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

Reading the signage? Good one :p:p

When standing in front of the golden jackal sign, the kid asked what kind of dog it was, and the parent just said 'it's a pretty dog'.
I pointed to the sign right in front of her.

Like, signs in most places are big, or colorful, but I really believe people ignore it on purpose so they can give stupid answers and actually enjoying that they do it.
 
Unfortunately not, they just walked on to the next enclosure.

I wouldn't expect most people to be able to recognise a roan antelope, but I would expect them to look for a sign if their child asks what something is and they don't know. I know, I know, my expectations of people are too high.
 
We've done 4 zoo's in the past 4 days, and I'm surprised my eyes aren't stuck in an eye-roll.

The 'best' ones...
A guy clapping and shouting at 2 male lions hoping it would wake them up. They're cats... They sleep... We did say if he'd like it if we do that to him while sleeping, but we always get nasty looks back like we're the idiots, I don't get it.

And another with the red ruffed lemur 'it's a red panda' in full excitement.
What bothers me most is, that most parents don't even try to correct or educate their kids when this happens. And usually respond with 'oh how cute'.
Implying the parent don't know either, which is all fine, but less fine when there are signs everywhere telling you what you are looking at.

And 'must be so boring in this enclosure for them, what a shame'.
To which I always reply 'then why are you here?' Most people just look at me and walk away, lol.
Sometimes I stay quiet, but sometimes it slips out, haha.
 
Moorhunhe said:
We did say if he'd like it if we do that to him while sleeping, but we always get nasty looks back like we're the idiots, I don't get it.
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Reminds me of when I was in Berlin. The leopards were being fed towards the end of the day (presumably because the crowds had died down), and one was entering the indoor area to collect his dinner. There was a group of 3-4 young children, I'd say between 3 and 8, all banging on the glass and shouting (and screaming, as children apparently do at all opportunities). Parents were on their phones. Unfortunately my Deutsch isn't quite as developed as I'd like, but a gentleman nicely told them to stop in English. They responded by shouting they didn't speak English (I presume), to which he replied what I assume was the same in German. Parents were livid at him for it. Some people are incapable of understanding that zoos are not just for our entertainment but for the welfare of animals as well. And other people are just a bit bloody rude.
 
cerperal said:
Reminds me of when I was in Berlin. The leopards were being fed towards the end of the day (presumably because the crowds had died down), and one was entering the indoor area to collect his dinner. There was a group of 3-4 young children, I'd say between 3 and 8, all banging on the glass and shouting (and screaming, as children apparently do at all opportunities). Parents were on their phones. Unfortunately my Deutsch isn't quite as developed as I'd like, but a gentleman nicely told them to stop in English. They responded by shouting they didn't speak English (I presume), to which he replied what I assume was the same in German. Parents were livid at him for it. Some people are incapable of understanding that zoos are not just for our entertainment but for the welfare of animals as well. And other people are just a bit bloody rude.
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It seems to be a trend sadly. I have noticed personally, the behaviour just becoming worse and worse thoughout the years (same with going to the theater, we love going to musicals, and the etiquette just goes down the drain more and more every year).
 
cerperal said:
and screaming, as children apparently do at all opportunities
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As a father and owner of a facility that is frequented by children and their families, I dare to say: most children do not constantly scream. Sure, they can be noisy when excited, happy, tired, angry, hungry etc., and there are kids with neurological or psychological illnesses who have a harder time keeping calm. But for the misbehaviour you describe, you can blame their parents. Which also explains their antagonistic behaviour when their offspring misbehaves the way it does - and their poor grasp of both the English and German language. I have yet to encounter a zoo guest who dares to answer back when I sternly reprimand him or her for antagonistic behaviour against animals. Seems to come with the job. And the height...
 
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Batto said:
As a father and owner of a facility that is frequented by children and their families, I dare to say: most children do not constantly scream. Sure, they can be noisy when excited, happy, tired, angry, hungry etc., and there are kids with neurological or psychological illnesses who have a harder time keeping calm. But for the misbehaviour you describe, you can blame the adults whose gonads that ilk of brats sprung from. Which also explains their antagonistic behaviour when their offspring misbehaves the way it does - and their poor grasp of both the English and German language. I have yet to encounter a zoo guest who dares to answer back when I sternly reprimand him or her for antagonistic behavior against animals. Seems to come with the job. And the height...
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Completely agree. It's an incredibly vocal minority and almost always associated with just completely lax parenting. 9/10 when I'm at a collection it does make me genuinely happy to see young people of various ages, including the slighty noisier ones. It's when the even more minor group starts antagonising the animals it becomes an issue, and to be fair I'd wager quite a few don't even know what they're doing it wrong.
 
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Moorhunhe said:
And 'must be so boring in this enclosure for them, what a shame'.
To which I always reply 'then why are you here?' Most people just look at me and walk away, lol.
Sometimes I stay quiet, but sometimes it slips out, haha.
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This brought back a memory of my visit to Izmir Wildlife Park last year which I heard a couple say that the park would be better as a botanical garden than a zoo. I did ask myself why they were here but also that the reason why the park is underwhelming is likely due to a reason out of the park’s reach.
 
Here's another one from last week.

I've seen White Lions 4 times now, and to me, they all had different shades of white.
Like, I thought the ones at Paradise Wildlife and West Midlands looked very white, especially the females, and the males seemed a bit darker to me.

While at Lincolnshire Wildlife Park last week, they have 2 male white lions.
They did seem a bit darker then what I've seen before, but clearly, white lions.

A woman comes by, reads the sign "oh, these are white lions!!" looks up to actually see them, and immidiately goes "those are NOT white lions, I have seen white lions before, and these are definately NOT white lions" and she kept repeating herself.
And she said it in such a way, that you know, she was the expert in this, because she saw white lions once before someplace else.

We just laughed :D
 
Brayden Delashmutt said:
I feel like it’s worth adding how irritating it can be to see people constantly focusing on big name species. If I got a dollar every time I’ve heard someone complain about there not being any lions or elephants at small zoos, I would be very rich.
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Oddly enough I've never heard this myself. Sometimes I have heard some visitors refer to what used to be at the zoo, but not quite what was described. Maybe because I don't pay much attention to what guests say per-se...
 
And in the Berlin tierpark in front of the snow leopard exhibit, you can hear a child asking his mom why leopard is called leopard. The mother answers “Leo comes from lion because he might look like a lion (meanwhile, the child is shouting “Leo lion!). “But it’s not one, so that’s why the pard part is there. Following that the grandmother looks at her in a way that clearly says “why are you telling your child such nonsense?!”
 
Gibbonsagainstgravity said:
And in the Berlin tierpark in front of the snow leopard exhibit, you can hear a child asking his mom why leopard is called leopard. The mother answers “Leo comes from lion because he might look like a lion (meanwhile, the child is shouting “Leo lion!). “But it’s not one, so that’s why the pard part is there. Following that the grandmother looks at her in a way that clearly says “why are you telling your child such nonsense?!”
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Well, she got the first part right, I guess.

  • "The English name "leopard" derives from Latin leopardus. Which could be a compound of leōn, meaning 'lion', and pardos, meaning 'spotted'."

I guess that does make more sense than where I thought it came from
 
Gibbonsagainstgravity said:
And in the Berlin tierpark in front of the snow leopard exhibit, you can hear a child asking his mom why leopard is called leopard. The mother answers “Leo comes from lion because he might look like a lion (meanwhile, the child is shouting “Leo lion!). “But it’s not one, so that’s why the pard part is there. Following that the grandmother looks at her in a way that clearly says “why are you telling your child such nonsense?!”
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That’s actually almost right…..it’s from an ancient idea that a leopard might be a hybrid of lion and ‘pard’(cheetah). As i
 
cerperal said:
Completely agree. It's an incredibly vocal minority and almost always associated with just completely lax parenting. 9/10 when I'm at a collection it does make me genuinely happy to see young people of various ages, including the slighty noisier ones. It's when the even more minor group starts antagonising the animals it becomes an issue, and to be fair I'd wager quite a few don't even know what they're doing it wrong.
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This is important, to realize that kids do not know what they are doing is not appropriate. As a docent at my local zoo, I take it as part of my job to cultivate empathy for animals. When someone bangs on the windows with hand or foot, I always say, "Please, we don't do that here." Then I explain that if we make lots of noise and bother the animals, they will move far away from the windows and we won't be able to see them anymore.
I sometimes add that it is like if some stranger were banging on the window of the room where you are sleeping or playing. Think how you would feel.
In almost 9 years, I have not once encountered a negative reaction to this. And I am just a sprightly little old lady.
 
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