Sharing news from zoo staff

I'd say it comes back to the point that it's always a good idea to ask the person if the information they are sharing is for public consumption and if they don't explicitly say yes / they are uncertain or they don't really get what you are asking then keep it to yourself as a one on one chat. That way there can't be any misunderstandings.

No one here has any status beyond member of the public from being on a forum. As a result it's polite to just make clear the intent to publish something, if you have it. And even if someone has spoken about something they clearly shouldn't.

All that's needed really is for posters to put their enthusiasm into context and most people already do anyway.
 
I fully agree with most of the posts made here and think we should be conducting ourselves both on and off the forum in a way that contributes to creating a professional culture.

To address a couple of points mentioned:

I imagine part of the reason keepers participate less in discussions is because more stimulating conversations can be had with their colleagues in the industry. There’s certain things they can’t discuss with members on here, which limits the conversation before it even begins. In such discussions (where they know things members don’t), keepers have the following choices: play dumb, disclose company secrets or choose not to participate. It’s easy to see why they choose the third.

With regards to ZooChatters “digging” for information, one way to interpret this is they know the right questions to ask. Ask a staff member at a zoo if they’re planning to breed a species and you’ll usually be given a long winded response about how zoos participate in coordinated breeding programmes. Asking if a pair have a breeding recommendation or if any of the females are off contraception cuts to the chase; but could be interpreted as “digging.” As with any situation, it pays to read the room - recognise when staff are reluctant to share further information AND respect that.
 
Phoenicopterus said:
I'll also note that I've drifted towards talking more about zoo operations, rather than the incident that incited the thread, which was misinformation about future collection and construction plans. I think a lot of the same issues apply there, with the added difficulty of not getting people's hopes up about plans that might well fall through.
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Future plans should not be discussed with the public and in some cases even the wider zoo staff, imo. Initial concepts for exhibits may amount to no construction at all, or will not resemble the final exhibit in any real way. There are many reasons for this but I don't see that sharing all of this in-process thinking makes anyone happy or can be called "transparency." Even final animal collection list for a new exhibit may not be final until a few months before an exhibit opens. And we have many examples of Zoochatters being especially venomous about the zoo management disappointing them as these changes become known. And what has been gained?
 
Is it really that difficult to just enjoy any kind of zoo gossip by yourself instead of posting it on a forum where it could potentially affect other people or the zoo in bad terms? Just for a short minute satisfaction of posting something that most other people wouldn't know... yet.

In the end if a zoo thinks something is worth sharing with the class, they will.
Especially in terms of new acquisitions and such.

If you hear from a good pal in a zoo that they got a new bird sitting behind the scenes in quarantine and you go shout it around on ZooChat but only for it to then die a few days later... who looks dumb and silly...

Not only do you share something that the zoo is keeping behind the scenes because the animal is not ready for display yet for any reasons possibly. But you also break trust with said employee and if given names it could be a risk for that employee to get in trouble with the zoo.

On top of that. If you have news based on hearsay, it's just not credible.
Unless your hearsay comes from the absolute top of the chain anything could be different/subject to change (in case of new plans) or misinformed.
Gotta love having ''Just trust me bro'' as your credibilty.

My hot take is; don't share anything at all. Take the joy in that you heard something exciting for yourself. If what you heard happens and it's good news, then that's cool, enjoy it yourself. You don't need to share it with the class to enjoy this type of news.
 
To add some perspective on this maybe that is a bit different -- while I am usually all for transparency, recently it was reported that a baby Nyala had been born at Brookfield Zoo here, which was not reported elsewhere to my knowledge; it later came out the baby died, and while it is a part of life and I can handle it, a very serious part of me felt I could have gone without knowing that the animal had been born and died in such a short amount of time, and that the zoo probably dodged a serious bullet by not publicizing the birth right away.

This was not information given by an employee in confidence, which is the sort of matter this thread is titled for -- but it was an example where I understood why the zoo may benefit from keeping things on the down low, so to speak.
 
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