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

amur leopard said:
I guess factors like size of the enclosure, breed of macaw, previous life etc.. influence the behaviour of the macaws...
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Possibly. Individualization and breeding season will also be factors for parrots. I believe the Topeka pair had a nest (not that either were sitting on it).

~Thylo
 
KevinB said:
Personally I have in fact wondered before whether having large parrots like macaws or cockatoos in a walk-through aviary is a good/safe idea, and honestly I don't think it is.
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I feel very much the same after knowing some bad-tempered cockatoos. Feels a bit of a risk if such species are free-flighted.

amur leopard said:
I guess factors like size of the enclosure, breed of macaw, previous life etc.. influence the behaviour of the macaws...
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True for cockatoos as well, previous life and experiences with people make a big difference in how such birds behave.
 
When I was at Henry Vilas I heard someone call Steve the Orange-Rumped Agouti an anteater. (I wish they would've been right... giant anteaters would be amazing)
 
  • People ( students, actually) screaming in the reptile house.
  • Somebody throwing litter on the ground... right next to the dustbin.
  • People stoning the crocodiles.
 
Junklekitteb said:
  • People stoning the crocodiles.
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Stoning, as in, throwing rocks at them? That is godawful.

Speaking of crocodilians, today at Pairi Daiza I was appalled by the amount of coins that had been thrown into the alligator/turtle exhibit. Parts of the bassin floor were just covered in coins. I still don't understand why people do that...
 
KevinB said:
Speaking of crocodilians, today at Pairi Daiza I was appalled by the amount of coins that had been thrown into the alligator/turtle exhibit. Parts of the bassin floor were just covered in coins. I still don't understand why people do that...
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There is a myth that if you throw a coin into a pool/lake/the sea and make a wish, it will be fulfilled I think...
A bit silly. In fact, for anyone who has been to London and walked along the Thames, there is a model ship in a pool in Hay's Galleria near London bridge, and there are so many coins in there you cannot actually see the bottom.
 
amur leopard said:
There is a myth that if you throw a coin into a pool/lake/the sea and make a wish, it will be fulfilled I think...
A bit silly. In fact, for anyone who has been to London and walked along the Thames, there is a model ship in a pool in Hay's Galleria near London bridge, and there are so many coins in there you cannot actually see the bottom.
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In zoos it seems to me to be especially common in goldfish and koi ponds and crocodilian exhibits. At least in the zoos I know I've seen the phenomenon decline in pinnipeds pools luckily, perhaps due to information given, but I'm sure it unfortunately still happens sometimes.

Again speaking about my visit to Pairi Daiza today: another thing that really annoyed me was the behavior of quite a few people on the lemur island (ring-tailed, red ruffed and black-and-white ruffed lemurs): touching and petting the lemurs, instigating their children to do so and trying to get lemurs to sit to them to get interesting photos/selfies. There are signs clearly saying this should not be done and unfortunately there wasn't enough supervision (and a lot of people also). This is one of the reasons why I'm not a huge fan of walk-through primate exhibits, even if they might admittedly be nice for photos...
 
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KevinB said:
In zoos it seems to me to be especially common in goldfish and koi ponds and crocodilian exhibits. At least in the zoos I know I've seen the phenomenon decline in pinnipeds pools luckily, perhaps due to information given, but I'm sure it unfortunately still happens sometimes.

Again speaking about my visit to Pairi Daiza today: another thing that really annoyed me was the behavior of quite a few people on the lemur island (ring-tailed, red ruffed and black-and-white ruffed lemurs): touching and petting the lemurs, instigating their children to do and trying to get lemurs to sit to them to get interesting photos/selfies. There are signs clearly saying it should not be and unfortunately there wasn't enough supervision (and a lot of people also). This is one of the reasons why I'm not a huge fan of walk-through primate exhibits, even if they might admittedly be nice for photos...
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It does, I've also seen coins in aviary pools. Thankfully it does seem on decline in pinniped pools thanks to heavy signage, but I believe several pinnipeds have died ingesting coins and other foreign objects, particularly walrus.

And I agree on walk-through primate exhibits, for not only the reasons you mentioned, but also for the disease risk both ways.
 
KevinB said:
Again speaking about my visit to Pairi Daiza today: another thing that really annoyed me was the behavior of quite a few people on the lemur island (ring-tailed, red ruffed and black-and-white ruffed lemurs): touching and petting the lemurs, instigating their children to do so and trying to get lemurs to sit to them to get interesting photos/selfies. There are signs clearly saying this should not be done and unfortunately there wasn't enough supervision (and a lot of people also). This is one of the reasons why I'm not a huge fan of walk-through primate exhibits, even if they might admittedly be nice for photos...
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Yep - this is an especially big problem in zoos like Vallee des Singes, where lemurs and macaques can catch diseases from people...
 
It was a contributing factor in the National Aquarium in Baltimore no longer having the harbor seal exhibit outside the building. Even with all of the signs, people still tossed coins in.
 
TinoPup said:
It was a contributing factor in the National Aquarium in Baltimore no longer having the harbor seal exhibit outside the building. Even with all of the signs, people still tossed coins in.
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Unfortunately you could put the rules up in 20-foot letters and some people would still think they are smarter and/or the rules don't apply to them.

Great Argus said:
It does, I've also seen coins in aviary pools. Thankfully it does seem on decline in pinniped pools thanks to heavy signage, but I believe several pinnipeds have died ingesting coins and other foreign objects, particularly walrus.

And I agree on walk-through primate exhibits, for not only the reasons you mentioned, but also for the disease risk both ways.
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Antwerp has lost harbor seals to coin ingestion also,unfortunately, at least according to the anti-coin signage they used to have. However that signage seems to no longer be there at the present though, to my knowledge, maybe because it seems to have helped the practice to decline.

I didn't even think about the disease transmission risk between human and non-human primates to be honest, but if there is so much close contact something is bound to go wrong. I'm not yet convinced that primate walk-throughs should go away, but it is clear that these days usually some kind of supervision is needed, which will come at a (staff) cost to zoos. And personally I am able to enjoy watching an island or exhibit with primates from across a moat or through glass just as much. And most
 
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People barking at African wild dogs.
Lady called an iguana an alligator.
“Why don’t I see it?” it’s an empty enclosure.
“ is it dead?” It’s clearly asleep.
“That’s a strange animal name” “ Lycoan pictus”

(Sighs) only at Wildife HQ.
 
KevinB said:
Stoning, as in, throwing rocks at them? That is godawful.

Speaking of crocodilians, today at Pairi Daiza I was appalled by the amount of coins that had been thrown into the alligator/turtle exhibit. Parts of the bassin floor were just covered in coins. I still don't understand why people do that...
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Isn’t it obvious? Clearly they are enclosure renovators :p
 
Andrew Swales said:
School groups provide an increasingly poor source of income. Due to Health+Safety issues and the cripplingly high cost of coach-hire their numbers decrease annually. Their entry fees are heavily discounted, and very, very few bring spending money now, so any possibility of secondary spend has effectively evaporated. Were it not for the advertising potential of the children returning home and telling their parents where they have been (IF they remember); and for the legal requirement for Zoos in the UK to provide an educational programme (which competing attractions, like farm-parks and museums are not obliged to do) - then we are fast approaching a point where they are more bother than they are worth.
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It also may help children develop a marked interest, or help people with that interest nurture it. Impoverished children will also be able to visit.
 
Earlier this year, I was at Lincoln Park Zoo, at the exhibit containing the only Puerto Rican Parrots outside Puerto Rico. While I was there admiring these bird, a dad and his daughter walked past. The dad said: "Wow, look at those cool birds", to which the daughter rolled her eyes and replied: "They're just parrots. Every zoo has those".
 
birdsandbats said:
Earlier this year, I was at Lincoln Park Zoo, at the exhibit containing the only Puerto Rican Parrots outside Puerto Rico. While I was there admiring these bird, a dad and his daughter walked past. The dad said: "Wow, look at those cool birds", to which the daughter rolled her eyes and replied: "They're just parrots. Every zoo has those".
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this is indeed a bruh moment
 
birdsandbats said:
Earlier this year, I was at Lincoln Park Zoo, at the exhibit containing the only Puerto Rican Parrots outside Puerto Rico. While I was there admiring these bird, a dad and his daughter walked past. The dad said: "Wow, look at those cool birds", to which the daughter rolled her eyes and replied: "They're just parrots. Every zoo has those".
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*CRINGES* You don't even know
 
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