Things people do that irritate you when you go to the zoo? #2

birdsandbats said:
Opening both doors into a free-flight aviary. :mad:
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I see this crap all the time. I admonished some people once for doing this in Valencia's Bioparc, and their excuse was "Es que somos de pueblo" ("We're from a village"); that's Spain for you, where stupidity is justified by being of Rural origin! What a load... :mad:
 
As a former keeper in quite a few collections a lot of things piss us keepers off
Banging on glass
People criticizing what keepers are doing deliberately in earshot..knowing we can't really throw down..normally they are f ing clueless
Trying to lose limbs by stroking animals..when the animal suffers if they defend

People who have read a few books on animal behaviour trying to tell keepers about animals they work with everyday.
Noise
Trying to feed animals with their enormous knowledge of diets
AND people who know more about enclosure needs than experts..

Finally sh66 jokes..about keepers..
 
Varanus said:
A few months ago I went to the Central Florida Zoo. I was at the cougar exhibit where the cougar was about to be trained, and was pacing back and forth by its shift door because it could see the keeper in the back preparing for the session. A couple standing next to me were watching the cougar and said “look at it pacing, it’s so sad.” I politely explained to them that the cougar was about to be trained and was pacing in anticipation because it was excited for the food rewards it would recieve during its training session. They watched for about another minute before walking away, and I heard the woman say “wild animals shouldn’t be in cages.” I gave up. Why people like this come to zoos and pay the admission price if they hate wild animals in captivity is beyond me.
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Wish there were more like u..used to get pissed off by wannabe animal behaviorists
 
Here in Louisville at the fantastic Glacier Run bear exhibit. The brown bears are out today, and a woman next to me complained... that there was no snow... Within the next few minutes, around six people identified them as polar bears
 
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ZooBinh said:
It's surprising they know what either an Emerald Fruit Dove or African Pygmy Falcon is.
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They didn't know what an Emerald fruit dove is, hence why they called it a falcon;)

Also today, not once did I hear anyone refer to the tapir by it's correct name. It's either an anteater, an aardvark, a bear! the closest guess, an elephant-pig.
 
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Oh, the other day I was at the Cincinnati Zoo, at the African Plains exhibit, and some kid points at a vulture and says "is that a hawk?". His mom corrects him with "No honey, that's a condor.". I was sooo triggered.
 
Father with a child walking up to our round-nosed plated lizard:
"Hey son, look at the baby alligator"

People who think that when I have a snake out for interpretation, it means they have a right to manhandle the poor thing and get pissy when I ask them to touch it in a certain way.

People feeding the peafowl and chickens popcorn or french fries while literally sitting underneath a sign that says do not feed the animals (then half apologizing and saying that they saw others doing it or that the bird was eating the stuff left on the ground anyways).

Oh and the kicker: Someone trying to start an argument with one of the teens in our teen program who was interpreting a training session I was doing about how zoos were prisons (I was doing a training session with a raven who is fully flighted and had every opportunity to fly away if she chose to).
 
Echobeast said:
Oh and the kicker: Someone trying to start an argument with one of the teens in our teen program who was interpreting a training session I was doing about how zoos were prisons (I was doing a training session with a raven who is fully flighted and had every opportunity to fly away if she chose to).
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Poor kid. :/ It's hard enough to deal with those arguments when you're not in front of a crowd.

Why would you even pay to visit if you felt that way?
 
Okapipako said:
Poor kid. :/ It's hard enough to deal with those arguments when you're not in front of a crowd.

Why would you even pay to visit if you felt that way?
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If I understood this correctly, this reminds me of the time I went to the Berlin zoo and overheard a couple of Turks talk about how they don't like having animals from the wild exhibited for human amusement. I can't blame them for not knowing much about captive breeding, but why did they force themselves to visit the zoo.
 
Echobeast said:
Father with a child walking up to our round-nosed plated lizard:
"Hey son, look at the baby alligator"

People who think that when I have a snake out for interpretation, it means they have a right to manhandle the poor thing and get pissy when I ask them to touch it in a certain way.

People feeding the peafowl and chickens popcorn or french fries while literally sitting underneath a sign that says do not feed the animals (then half apologizing and saying that they saw others doing it or that the bird was eating the stuff left on the ground anyways).

Oh and the kicker: Someone trying to start an argument with one of the teens in our teen program who was interpreting a training session I was doing about how zoos were prisons (I was doing a training session with a raven who is fully flighted and had every opportunity to fly away if she chose to).
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I have seen all above and more as a keeper..I have nearly thrown down on people off duty in other zoos over visitors trying to manipulate animals with food or throwing stuff to get that pic..in Barcelona zoo on a zoo trip I nearly came to blows over cruelty by visitors..cant stand by and watch sometimes
 
I was an invert keeper for years.used to police the screaming and running like robocop..we had a delinquency school in once they caused hell round place..had to drain a hippo pool because some twat threw sign in..drained it twice a week..meant chaos for hippos
 
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