La Cucaracha
Well-Known Member
Why are facilities like World Wildlife Zoo and Dallas World Aquarium called "roadside zoos" by Zoochatters?
How is "roadside zoo" defined?
- Thread starter La Cucaracha
- Start date
I never heard Dallas World Aquarium referred as "roadside zoo", because it is definitely not.
Roadside zoos are basically the zoos mostly in USA which are in small town/cities. Those places are usually owned by a single family or very few individuals, and have bad quality due to the limited money and questionable aims/logic/careness.
Roadside zoos are basically the zoos mostly in USA which are in small town/cities. Those places are usually owned by a single family or very few individuals, and have bad quality due to the limited money and questionable aims/logic/careness.
La Cucaracha
Well-Known Member
Hm, I seem to not be remembering that correctly.
I guess a better question is why aren't they? They seem to fit most of the criteria.
I haven't been to both in person, but based on what I've seen online, at least money doesn't seem to be an issue...
To answer your question: @aardvark250 has already delivered a few criteria. They are usually establisments next or in closer proximity to larger highways (hence "roadside"), often in rural areas or at least in a bit of a distance from the next larger city. The husbandry and general aesthetics are "rustical & practical" at best, the owners/founders/managers usually have no formal education in relevant fields of professional exotic animal husbandry and money is usually lacking to afford any necessary improvement to update to modern zoo standards. Hence plenty of kennels, "corncrib" cages and not too safe looking exhibit designs you thought had gone out of style several decades ago. The species collection is usually very similar and based on what it is currently available in the national exotic pet trade. The educational message is mixed at best (do ask @snowleopard about Wisconsin!), the dining options are usually limited to junk food, the patriotism apparent and the visitor amenities and attractions are usually of little interest or even appalling to pampered European snobs like me. Got the gist?
Last edited:
A handful of zoochatters misuse 'roadside zoo' as a term for anything that is outside the Association of Zoos & Aquariums in the United States. This is not the correct or intended usage even though it is a common mistake.
The above definitions are adequate to address an actual roadside zoo although I think it may be important to note that most zoo enthusiasts use the term as a negative, associating it with poor welfare or husbandry.
I think it is more than a handful. I know I have used it in conversations where the idea has taken root, even though I do understand the difference. But I wish it were used more appropriately than it is.
Absolutely, even some "nice" non-AZA zoos are often spoken as "nice for a roadside zoo". Backhanded compliments.
It isn't. That why so many people don't use the term. My personal definition would be pretty much the same as Batto's as used above.
Where on earth have you seen DWA called roadside on here?
I just did a quick search for both "DWA roadside zoo" and "Dallas World Aquarium roadside zoo", and the only place they are mentioned together appears to be this thread...
La Cucaracha
Well-Known Member
So what makes World Wildlife Zoo a "roadside zoo"?
As far as DWA goes, I must have confused gripes about them being a private facility and the proprietor only having a background in catering as reasons for them being viewed as "roadside zoo". Nevermind that.
I don't know if trafficking animals or getting trafficked animals is a defining factor of a roadside zoo but I was told that Wildlife World has sent animals (designated as endangered) across state lines without the needed permits.
I think it is often a case of you know one when you see one, but Batto's definition above is about as good as it gets.I haven't been to both in person, but based on what I've seen online, at least money doesn't seem to be an issue...
To answer your question: @aardvark250 has already delivered a few criteria. They are usually establisments next or in closer proximity to larger highways (hence "roadside"), often in rural areas or at least in a bit of a distance from the next larger city. The husbandry and general aesthetics are "rustical & practical" at best, the owners/founders/managers usually have no formal education in relevant fields of professional exotic animal husbandry and money is usually lacking to afford any necessary improvement to update to modern zoo standards. Hence plenty of kennels, "corncrib" cages and not too safe looking exhibit designs you thought had gone out of style several decades ago. The species collection is usually very similar and based on what it is currently available in the national exotic pet trade. The educational message is mixed at best (do ask @snowleopard about Wisconsin!), the dining options are usually limited to junk food, the patriotism apparent and the visitor amenities and attractions are usually of little interest or even appalling to pampered European snobs like me. Got the gist?
Sometimes it is incorrectly applied generally to smaller privately owned zoos.
Last edited:
The Dallas World Aquarium is an accredited zoo with what is widely considered to be an amazing collection of animals. The quality of some of the exhibits there are widely considered to be appalling, which is where I would guess the roadside zoo rebuke gets applied to them.
I would think that is potentially possible in any zoo, and is more dependent on the integrity of the management or perhaps on the training of the person responsible for the transfer.
I haven't been to both in person, but based on what I've seen online, at least money doesn't seem to be an issue...
To answer your question: @aardvark250 has already delivered a few criteria. They are usually establisments next or in closer proximity to larger highways (hence "roadside"), often in rural areas or at least in a bit of a distance from the next larger city. The husbandry and general aesthetics are "rustical & practical" at best, the owners/founders/managers usually have no formal education in relevant fields of professional exotic animal husbandry and money is usually lacking to afford any necessary improvement to update to modern zoo standards. Hence plenty of kennels, "corncrib" cages and not too safe looking exhibit designs you thought had gone out of style several decades ago. The species collection is usually very similar and based on what it is currently available in the national exotic pet trade. The educational message is mixed at best (do ask @snowleopard about Wisconsin!), the dining options are usually limited to junk food, the patriotism apparent and the visitor amenities and attractions are usually of little interest or even appalling to pampered European snobs like me. Got the gist?
Does the zoo have to be in the US to count as roadside? I would say a lot of zoos in countries all over the world have that aesthetic. Also to some extent I think of them as “mom-and-pop shops” versus the larger, better-organized and funded “IKEA superstore” zoos.
I'd dare to say that roadside zoos can be found all over the world, but are more common in some countries than others. An influential factor for this would the significance of animal welfare in the respective society and the resulting consequent implementation of national animal rights laws by the authorities. The stricter, the less likely roadside zoos can exist. I have seen more and more of them disappear within the last decades, at least in Western and Central Europe.
La Cucaracha
Well-Known Member
Source?
This, especially historically. That could be an entire thread subject on its own.
https://www.roadsidezoonews.org/pos...d-43-endangered-species-in-the-past-two-years
This article does come with paperwork proving the violations WW has done and shows that most of the animals end up in shoddy places such as Franklin drive thru safari.
Funnily enough, I have seen this misuse within the posts of US Zoochatters who are zoo professionals themselves - whether openly so, or keeping their status low-key
So on occasion it is unfortunately a case of deliberate passive-aggression and elitism, rather than an actual mistake in terminology.
La Cucaracha
Well-Known Member
Funnily enough, I have seen this misuse within the posts of US Zoochatters who are zoo professionals themselves - whether openly so, or keeping their status low-key
So on occasion it is unfortunately a case of deliberate passive-aggression and elitism, rather than an actual mistake in terminology.
Rather unfortunate considering many zookeepers and professionals begin their careers in non AZA facilities.