaring balefully out of his grotto at the Ft. Worth Zoo, a couple with small daughter stops to contemplate (or perhaps to muster brain cells).

The woman says nasally to kid:

" Look honey, it's a TYYGGGER!! Whatsa TYYGGGER say?"

The tot stares, nose running unchecked, then opens mouth:

" Waaarrrgggghh!!!!!"

The lion's eyes are fixated on the child's every move.

Father says:

" Wish I had me a BB gun. I'd pop that sucker..."
 
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Ha ha! Wow! That's ignorance! (You probably wished you had a gun!)

In front of the Malayan tapir exhibit at Taronga yesterday, a kid says to his father, "What's that thing, Dad?" Totally ignoring the sign, the guy says vaguely, "Oh, its a black-and-white elephant thingy."
 
Sigh that's real depressing to hear, you would hope people actually go to the zoo these days because they want to educate themselves rather than just for 'amusement' :( On the bright side their ignorance is sometimes entertaining. The other day I was doing the regular scatter feed in one of the avaries and a whole bunch of tourists were staring at me and exclaimed "what are they doing? feeding the ground?" obviously ignoring the fact there were 40 birds in it :rolleyes:
 
That actually happened! I've spent a lot of time at the Ft. Worth Zoo lion exhibit in particular- and the general ignorance and lack of manners demonstrated by the public never fails to amaze me.

Tsavo, Ft. Worth's big male lion, is truly magnificent-- he was orphaned in Africa and brought to America as a very small cub. He is exceptionally large and handsome, without an ounce of fat on him. He is the embodiment of the iconic ideal of the African lion--a Kuhnert painting or a Trafalgar lion statue come to life. (The lions that I've observed in the wild in Africa look quite the reverse...)

But he does not have an easy time with the public. The sight of such a huge and powerful creature of such absolute beauty seems to bring out both the best and the worst in people.

I've noticed that some people whisper when they see him, as if time is slowing down, and even fall silent. I only wish that all visitors were as respectful as those awestruck few who actually grasp the significance of what they are seeing.

I always feel that it is a privilege to just sit and watch him-- and I can hardly tear myself away at zoo closing time. No other zoo creature that I have ever encountered has had as powerful an effect on me. His presence is that riveting, especially if you take the time to quietly observe. Watching him, it becomes clear why the lion has been a religious, heraldic, and totemic symbol of power and magic in human culture for thousands of years.

I find it unendurable when the spell is broken by the ignorance and deliberate cruelty of the general public. Time and again, people passing his rocky grotto fail to show any degree of respect for the great lion's space, privacy, or peace of mind. Often, if Tsavo is sleeping people will start to yell and scream and try to wake him, to make him " do something". Yes, he may be all powerful and could swat you like a gnat without even blinking-- but ah ha, he is also at one's mercy-- a powerless and helpless captive!

Perhaps, being primates, there is something in our genetic code that makes us want to harrass a helpless predator...

Or perhaps people everywhere are simply that depraved?

Whatever the cause, a classic scenario unfolds time and again as Bible Belt Bubba/Denny's night-shift assistant manager/stroller mama with wailing brood in tow takes on pure primeval splendor. Chalk one up for the masses! It is, after all, a Jerry Springer world...

It is a horrible sight to watch Tsavo on a very crowded day at the zoo, enduring the countless taunts, mock roars, and shrieks. You can see him steeling himself to ignore the literal rivers of people that crowd past him on a packed Saturday afternoon (a scary metaphor for the state of the natural world in microcosm). I often wonder how much more bludgeoning the noise must be to a creature with superior hearing to a human being's. It must take a great deal of energy to maintain such regal disdain in the face of so many jeering buffoons. Occasionally, Tsavo takes a decided dislike to a member of the public and makes a quick charge, scattering people everywhere. The keepers tell me that he hates people.

I think that on some level Tsavo's life must be a torment.
 
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Wow, that is an interesting look into one animal's daily life... I wonder however how similar the story would be if any zoo animal was considered..?
 
kifaru said:
It is a horrible sight to watch Tsavo on a very crowded day at the zoo, enduring the countless taunts, mock roars, and shrieks. You can see him steeling himself to ignore the literal rivers of people that crowd past him on a packed Saturday afternoon (a scary metaphor for the state of the natural world in microcosm). I often wonder how much more bludgeoning the noise must be to a creature with superior hearing to a human being's. It must take a great deal of energy to maintain such regal disdain in the face of so many jeering buffoons. Occasionally, Tsavo takes a decided dislike to a member of the public and makes a quick charge, scattering people everywhere. The keepers tell me that he hates people.

I think that on some level Tsavo's life must be a torment.
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And yet, so often, you hear humans being described as 'behaving like animals'. If only.....:rolleyes: Your writing is very moving, kifaru.
 
Its always interesting to see how zoo visitors interpret animal expressions...
A few examples. A classic one is the chimpanzee/orangutan/gorilla that is 'bored'. People think that because it sits and stares 'moodily' into space it is miserable and suffering extreme boredom. In fact I've seen wild chimps on a jungle trail strike exactly the same pose with their heads and hands on their knees,and staring into space exactly as their zoo counterparts do. Its just 'downtime...'

Yet if people see a chimpanzee with its teeth bared, they think 'haha, he's happy', when in fact a 'fear grin' means the exact opposite- a very frightened or distressed chimp. While a Mandrill shaking its head and baring its teeth is 'threatening'- but actually, no he isn't , he's making friendly contact...

Another common misinterpretation I've seen many times is over the 'flehmen' gesture in big cats. Lion comes over to lioness, sniffs her urine and raises his head, showing his teeth and extruding his tongue while he tests her scent. Of course, visitors always think he's pulling a 'disgust' face and find that very funny. If a horse/zebra does it, they think its laughing...
 
I was looking on Youtube and found a video of an okapi labelled donkey/zebra/horse thingy.
 
Went to Planckendael Zoo in Belgium last month, when a high-school level class turned up at the Australia section of the Zoo. They where led by 50-year old, WAY overly blond woman speaking french. The first thing she shouted at the animal we where at was "AAAHH c'est un Capibara.... bla bla (in french)... Amerique du sud..."

Then, when they moved on a girl from the class pointed at the animal and told me "C'est un Capibara!"

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Gotta love the overly eager Biology-teachers these days that think they know...

Close, but no cigar.
 
At Melbourne Zoo once I saw something like this happen, but the culprit was not so much ignorance but poor signage. In one of the Asian rainforest aviaries, the sole sign indicated that the exhibit contained Brown Cuckoo-doves. In reality it had about five to six species all up. I overheard one couple discussing that the magnificent male Golden Pheasant in front of them must be the male cuckoo-dove. It was one of the few times I've actually corrected a stranger.
 
I've heard the opposite to that with eclectus parrots. People look at the sign to see what it is called but don't read on to find out that they are the same thing. They just stand there saying whats that other bird.
 
In Duisburg overheard a family wondering if a mouse running around might be young Bettong.

Anyway, huge Brown Rat was very entertaining whenever otter was invisible.
 
One of my favourites occurred at Colchester Zoo and was unusually specific. When viewing a lemur exhibit (I forget which species), a woman replied to the usual "what is it?" question by stating that they were in fact Geoffrey's marmosets. :confused:
 
@Thonoir: The misinterpretation is easy to explain-the woman most likely read the wrong sign. A very common mistake, which only stresses the need & importance of good information signs in zoos. What aggrevates me more are people not willing to use the source of information right under their nose(s).
 
I completely agree but it winds me up no end that people can mistake species even after looking at the signs (those at Colchester do have photographs alongside the information). I'm amazed that anyone can confuse a Geoffrey's marmoset with a Eulemur species having presumably looked at a sign which includeded a photographic aid. :rolleyes:
 
ZooYouthBen said:
ohh this didnt happen at a zoo but at the aquarium store i work at,

We have a row of tanks, in tank 1 there are tadpoles tank 2 there ate axolotyl and tank 3 Murrays Tortoise

I overheard a mother telling her child, "See those tadpoles they will turn into an axolotyl, then when the axolotyls scome onto the land they will turn into a Turtle."

Atleast she didnt mention the seahorses in tank four!
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That's ok for me. She could explaining an evolution process, even if she didn't the child would be confused the right way:)

No offense to creationists :rolleyes:
 
In our Australian section we have a log ride that goes around the outside of our "Outback". The visitors pass the dingo yard, the kangaroo yard, and a large aviary. One of my employees was spot-cleaning the back dingo paddock when he heard a father say to his children as they were in view of the kangaroos "Look, there are the dingoes--they're a lot like prairie dogs." He was dead serious and seemed tothink he was teaching his children an important lesson!!
 
On my last visit to Chester I overheard a visitor refer to the onagers as baby camels.
 
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