Is it possible to get rid of your zoo interest?

[cloudedleopard611]

I'd say it hasn't really happened to me. When I was a kid I would always beg my parents to take me to the St. Louis Zoo and we'd go several times every year. Probably would have been more if my brother didn't despise the zoo so much and make it everyone's problem whenever we visited (I don't think he had any moral qualms with it he just really didn't enjoy things that involved a lot of walking). When I started to get into my mid-teens and went into high school I developed a need to come across as a normal girl that age, and lets be honest being obsessed with the zoo doesn't quite fit that description. I did start to shift my focus away from zoos and animals just a bit, and only went to the zoo once, and that was with my friend to catch pokemon back when Pokemon Go had taken over the world. I know that probably comes off even less fitting of the typical teen girl image but at this very specific point in time that was not the case. I started to regain that focus when I took a photography class and I went there for a couple assignments. After that, going to the zoo was something I embraced and tried to do whenever I got the chance. Now being able to go by myself and not having to worry about whether or not my parents could go or were willing to deal with my brother crying the entire time, it became my go-to for any time I had a large block of time available to me. That was kind of brought to a halt when covid hit and the St. Louis Zoo temporarily closed to the public. Even when they reopened, I was super hesitant about going to a crowded public place during covid. In December of 2020 I finally went on a day I specifically chose because I knew it would not be busy, and wore a mask the entire time. As the world has gotten used to covid and I've gotten vaccinated, I've become more comfortable visiting. Nowadays, especially after joining zoochat, visiting the zoo has become a priority in my life. I try to visit no less than once a month. I don't ever anticipate this changing. Zoos and animals are something I am genuinely passionate about, and now that I'm in my 20's I'm just going to embrace that.

 

[JVM]

It's interesting to see for how many users shared personal stories here - some of them have been very touching to read.

For a long time, going to the zoo was mine and my dad's thing. We sometimes went with others but we would always go together. Though I was more outwardly interested, he was often the one to suggest it as an outing for his birthday or Father's Day, and such. We often took photographs together and helped each other spot animals hiding in bushes or behind branches. We went once with my little brother not long before a health issue came up, which was a special experience since we can rarely do things with him, but dad no longer has the mobility or personal comfort to cover these visits like he once did. Any time I visit now, I find myself wishing he were with me.

I had a chance to visit Denver, Colorado with some friends and my sister made a point to encourage me to visit the zoo when I had floated the idea possibly, and it was only fifteen minutes from where we were staying. I did not expect the friends to be okay with it, but we fit into the schedule with some effort and it was an amazing experience, and the friend I went with had a good time. It was my first time visiting a new facility in over a decade and it really reinvigorated my love of zoos generally, even if it also awakened me to the weaknesses of my local facilities. It was amazing to get new perspectives on familiar species as much as meet new ones.

As an adult, I do find a lot of my childhood interests reach a 'burn out' point faster or more intensly than back then, but I think zoos will be a part of me for a long, long time.