True, but my memory tells me that the conditions were pretty poor at that place.
Also, camels are kind of known to have a bad temper so I don't think they are very safe for children to be around.
Things you regret doing in zoos as a kid?
- Thread starter Yi Qi
- Start date
True, but my memory tells me that the conditions were pretty poor at that place.
Also, camels are kind of known to have a bad temper so I don't think they are very safe for children to be around.
The only real regret I can think of is simply not paying attention to many of the species I was seeing. I can only imagine the animals I saw just at Bronx alone between JungleWorld, the Mouse House, World of Reptiles, and World of Darkness that I'll never know I saw.
Not a zoo regret but I once rode an elephant at the Big E fair in Massachusetts. This animal in particular was very clearly overheated and overworked. She wasn't allowed to take breaks even though there were also camels and ponies to ride because she was the more popular attraction. I also remember she kept trying to walk towards the water trough but her owners kept pulling her away.
~Thylo
Not a zoo regret but I once rode an elephant at the Big E fair in Massachusetts. This animal in particular was very clearly overheated and overworked. She wasn't allowed to take breaks even though there were also camels and ponies to ride because she was the more popular attraction. I also remember she kept trying to walk towards the water trough but her owners kept pulling her away.
~Thylo
Yi Qi
Well-Known Member
That's definitely Commerford Petting Zoo, owned by Robert W. Commerford. Its really bad and has been the subject of multiple attacks by PETA and other activists.
Imperator Furiosa
Well-Known Member
I definitely get the feelings of regret over not paying attention to collections more closely as a child. I remember Woodland Park Zoo had several very cool species when I was a kid, some that aren't really kept in zoos much now, but if I'm lucky all I have are photographs. Not appreciating the bird house and free-flight aviary at the National Zoo are other major collection regrets.
As far as regretful behavior goes, infodumping and sometimes correcting poor staff and volunteers is a huge regret lol. I got a taste of my own medicine when I started volunteering at a major natural history museum and had to deal with mini zoologists and paleontologists.
As far as regretful behavior goes, infodumping and sometimes correcting poor staff and volunteers is a huge regret lol. I got a taste of my own medicine when I started volunteering at a major natural history museum and had to deal with mini zoologists and paleontologists.
Many elephants in zoos are essentially domestic animals as well. Elephants were at one time (and possibly still are) are common form of transportation in India, essentially giant horses. It's really no different than a pony ride, as long as the facility knows it's elephants and chooses the right individual, as well as allows the animals breaks and water.
@ThylacineAlive That is the complete opposite of my one and only elephant ride experience (which was at Circus World Museum).
Alex Roman
Well-Known Member
Or camels. Camels, especially dromedaries, are used as pack animals in the Arab World.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I think the only regret that comes to mind would be taking for granted / not fully appreciating seeing some of the rarer species.
That said, children / teens are not going to fully cognitively grasp things such as biodiversity loss and extinction at that age so I try to cut the younger me some slack.
That said, children / teens are not going to fully cognitively grasp things such as biodiversity loss and extinction at that age so I try to cut the younger me some slack.
I would have to say the same thing for me. I don't have a good memory of a lot of the animals I saw as a kid. There are quite a few I missed that I have seen at other places, but then there are the few that are only seen at a couple places now. As a kid, I was more interested in seeing bigger and more common species like lions and elephants than smaller and rarer animals like certain reptiles, birds, or small mammals.
I've always loved rare and endangered small animal ever since I was 6, but I regret talking to a friend at the zoo and saying that Atlas beetles were the same thing as rhinoceros beetles. I missed some animals, but usually that was more of just my limit of staying at certain zoos, because I would have gone to some exhibits when I was younger at certain zoos but I just didn't have time.
The Biggest regret is Easily not taking photos of the animals that were such good opportunities to take photos of before at various zoos, Not with a phone, but the New camera I have now, which processes much more stunning and polished photos. Its not just in zoos but even in the wild I regret not taking photos of certain Insects I saw in the wild, owls, A coyote around 10-15 feet away from me, garter snakes, frogs, etc. This summer though I'm definitely going to use my camera to advantage so when I go out to look for insects and stuff at night like I normally do I'm going to bring my camera.
The Biggest regret is Easily not taking photos of the animals that were such good opportunities to take photos of before at various zoos, Not with a phone, but the New camera I have now, which processes much more stunning and polished photos. Its not just in zoos but even in the wild I regret not taking photos of certain Insects I saw in the wild, owls, A coyote around 10-15 feet away from me, garter snakes, frogs, etc. This summer though I'm definitely going to use my camera to advantage so when I go out to look for insects and stuff at night like I normally do I'm going to bring my camera.
When I was 9 years old we visited Monkey World on a very hot summer day and I was bought a Cornetto. I opened it and the top blew off down the path, and being so young I thought nothing of it.
About a minute later a (vaguely) middle-aged woman came up to me and really shouted at me for littering in the park which reduced me to tears. My mother intervened, refused to apologise because it was a genuine accident. It really has tainted my view of the place ever since and is the one zoo memory that makes me feel bad to this day. Incidentally the woman who admonished me was blonde, had an American accent, and has appeared on my TV screen so many times since that I think she's haunting me...
About a minute later a (vaguely) middle-aged woman came up to me and really shouted at me for littering in the park which reduced me to tears. My mother intervened, refused to apologise because it was a genuine accident. It really has tainted my view of the place ever since and is the one zoo memory that makes me feel bad to this day. Incidentally the woman who admonished me was blonde, had an American accent, and has appeared on my TV screen so many times since that I think she's haunting me...
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I'm vaguely familiar with Monkey World and its owners / staff (do not know them personally though) as they are in our support network.
I was reading the first part of your comment and thinking "well,that is really unfortunate that the place has that memory for him, but at least it wasn't a member of staff" and then I read till the end and I was like "oh dear...
"Me too, some of my memories from those early visits are rapidly fading now.
I was always interested in the smaller and stranger / more curious species even from a young age but there are a couple that I do feel I would have taken for granted seeing purely because I was so young.
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One of the biggest things I regret is not keeping track of all the species I’ve seen in captivity sooner. When I was a kid, I didn’t really pay much attention to animals that didn’t have feathers or a beak, so I’m certain that I missed a lot of rare non-avian animals to the zoos I’ve been to. One of the things that stings the most is that I came up with the idea of a “species seen list” around mid-2019, which was a couple months after my vacation to Sydney, so I can imagine that I missed so many rarities from being on my list. I went to 3 zoos and an aquarium on that trip, so I probably missed hundreds of species.
I fed some animals as a kid, but I don't regret it much. Even as a kid I knew basically what an animal should eat - I fed squirrel monkeys with rose fruit not ice cream. And the spoiled squirrel monkeys even did not like it much. It could be actually an environmental enrichment in rather empty enclosures from the past.
I regret not writing down animals which I saw. I remember a mongoose which had a funny Slavic sounding name. I don't even remember whether I saw the mongoose, or it was sleeping hidden and I only saw the name plate. It must have been Pousargues's mongoose Dologale dybowskii currently not kept in any zoo.
I regret not writing down animals which I saw. I remember a mongoose which had a funny Slavic sounding name. I don't even remember whether I saw the mongoose, or it was sleeping hidden and I only saw the name plate. It must have been Pousargues's mongoose Dologale dybowskii currently not kept in any zoo.
Not looking at the animals at the Ataturk forest farm zoo carefully (I missed the white-handed gibbons, patas monkeys and the yaks)
Visiting the Ataturk forest farm zoo.
Not looking at the World of birds, World of reptiles, World of Darkness and the monkey house carefully (especially the latter two) in the Bronx zoo.
Visiting the Ataturk forest farm zoo.
Not looking at the World of birds, World of reptiles, World of Darkness and the monkey house carefully (especially the latter two) in the Bronx zoo.
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Zooplantman
Well-Known Member
This thread proves what a boring conservative bunch we are.
I can't decide how I feel about that
I can't decide how I feel about that
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
This thread proves what a boring conservative bunch we are.
I can't decide how I feel about that
Why though ?
Tame? Yes. Domestic? No. While I don't believe that elephant rides are as evil as everyone else here believes, I also wouldn't think that elephants and horses are that similar.
Not when I was a kid, but my biggest regret when it comes to zoos and aquariums was rushing through Tokyo Sea Life Park. I got there a lot later than I had wanted and after being there for an hour or so, I realised the time and freaked out. I didn't know how big the place was or If I had enough time to see everything, so I rushed big time. Many exhibits were given only a passing glance (including the deep sea exhibits ) and I missed the polar and freshwater exhibits entirely (I walked straight past the polar tanks, even took a photo of a toothfish specimen in front of the tanks not noticing the tanks). When I got to the end there was still 40 minutes until closing! Not enough time to go back and see everything again unfortunately, and I had somewhere to be so I left. It was such an excellent aquarium and I feel bad for rushing.
For something from when I was a kid, ignoring rare species in favour of more common ones, and rushing through exhibits, as well as writing off freshwater exhibits as "boring" and not paying them much attention.
) and I missed the polar and freshwater exhibits entirely (I walked straight past the polar tanks, even took a photo of a toothfish specimen in front of the tanks not noticing the tanks). When I got to the end there was still 40 minutes until closing! Not enough time to go back and see everything again unfortunately, and I had somewhere to be so I left. It was such an excellent aquarium and I feel bad for rushing.For something from when I was a kid, ignoring rare species in favour of more common ones, and rushing through exhibits, as well as writing off freshwater exhibits as "boring" and not paying them much attention.
I regret doing (or not doing) these things. Probably nothing else.
When I was 7, my family rode on the Wild Asia Monorail at the Bronx Zoo. When we passed the Indian rhino paddock, I didn’t see any of the rhinos in question but my younger brother did. So out of jealousy, I actually got mad at him and repeatedly banged his head against the seat. I don’t think I seriously hurt him or anyways... but jeez. I had a temper tantrum just because I was jealous that he saw the rhino and I didn’t.
When I was 10, I remember getting off the tram at the Binder Park Zoo and getting separated from my family. When I finally reunited with them, it turned out they had seen the African wild dog habitat while I had not. If only I had stuck with them rather than rushing ahead.
I would’ve loved to see the rescued fennec foxes Detroit Zoo kept in the Meerkat Digs around 2014-2015, but was totally unaware of them when I visited the zoo in August 2015. I didn’t go in the building, since I had seen a sign at the entrance that the meerkats were off exhibit and again had no idea about the foxes. (And not really relevant to this thread, but since the sign merely implied the mongooses were off show, I had no idea that Detroit didn’t even have meerkats anymore by that point. They had phased out one of my favorite animals and weren’t even up front about it.)
When I was 10, I remember getting off the tram at the Binder Park Zoo and getting separated from my family. When I finally reunited with them, it turned out they had seen the African wild dog habitat while I had not. If only I had stuck with them rather than rushing ahead.
I would’ve loved to see the rescued fennec foxes Detroit Zoo kept in the Meerkat Digs around 2014-2015, but was totally unaware of them when I visited the zoo in August 2015. I didn’t go in the building, since I had seen a sign at the entrance that the meerkats were off exhibit and again had no idea about the foxes. (And not really relevant to this thread, but since the sign merely implied the mongooses were off show, I had no idea that Detroit didn’t even have meerkats anymore by that point. They had phased out one of my favorite animals and weren’t even up front about it.)