Those We Have Known....

this thread brings back so many memories, i really do miss these members and i do wish them the best and i hope they safely return someday. Zoogiraffe, do you mind pm-ing me about how the zoochat-chester relationship went wrong?
 
this thread brings back so many memories, i really do miss these members and i do wish them the best and i hope they safely return someday. Zoogiraffe, do you mind pm-ing me about how the zoochat-chester relationship went wrong?
Sorry not going to happen as you don't need to know!
 
Sure thing, didn't mean to touch a nerve as it was purley out of interest.

I think a positive way to look at this is that zoochat is spreading to more countries now, with more members from germany, china, south korea, brazil and mexio. I'd like to shout out that I miss jose, once a regular updator from mexico and now nothing.
 
Sure thing, didn't mean to touch a nerve as it was purley out of interest.

I think a positive way to look at this is that zoochat is spreading to more countries now, with more members from germany, china, south korea, brazil and mexio. I'd like to shout out that I miss jose, once a regular updator from mexico and now nothing.
 
And what about Gavin123?, haven't heard much of him since he threatened to report me to the moderators for sticking up for a litter of red river hogs, Is he still on the books?
 
I don't believe the relationship between Chester and ZooChat has degenerated, I see many department heads from Chester on a regular basis and they're just as open and helpful as they always were. There are still a few older members of staff at Chester who aren't entirely comfortable with the site, but thankfully they're only a small minority.

Let's not forget that last year ZooChat members played significant roles in both fundraising and ensuring information posted here was accurate, from which everyone benefited.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was discussing organising another event with one of Chester's curators and a history tour is very much on the cards. Details of both will hopefully be posted soon.

Back on-topic... I've met a Baldur a few times recently and can assure everyone that he's fine.
 
In regard to Tarsius/Zebraduiker/Fuzzball I asked Fuzzball outright and they denied any connection to the previous alias's even though I think the evidence speaks for itself... ;)

I recall a time when Zebraduiker was asked if he was Tarsius and he flatout denied it. Later he admitted who he was and described it as a 'joke' (or as 'irony' - a concept I don't think he ever really grasped).

snowleopard said:
but Baldur has now turned his attention and university courses to studying animals in the wild rather than gazing at them in captivity.

A wise choice - as discussed in a recent thread, watching animals in the wild is a completely different experience to watching them in zoos (and many consider a better experience). If he has the money to do so, then he should not waste any opportunities. It will give him a better understanding and appreciation of zoos. He'll probably be back at some point with a more informed perspective.

snowleopard said:
Even the other Aussie moderator (ZYBen) is rarely contributing anymore.

He has his own business now doing shows with trained cockatoos, so he's probably too exhausted at the end of the day to worry about ZooChat. Even his posts on Facebook have been few and far between.


Toddy said:
While this shouldn't be a bad thing it does seem to have let to more types like Fossa Dude, Cinzoo man and Gforrestersmith and others with posts ranging from the slightly naive and dumbfounding to the downright nasty and trolling ... The tone in general on the forum seems in many instances to have deteriorated to childish or rude postings.

A few years ago I was a Moderator on Australian Herp website and my biggest bane was children joining up and then insulting experienced reptile keepers, asking questions and then arguing when given help, or giving bad advice because they have no experience. And a few adults who become precocious, thought they were important because they were prolific posters and could get away with being rude and obnoxious, and then when infracted or suspended for a week, would send very rude and nasty emails expounding their importance and demanding respect.

Then one day I discovered ZooChat and I've never been back to the other site.

So it's been a little disappointing to see the likes of the above mentioned younger members posting rubbish, and a certain New Zealand child that - like malaria - keeps returning, but there are more than enough adult and mature threads to compensate (not to mention photos to comment on). I won't mention the few adults that have behaved this way.

zoogiraffe said:
Actually the problem of posting about a zoo that you have very strong links with,on here is one that I'm very aware of due to links that I have had or still have with zoo's in the UK.

Similar situation with me. Staff at Taronga are not allowed to post on this site, although I believe some are lurkers. Although I haven't worked there in a decade, I am still privy to a lot of the goings on at the zoo but I only ever post things that are common knowledge, have been in the press, or can be seen by anyone visiting the zoo. This is not so much to maintain good relations with the zoo, but respect for my friends.

So I can understand certain regulars of this site falling silent if they were lucky enough to be employed by a zoo. If faced with the same choice I know which I would take. At least those in the UK still have the chance to catch up with friends at ZooChat get-togethers!

:p

Hix
 
sooty mangabey said:
Others may have particular contributors they miss, but here are a few to start the ball rolling:

CZJimmy. Made abut 3,000 posts, then stopped in July last year, telling us that the female giant otter was in with the male at Chester Zoo. Since then, silence.... he was knowledgeable and lively.
Dan. Posted last August to say he had been unwell, but would be back. He was a brilliant contributor, who had a very clear sense of what he believed and argued for it passionately. I sincerely hope he is well, and would be very grateful for any news on this score.
Baldur. No posts since June last year, after several thousand before that. I know he was miffed by the confrontational stance of some on here. A shame - he is witty, and adventurous, and generous with his information giving.
Red Panda. No posting since August 2010, although I believe he is still around, occasionally looking in. Before that, well over 1000 posts, mostly entertaining and interesting.
Writhedhornbill. Probably the most extreme example. Made more than 4000 contributions between 2007 and 2009, but since asking about the progress of the Congo peafowl house at Antwerp, not a peep has been heard from him.
Trebaruna. Excellent contributions from Holland. Several hundred of them. But nothing since November 2010.
Sun Wukong. The most missed of all, for me. Intelligent, knowledgeable, a bit prickly, funny. Banned after being a bit mean to an irritating youth from Cincinnati (I think). The place is the weaker for his absence.
Zebraduiker / Tarsius. Those of us who enjoyed the quirky posting of this multi-headed hydra have been unsatisfied since August 2011 (a typically barbed comment on Gondwanaland). But we may be watching the contributions of Fuzzball with interest....
agree totally with all of these. CZJimmy was a great member and I honestly never knew how young he was, so mature were his posts. Writhedhornbill was probably the most mature young person on here with knowledge far beyond his years (I still occasionally email him, and he is doing well); its a pity neither are still here, and the same goes for redpanda. I was just wondering the other day about Baldur's whereabouts and snowleopard's post made me surprised as to the reason for him leaving - after all, Zoochat has evolved into something much more than zoo news; I often post threads and comments about wild animals, as does DavidBrown more recently - I do hope he returns one day. I don't think I ever agreed once with Dan's posts but he was good to have around, and I hope he is alright. Sun Wukong was an absolutely brilliant member - love him or hate him he was always value for money, and while he did love to argue his banning is a loss to the site as far as I'm concerned.

Other members worth mentioning from my side of the world are Nigel, one of the earliest members (I think he may have been the third or fourth person to join) but who left due to being too busy with other things in his life, and NZJeremy for similar reasons. The New Zealand forum is held together with shoe-string now (thank goodness for Zooboy28!!) The Australian section is also falling apart, with many regular posters having disappeared entirely or barely posting nowadays. Patrick (latterly Phoenix) is my most-missed member - even Sun Wukong couldn't best him!

Perhaps some of these MIA Zoochatters may make a return one day. I remember sooty mangabey's thankfully short departure; Zooish chose to leave for personal reasons at one point, but returned better than ever (and, as the only regular Singapore member, I think everybody will agree he is a veritable god-send!); even snowleopard abandoned us for a period after the Great Purge!!!!


Pertinax said:
Mark's disappearance seemed to coincide with the Queensland Flood Disaster, the same state where he lived, though I don't know if there was any connection. He was one of the very earliest ZooBeat/Zoochatters and such a regular and steady contributor his disappearance is both sad and mysterious. I hope maybe he will return.
I'm not sure that Mark's disappearance had anything to do with the floods but otherwise it is a mystery and he is missed. With regards to natural disasters, I'd just like to take the opportunity again to thank those people who wished me well (and hoped I wasn't dead!) when Christchurch was hit by earthquakes and I dropped off the internet for quite a while. It is always good to know one is appreciated, and I hope all our absent friends mentioned in this thread know that the same is felt towards them.
 
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I really hate to ask, but for those of you who are "familiar" with me, am I a nice addition to this website? I feel like I sometimes fall into that category that Toddy explained (which is made up of Fossa Dude, Cinzoo man, and Gforrestersmith) because of my meaningless posts such as "Oh, I've got to get to that zoo and see that" or butting in and just saying "you've got a good point."

I felt like, due to my inexperience, when I first joined this website, I may have seemed like the most naive of people (especially to the veterans of ZooChat, like zooplantman), especially since I'm a high school student. The threads I've started have only been questions I've wanted answered, otherwise they're totally useless to other members: no exciting new news, zoo info or any of that. I just wanted to know if any of the things I've done have bothered anyone, and I would like to apologize if they have.

And I hate to get down on myself, but I see guys like snowleopard, Chlidonias, ArizonaDocent, Hix, baldur (glad to hear he's well :)), and many others with thousands of photos and posts, join dates from before 2009, and I feel like I'm intruding some secret society of some sort that's been care-free for so long until more and more members recently began signing up. :p
 
I really hate to ask, but for those of you who are "familiar" with me, am I a nice addition to this website? I feel like I sometimes fall into that category that Toddy explained (which is made up of Fossa Dude, Cinzoo man, and Gforrestersmith) because of my meaningless posts such as "Oh, I've got to get to that zoo and see that" or butting in and just saying "you've got a good point."

I felt like, due to my inexperience, when I first joined this website, I may have seemed like the most naive of people (especially to the veterans of ZooChat, like zooplantman), especially since I'm a high school student. The threads I've started have only been questions I've wanted answered, otherwise they're totally useless to other members: no exciting new news, zoo info or any of that. I just wanted to know if any of the things I've done have bothered anyone, and I would like to apologize if they have.

You are a perfect addition. As towards me, you have complimented on all my works and ideas, and you were officially my first friend, and friend request. :) The question I have is if people like me.
 
I don't believe the relationship between Chester and ZooChat has degenerated, I see many department heads from Chester on a regular basis and they're just as open and helpful as they always were. There are still a few older members of staff at Chester who aren't entirely comfortable with the site, but thankfully they're only a small minority.

Let's not forget that last year ZooChat members played significant roles in both fundraising and ensuring information posted here was accurate, from which everyone benefited.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was discussing organising another event with one of Chester's curators and a history tour is very much on the cards. Details of both will hopefully be posted soon.

Well you must be catching them on better days than me,but I have been getting this vibe since just before the second Ape day last year.

As for the older members of staff that aren't entirely comfortable with the site,I have never had a problem with any of them and all of them know that I'm on the site,but I have never hidden the fact I'm on the site or what I look like either!!
 
I really hate to ask, but for those of you who are "familiar" with me, am I a nice addition to this website? I feel like I sometimes fall into that category that Toddy explained (which is made up of Fossa Dude, Cinzoo man, and Gforrestersmith) because of my meaningless posts such as "Oh, I've got to get to that zoo and see that" or butting in and just saying "you've got a good point."

I felt like, due to my inexperience, when I first joined this website, I may have seemed like the most naive of people (especially to the veterans of ZooChat, like zooplantman), especially since I'm a high school student. The threads I've started have only been questions I've wanted answered, otherwise they're totally useless to other members: no exciting new news, zoo info or any of that. I just wanted to know if any of the things I've done have bothered anyone, and I would like to apologize if they have.

And I hate to get down on myself, but I see guys like snowleopard, Chlidonias, ArizonaDocent, Hix, baldur (glad to hear he's well :)), and many others with thousands of photos and posts, join dates from before 2009, and I feel like I'm intruding some secret society of some sort that's been care-free for so long until more and more members recently began signing up. :p

I'm not on the US forum a lot but you have always seemed perfectly fine as a member. The sort of members that fall into "that" category (Fossa Dude et al) aren't annoying because they ask questions (that's pretty much what the site is for) or because they're young (witness the respect people had for Writhedhornbill for example), but for their sheer inanity coupled with an inability to learn or accept criticism.

Everybody is new at some point, and there will always be members that have been around for longer (and there is quite a lot of in-joking amongst the earlier and regular members), but so long as one is sensible most of the time then members are very quickly accepted as "one of us" :D
 
I'm not on the US forum a lot but you have always seemed perfectly fine as a member. The sort of members that fall into "that" category (Fossa Dude et al) aren't annoying because they ask questions (that's pretty much what the site is for) or because they're young (witness the respect people had for Writhedhornbill for example), but for their sheer inanity coupled with an inability to learn or accept criticism.

Everybody is new at some point, and there will always be members that have been around for longer (and there is quite a lot of in-joking amongst the earlier and regular members), but so long as one is sensible most of the time then members are very quickly accepted as "one of us" :D

I consider this to be case-in-point of what happened with me. Whenever I stumble across any of my early posts I struggle to believe what I've written now, but as I've listened to other members and not taken their criticisms as 'bullying' but as a way of helping me, I feel I've grown as a member and [I hope] I'm seen as a better, regular member now with some interesting things to say :p

The basic point of that being that new people do become a part of the 'group' after so long, from my experience the people of this website doesn't resent people making mistakes, they resent people not learning from them and [if they've been told] not listening!
 
This has been a very unique and interesting thread. It is nice to know what happens to the members of this site that I've heard of as almost mythical. I suppose I should also announce that I am retiring from the site, as I feel I've gained all from it I can, and hopefully contributed some useful stuff in the last year, after my huge number of crap photos in fall 2010. Thanks to all the members who have helped me out with questions and just being good people to me.
 
This has been a very unique and interesting thread. It is nice to know what happens to the members of this site that I've heard of as almost mythical. I suppose I should also announce that I am retiring from the site, as I feel I've gained all from it I can, and hopefully contributed some useful stuff in the last year, after my huge number of crap photos in fall 2010. Thanks to all the members who have helped me out with questions and just being good people to me.

You're RETIRING!?!?!

Ugh, KCZooFan, I respect your decision, but hate to see that you've decided to leave us here at ZooChat. You've been unbelievably helpful to me and many others on this website, what with all of the very timely links you've given me and your continued support of my ideas. I know we've never met, but today I've found out that I'll be losing a "friend".

ZooChat will be a very different forum without you. Glad I had the pleasure of "meeting" you :D, though, and I wish you the best of luck on your travels.
-AnaheimZoo​
;)
 
I consider this to be case-in-point of what happened with me. Whenever I stumble across any of my early posts I struggle to believe what I've written now, but as I've listened to other members and not taken their criticisms as 'bullying' but as a way of helping me, I feel I've grown as a member and [I hope] I'm seen as a better, regular member now with some interesting things to say :p

The basic point of that being that new people do become a part of the 'group' after so long, from my experience the people of this website doesn't resent people making mistakes, they resent people not learning from them and [if they've been told] not listening!

And what about copying other peoples postings word for word on a petition site ? do you know anything about this? a strange coincidence that this comment appears on the same day directly underneath comments made by someone called Javan Rhino.
 
KCZooFan said:
I suppose I should also announce that I am retiring from the site, as I feel I've gained all from it I can
that statement reminds me of Cuvier's Rash Dictum of the 19th century, to wit "there is little hope of discovering new species of large quadrupeds"......
 
Everybody is new at some point, and there will always be members that have been around for longer (and there is quite a lot of in-joking amongst the earlier and regular members), but so long as one is sensible most of the time then members are very quickly accepted as "one of us"

No-one comes into the world perfectly informed, and the day that I stop finding out something new that might change my mind about something is one that I dread.

In the words of Sir Isaac Newton "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
 
And what about copying other peoples postings word for word on a petition site ? do you know anything about this? a strange coincidence that this comment appears on the same day directly underneath comments made by someone called Javan Rhino.

I'm lost :s

1) I've never posted/commented on a petition site.

2) I only use the 'Javan Rhino' alias on here, RFUK and on zootierliste.

So in short, I basically don't understand what your post exactly is insinuating [if anything, I may have misread]. I certainly haven't copied the post off of anyone other than my own mind, and that goes for all posts on here.

EDIT: Out of interest, can you send a link to the post I'm supposed to have plagerised?
 
I'm lost :s

1) I've never posted/commented on a petition site.

2) I only use the 'Javan Rhino' alias on here, RFUK and on zootierliste.

So in short, I basically don't understand what your post exactly is insinuating [if anything, I may have misread]. I certainly haven't copied the post off of anyone other than my own mind, and that goes for all posts on here.

EDIT: Out of interest, can you send a link to the post I'm supposed to have plagerised?

See my posting on Longleat News and the future#2, post number 28, then take a look at the support for Bobby and Moira Roberts petition website,January 23rd 2012, signiture and comment number 488 from "Javan Rhino", signiture and comment number 489 on Januart 23rd 2012 by"Dennis Tanzaro"
 
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