signage in roadside zoos and others

[brown bear 555]

Okay so 'I was looking at a roadside zoo by looking at pictures on yelp. in doing so I noticed this sign regarding animal information

now look closely at that sign because I have noticed that this sign matches the same kind of format used in other zoos such as the Garlyn Zoo:

the same format is used.
who created these and are these how do zoos get them also are these for roadside zoos or others accredited zoos?

 

[birdsandbats]

They're made by a company called Sanctuary Supplies. They make these generic signs for common zoo animals and sell them primarily to private zoos.

 

[snowleopard]

Yes, @birdsandbats is absolutely correct. On the website of Sanctuary Supplies, there is mention that they have "over 800 animal information signs". I've been to dozens of roadside zoos and I must admit that after a while these signs are quite boring to see, but at least visitors obtain some basic information about different animals.

Here's the website:

Sanctuary Supplies

 

[birdsandbats]

Is the first photo from Special Memories?

 

[15399]

I've noticed this before when seeing photos too, however I had assumed it was just an online/shared template, more so than using a company. That said, I've made a few observations off of this:

• @snowleopard is correct in calling these signs "boring" to see. I also have enough background in zoo education to know that these are not exactly going to be very effective signage either- most visitors don't go to the zoo to read, so seeing large paragraphs on a sign isn't going to be very useful! It's much better instead to have something that has less words and is more visually appealing, containing lots of photos and ideally some more personal information about the animals or something a little more humorous, such as these photos I pulled from the gallery:

Photo By: @Ggrarl

Photo By: @TinoPup

Photo By: @HOMIN96 (I can't even tell what this one says, but can tell it's a good sign!)

Photo By: @Neil chace (For a tiny, unaccredited aquarium- VIA really pulled off the electronic signage really well!)

• One thing I find interesting looking at the signage from this company, however, is what animals they have signage often for. They fall into some of the common "traps" of incorrect identification that many on ZooChat often complain about. For example, when I searched for animal of "tiger", the options given were: Bengal, Indochinese, Siberian, or White tiger. One of these is a color morph, one is a common name that has fallen out of fashion, and two can't be found in zoos (at least in North America). For zoos using signs from this company, it'd be impossible to simply sign "tiger"- the only options are ones that are likely incorrect! For giraffes at least, the only option is "giraffe"- so that one zoos can get correctly. They also of course sell this gem of a sign, with the photo taken by @ThylacineAlive:

 

[SwampDonkey]

Very interesting, I have seen these around (Wild Florida, etc.) but never made a connection that they were the same. Minus the factual issues, I actually quite like them. They look half-way descent and at least give some information.

 

[biggest_dreamer]

There's some very interesting species available on that site too - surely there isn't a huge demand for low budget zoo signage for okapi or lion-tailed macaques.

 

[brown bear 555]

Is the first photo from Special Memories?

no this is from another roadside zoo called Tregembo animal park