Exactly! Have lost count of the number of times I've seen the White-naped Mangabeys at London getting fed by visitors, everything from orange segments and sandwiches to grass and zoo-maps
Things people do that irritate you when you go to the zoo?
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Exactly! Have lost count of the number of times I've seen the White-naped Mangabeys at London getting fed by visitors, everything from orange segments and sandwiches to grass and zoo-maps
wensleydale
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Exactly! Have lost count of the number of times I've seen the White-naped Mangabeys at London getting fed by visitors, everything from orange segments and sandwiches to grass and zoo-maps
It was a Capuchin (i'm not sure what kind, might have been Tufted) being given grass at Southwick's. By what appeared to be a family of overweight simpletons. I wish I could say I had tattled on them but I didn't. Next time I will. Unfortunately they seem to be used to being fed, because a minute earlier the same monkey had put its hand out when it saw my mother eating a cracker.
Exactly! Have lost count of the number of times I've seen the White-naped Mangabeys at London getting fed by visitors, everything from orange segments and sandwiches to grass and zoo-maps
Although the enclosure is modern the Mangabeys, a bold species, are presented in a way that encourages public feeding i.e. people lean on a barrier very close to the netting, plus the Mangabeys can approach 'face to face' so to speak. Its bound to ellicite the'feeding' response to an extent. Compared with other monkeys at London e.g. the quieter Colobus and Dianas whose enclosures don't encourage quite the same amount of contact and who tend not to relate to people the same way.
wensleydale
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Exactly! Have lost count of the number of times I've seen the White-naped Mangabeys at London getting fed by visitors, everything from orange segments and sandwiches to grass and zoo-maps
Can't Zoo Animals get sick just by eating human food? Not just from pathogens on human hands but also just from the content of the food (e.g. too many carbs, something poisonous to the species, etc.)?
marshwiggle
Member
There's a very real risk of animals developing high blood pressure from the salt content in human food or increasing their chances of becoming diabetic.
I hate it when people try guessing what an animal is and disregard all the signage. "Oh look at the cool leopard" when they've been watching a jaguar. In my head I think "well, it's called reading, it's been around for 3500 years, you could give it a shot sometime."
I hate it when people try guessing what an animal is and disregard all the signage. "Oh look at the cool leopard" when they've been watching a jaguar. In my head I think "well, it's called reading, it's been around for 3500 years, you could give it a shot sometime."
Slothie
Member
When repressed puritans act all devastated when they see animals mate, especially when there's kids around. The amount of awkward stuttering about "cuddling" I see when watching bonobos is so cringy and hilarious.
I just imagine victorian gentlemen with mustaches making a posh grumbling noise about decency.
I just imagine victorian gentlemen with mustaches making a posh grumbling noise about decency.
FunkyGibbon
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So, just for the record, you are telling us you would have physically assaulted a 6 year old boy in front of his parents? How do you think that situation would have played out for you?
Well at Australia zoo the walk the cheetahs right near this fence and near the fence is this huge pile of leaves. One time when I was there watching the cheetah all these kids were jumping in the leaves. Which is fine but then because of the rustling the cheetah went into hunting mode and started hunting the children. Then it tried to pounce but luckily the keeper stopped it put it into the van and drove off. What really annoys me is that the kids had no idea they were in danger.
A couple of months ago I was at my home zoo the San Antonio Zoo, and me and my mom were at the Caracal exhibit in Cat Grotto, a large crowd had gathered up, and I was shocked to see kids banging on the glass and the cat jumping and hissing and the parents taking videos of the caracal hissing at the kids, I was this close, to saying "Excuse me, will you stop provoking this cat", I nearly wished there was no barrier in between to show these people why you shouldn't piss off a wild animal, and I looked over at zoo keeper who was about to enter the indoor area to call the cat inside, and she had a face of distress, and this isn't the only time I had seen people provoking an animal, about 4 years ago, these people (Grown Adults) were growling and hissing at the cheetah and the Cheetah hissed and growled, and this went on for 5 to 10 minutes before I left the area and keepers told them to leave the cheetah alone. I don't know what happened to these people but I would personally want to keep their names down for future visits, so animals are not provoked only because their is a barrier separating them from the animals.
wensleydale
Well-Known Member
How about the way people react when you tell them to stop pestering an animal? As in responses such as "oh, they're/we're" just playing." and "you have no right to tell my children what to do."
I can't stand that too. I was in a reptile house lately and some child was
banging on the glass. I asked him politely to stop, eplaining the animals
didn't like it, and he did, but the mother became very annoyed and said
(not so politely) that I needed to stop telling her child what he should or
shouldn't do.
Not something irritating, quite the opposite actually, but the topic of the last three posts reminded me of something interesting from Perth Zoo last week. I was taking pictures in the nocturnal house (with the flash off of course!) and a small child (who obviously had seen the many 'no flash photography' signs) told me that I shouldn't be using my camera because it hurts the animals and they don't like it. I explained that I wasn't using the flash, etc. but I thought it was excellent that someone had bothered to read the notices and cared enough about the animals to say something to me! 
Not actually relevant to this thread, but I thought it was worth posting anyway.
Not actually relevant to this thread, but I thought it was worth posting anyway.
I was at Point Defiance Zoo yesterday and we were at the Arctic fox exhibit. The arctic foxes were still getting there summer coats so they were half gray and half white. This one person who was at the exhibit with us (who appeared to have very little animal knowledge) said that they looked mangy. After that, I said in a noticeably louder voice "look they're getting their summer coats!" When I said that the guy just walked away
What irritates me is when it's obvious that the person shouldn't do something, but it does.
Example: It has a sign that says "don't feed the animals", but the person throw food.
It has a small fence separating guests from the animals, but the person jump it.
Example: It has a sign that says "don't feed the animals", but the person throw food.
It has a small fence separating guests from the animals, but the person jump it.
That's when you tell them that you're going to call security, which usually scares them into behaving. I've had to back up my words with security before-usually the people stop, and if not, they get thrown out. The most recent time I did this was in the San Antonio Zoo, where smoking isn't permitted. When I told a lady that, she didn't take me seriously, and instead almost laughed at me. Sadly, when she saw me go get a staff member, she stopped and didn't get thrown out. Harassing animals and smoking both make me really mad, so I always say something about it.
I visited Auckland Zoo a few weeks ago, and I was at the new meerkat exhibit in their Pridelands Escarpment. It has underground tunnels that visitors can crawl through and pop-up into domes in the meerkat enclosure. A few meerkats were right by the glass of the dome, and I was quietly watching them from inside it. But then a little girl came running through the tunnel into the dome and started screaming at the top of her lungs. Not directly at the meerkats, but to make an echo to her friend at the other end of the tunnel. Sure enough, the meerkats darted away to the other side of the enclosure obviously distressed. In fury, I yelled at the girl to stop screaming because it was stressing out the meerkats (who had completely disappeared by now) a little less polite that I had invisioned in my head...
but she kept screaming and banging on the glass, ignoring me. Finally, her parent called her. The worst thing was she wasn't even told off by the mother, who had seen the whole thing. It really does make me angry when I see someone disrespecting animals at the zoo like banging on the glass or yelling and making noises at the animals. I also have seen a few teenagers throwing rocks at flamingos... But I won't get into that because I might get a little too angry.
And I'm a teenager myself, but I was actually raised to respect wildlife and zoos. 
but she kept screaming and banging on the glass, ignoring me. Finally, her parent called her. The worst thing was she wasn't even told off by the mother, who had seen the whole thing. It really does make me angry when I see someone disrespecting animals at the zoo like banging on the glass or yelling and making noises at the animals. I also have seen a few teenagers throwing rocks at flamingos... But I won't get into that because I might get a little too angry. And I'm a teenager myself, but I was actually raised to respect wildlife and zoos.
It really does make me angry when I see someone disrespecting animals at the zoo like banging on the glass or yelling and making noises at the animals. I also have seen a few teenagers throwing rocks at flamingos... But I won't get into that because I might get a little too angry.
If someone had been throwing rocks at flamingos, I probably would have thrown rocks at them. At the very least, I would have really wanted to.
A few years ago at Auckland Zoo, two flamingos died because a group of teenagers were throwing rocks at them.
Extremely sad and so evil of them. A few weeks ago I witnessed more rocks being thrown at the flamingos, but luckily a keeper was nearby, and the teenagers were kicked out of the zoo. It's so sad that there are people that would think to do something like that. wensleydale
Well-Known Member
I like to think that there is a special place in Hell for people who harass animals, to me it is perhaps the ultimate form of the weak being picked on by the powerful.
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