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

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ThylacineAlive said:
On multiple occasions I've been asked if I was doing research for school or whatever
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ha, nothing to do with zoos, but that reminds me of when I'm travelling and I'm out somewhere birdwatching and someone (i.e. other tourists, because I'm not looking at a temple or getting drunk) will ask "are you a scientist?" as a genuine question.
 
Chlidonias said:
ha, nothing to do with zoos, but that reminds me of when I'm travelling and I'm out somewhere birdwatching and someone (i.e. other tourists, because I'm not looking at a temple or getting drunk) will ask "are you a scientist?" as a genuine question.
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When I went to Tokelau, they get so few visitors that the few they see are normally just backpacker tourist-types. I didn't fit that mould, going out everyday photographing fish, the council of elders were not sure what I was up to and I was asked to a meeting to explain why I had come to the atoll so I could allay any concerns.

There have been many times in the past when people have been worried about my intentions, but never on this scale!

:p

Hix
 
Chlidonias said:
ha, nothing to do with zoos, but that reminds me of when I'm travelling and I'm out somewhere birdwatching and someone (i.e. other tourists, because I'm not looking at a temple or getting drunk) will ask "are you a scientist?" as a genuine question.
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That you observe natural processes and record data in fact makes you a scientist. Just not a Nobel prize winning one. :)
 
MRJ said:
That you observe natural processes and record data in fact makes you a scientist. Just not a Nobel prize winning one. :)
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I prefer "naturalist". It makes me feel more like Alfred Russel Wallace :D
 
ThylacineAlive said:
On multiple occasions I've been asked if I was doing research for school or whatever and when I've answered 'no' the people suddenly started looking at me like I was weird.
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My suggestion to all you teenage zoo-fans out there facing such situations: the next time someone asks whether you're doing research, you say "Yes." And if you want to pull their legs, you might introduce yourself as: "Doogie Zooser. DVM, MSc, BSc (Zoology), ACZM Diplomate. Descendent/ heir apparent of David Attenborough/ Gerald Durrell/ William G. Conway / Ed Maruska / Bernhard Grzimek / Heini Hediger/ Josef Vágner...(choose locally). Currently working here on my PhD with the title "Behavioural studies on nescient Homo sapiens in a zoocentric setting". That should do the trick.;)
 
Batto said:
My suggestion to all you teenage zoo-fans out there facing such situations: the next time someone asks whether you're doing research, you say "Yes." And if you want to pull their legs, you might introduce yourself as: "Doogie Zooser. DVM, MSc, BSc (Zoology), ACZM Diplomate. Descendent/ heir apparent of David Attenborough/ Gerald Durrell/ William G. Conway / Ed Maruska / Bernhard Grzimek / Heini Hediger/ Josef Vágner...(choose locally). Currently working here on my PhD with the title "Behavioural studies on nescient Homo sapiens in a zoocentric setting". That should do the trick.;)
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LIKE!

~Thylo:cool:
 
Chlidonias said:
I prefer "naturalist". It makes me feel more like Alfred Russel Wallace :D
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Arriving at a hotel in New England one very crisp October day we were very surprised to see them offering "naturist walks" - wasn't sure if it was a language difference or a mistake or hotel with very hardy guests!
 
OrangePerson said:
Arriving at a hotel in New England one very crisp October day we were very surprised to see them offering "naturist walks" - wasn't sure if it was a language difference or a mistake or hotel with very hardy guests!
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New England gets a lot of tourists in the autumn season due to the changing leaf colors and all that. Nature walks and the like will be very common that part of the year.

~Thylo:cool:
 
azcheetah2 said:
Another thing I hear a lot that annoys me is when an animal is walking around its exhibit or something, a parent will tell the child the animal (usually a cat) is sad and wishes it were out in the wild. Sometimes I tell them the animal was born in captivity and doesn't know what the wild is like. Othertimes, if there's an animal of the opposite sex in the off-exhibit area, I'll mention that s/he knows there's another one over there and is 'wound up' because of the other animal. Most of the time, however, I don't say anything because most people don't care. They have their thoughts about the 'poor animal' and that's all there is to it.

In my opinion, if you're going to spend the money to bring your child to a zoo, and let's face it, some of the bigger/nicer zoos aren't cheap, then you should be teaching your child about conservation and why the animals are in the zoo and the need for zoos and SSP, not telling them how sad that poor animal is because it can't be free. You're just breeding ignorance when we need to teach the next generation of conservationists. Although I did one time hear a 10 year old girl tell her mom the animal was pacing because it wanted out of the 'cage', but usually it's the other way around and usually it's the mom saying that sort of thing, not the dad.
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If I heard a parent saying that, I'd be so tempted to say "If you think captivity is so horrible, why are you here?". That would be like if I went to a circus and complained about how horrible circuses are, or something.
 
azcheetah2 said:
Kids with no manners. I'm there to take pictures and enjoy the animals and kids will worm their way in front of me without saying excuse me or anything. It's actually a shock when I encounter a child with manners because so few have them. And the parents will see them butting in front of me and not correct their behavior. Plus, all-too-often they'll bump my lens then look at me as if it was MY fault they hit their heads.

Then there's the parents, as others have mentioned, that call the animals by the wrong species name. There's an Ocelot in the Children's Zoo with a well-marked sign on his exhibit. Ocelot. More than once I've heard "oh, look at the pretty baby Jaguar!" or the "baby cheetah" and they'll be standing RIGHT IN FRONT of the Ocelot sign. Several times I've heard someone say that the Ocelot is the baby of the Jaguar they just saw. I guess since it has spots it must be an Jaguar or Cheetah. I was also at Sea World one time by the dolphin feeding pool. A man was holding his son up and was pointing at the dolphins and kept saying "fish! fish!" yeah, great. Teach your kid to be as stupid as you are (yes, stupid, not ignorant).

Kids who bang on exhibit glass or 'roar' at the animals.
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I usually go to the zoo in the middle of weekdays, since there are few people and hardly any kids. (being a college student, I can do this) I'm always tempted to yell at kids who harass zoo animals, and the parents who let them do it. But I don't wanna risk getting kicked out of the zoo. When I was a kid, going to the Gladys Porter Zoo, there were always kids throwing coins in one of the gator exhibits and trying to hit the animals.

I also hate it when parents misidentify animals to their kids. It's like, you say you bring your kids here to learn about animals, maybe you can take two seconds to read the sign so you don't promote ignorance/stupidity. IT'S NOT A HYENA IT'S AN AFRICAN WILD DOG, IT'S NOT EVEN IN THE SAME GENUS
 
This must have been mentioned - it's not a monkey, it's an ape!

Volunteering in a lemur walk-through I also get a lot of things, if you mention King Julian then you're not going to get any help finding where any of my lemurs are.
 
Mother says to child: "Let's go and look at the hippos"
Mother and child then go and look at black rhinos.
I heard this exactly at Port Lympne in the UK
 
chimps being called monkeys

hawks being called falcons

leopards being called jaguars and vice versa

zebras being called horses

prosimians being called monkeys

hippos being called lazy

etc...
 
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