Social Media Content of Australasian Zoos

[Zoofan15]

Introduction

Every zoo and wildlife park in the region uses social media channels. Facebook and Instagram are the mostly widely used. Though I’m predicting some strong trends, I thought it’d be interesting nonetheless to get an overview of people’s opinions.

This poll is regarding the social media content of Australasian facilities. ZooChatters from outside Australasia are welcome to vote if they follow Australasian facilities and have an opinion they’d like to share on their content.

 

[Zoofan15]

My Opinion

News:

My favourite content to see on zoo’s social media channels is news. Most zoos share headline news, but often low profile news is neglected. Examples include otter transfers and baboon births. To me, this news is no less interesting and 100% worthy of coverage.

History:

Zoological history fascinates me. When celebrating a milestone year, zoos will often dig up a photo from the archives, but it’s not often this type of content is posted. Between the many staff members that have worked in a zoo over the years, there must be a wealth of old photos and it’s always a pleasure to see them.

Other:

I included ‘other’ as a category as there simply wasn’t enough options. In here, I would include sharing of future plans (a fascination for many of us on here); and feedback. Darling Downs Zoo extended an invitation to their followers (in celebration of their upcoming birthday) to suggest an upcoming species. It was a great way to involve people and surely provided them with some feedback. Other zoos would do well to undertake the same.

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International X Day:

I’m not a fan of International X Day. There’s a day for everything these days and in most cases the zoos celebrating don’t have anything more to share than a photo of the featured species.

Soft News/Animal Photos:

I have zero interest in soft news and photos of lions having crazy hair days. I’ve seen a lion before and I don’t care that the meerkats got a pumpkin placed in their exhibit on October 31.

 

[Jambo]

My Opinion

News:

My favourite content to see on zoo’s social media channels is news. Most zoos share headline news, but often low profile news is neglected. Examples include otter transfers and baboon births. To me, this news is no less interesting and 100% worthy of coverage.

History:

Zoological history fascinates me. When celebrating a milestone year, zoos will often dig up a photo from the archives, but it’s not often this type of content is posted. Between the many staff members that have worked in a zoo over the years, there must be a wealth of old photos and it’s always a pleasure to see them.

Other:

I included ‘other’ as a category as there simply wasn’t enough options. In here, I would include sharing of future plans (a fascination for many of us on here); and feedback. Darling Downs Zoo extended an invitation to their followers (in celebration of their upcoming birthday) to suggest an upcoming species. It was a great way to involve people and surely provided them with some feedback. Other zoos would do well to undertake the same.

———————————————————

International X Day:

I’m not a fan of International X Day. There’s a day for everything these days and in most cases the zoos celebrating don’t have anything more to share than a photo of the featured species.

Soft News/Animal Photos:

I have zero interest in soft news and photos of lions having crazy hair days. I’ve seen a lion before and I don’t care that the meerkats got a pumpkin placed in their exhibit on October 31.

I agree with all but do have an alternative opinion regarding animal photos.

I do enjoy seeing photos of animals on social media. But for me, this is really only relevant to my home zoos of which I visit quite often, and therefore am familiar with a lot of the animals.

When photos of them are posted on socials, it gives me the opportunity to see how much they've grown (especially when I last saw them as babies). It's also always good to see a photo of a specific animal; especially when I haven't seen them in a while.

 

[Zoofan15]

I agree with all but do have an alternative opinion regarding animal photos.

I do enjoy seeing photos of animals on social media. But for me, this is really only relevant to my home zoos of which I visit quite often, and therefore am familiar with a lot of the animals.

When photos of them are posted on socials, it gives me the opportunity to see how much they've grown (especially when I last saw them as babies). It's also always good to see a photo of a specific animal; especially when I haven't seen them in a while.

That’s a good point. I do particularly like seeing great apes and elephants, especially with regards to comparing and contrasting traits within and between family lines. It’s been interesting to compare tusk development between various bull elephants in the region, which over time we’ll be able to do with their sons on a multigenerational level.

Similarly, it’s been interesting to see historical photos of chimpanzees (particularly regional founders) to get an idea of probable subspecies.

A recent highlight for me was seeing footage of Auckland Zoo’s orangutan colony from an old episode of The Zoo on DVD. The footage was from 2000 and it was cool to see Dara (1977-2000), as although I’ve read plenty about her and her family; what she looked like was very much a blank in my mind. She had a very distinct look from the other females, Indra and Intan (mother and daughter).

 

[boof]

Conservation news is great. Breeding and releasing or just breeding endangered animals. Always great to read about that sort of thing.
I am not interested at all about a baby girraffe, zebra, meerkat or rhino getting a name. The old "we have named the baby (insert animal here) which means ( some stupid name like hope, sunshine, warrior, destiny or precious) in ( insert language here.)"
So over done.

 

[Zoofan15]

Conservation news is great. Breeding and releasing or just breeding endangered animals. Always great to read about that sort of thing.
I am not interested at all about a baby girraffe, zebra, meerkat or rhino getting a name. The old "we have named the baby (insert animal here) which means ( some stupid name like hope, sunshine, warrior, destiny or precious) in ( insert language here.)"
So over done.

Thanks for your response.

As someone who enjoys researching zoo animals and their lineages, I find it useful to have the names for reference. It’s frustrating when trying to research, when I can only find half announcements. The birth itself was notable enough to make the news, but the offspring wasn’t named for several weeks and that subsequently didn’t make the news. Clearly, many people share your view of what constitutes news!

Although I like names that reflect the heritage of the animal, I have to agree many are overused. Zuri (Swahili for beautiful) and Berani (Indonesian for brave) are probably the most overdone.

 

[19985]

My Opinion

News:

My favourite content to see on zoo’s social media channels is news. Most zoos share headline news, but often low profile news is neglected. Examples include otter transfers and baboon births. To me, this news is no less interesting and 100% worthy of coverage.

History:

Zoological history fascinates me. When celebrating a milestone year, zoos will often dig up a photo from the archives, but it’s not often this type of content is posted. Between the many staff members that have worked in a zoo over the years, there must be a wealth of old photos and it’s always a pleasure to see them.

Other:

I included ‘other’ as a category as there simply wasn’t enough options. In here, I would include sharing of future plans (a fascination for many of us on here); and feedback. Darling Downs Zoo extended an invitation to their followers (in celebration of their upcoming birthday) to suggest an upcoming species. It was a great way to involve people and surely provided them with some feedback. Other zoos would do well to undertake the same.

———————————————————

International X Day:

I’m not a fan of International X Day. There’s a day for everything these days and in most cases the zoos celebrating don’t have anything more to share than a photo of the featured species.

Soft News/Animal Photos:

I have zero interest in soft news and photos of lions having crazy hair days. I’ve seen a lion before and I don’t care that the meerkats got a pumpkin placed in their exhibit on October 31.

Valid points to regular zoo visitors and researchers like yourself. However, consider the general public. Facebook and instagram algorithms promote random viral/cute posts that gain traction - e.g. a lion having a bad hair day. They also form the image of a zoo - well photographed animals paint a pretty picture of the facility. These posts are indeed overdone and sometimes painful but they form the substance for most social media, and then the scattering of births/transfers etc seems more meaningful.
They also keep momentum up - again, with the algorithms, commenting and sharing keeps pages relevant the most. The page is less likely to be buried in the algorithm if people keep tagging their friends on a cute or funny animal photo.
International X Day can be helpful for engaging with a global conservation message, and often organisations like AZA encourage hashtag engagement and participation on certain days, to push certain messages (e.g tree kangaroo safe program).

In social media, target audience is the most important to consider. Moving into the era of short form tiktok style videos - short, attention grabbing content is unfortunately best.