Why are so many people completely clueless on how dangerous zoo animals are?

Pleistocene891

Pleistocene891

Well-Known Member
I just got back from another trip to the Oakland zoo and there were so many people who somehow thought that the animals were "tamed" and "harmless". The worst is when they spread this misinformation to their children. Have these people not heard countless incidents involving zoo animals? Is it just stupidity from people or is there something influencing their beliefs?
 
If anything, I'd say people over-exaggerate how dangerous animals are, when many are fine as long as commonsense is applied. Many people believe animals are out to get them, when in reality they will only attack when cornered, threatened or defending young.

There's two exceptions I've seen:

- Chimpanzees are happy, friendly monkeys

- African wild dogs are cute dogs with ears like Mickey Mouse.
 
Great Argus said:
I've actually yet to hear this one anywhere, most people usually understand they're still potentially dangerous just fine in my experience.
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I've heard it a lot, mostly as people thinking animals won't bite. If it has a mouth, it can bite, no matter how small or tame it is. I've had numerous incidents where I wasn't able to grab a toddler's arm in time and they've been bit by birds, and then the adults with them act shocked that it happened. The same with people sticking hands into open top turtle / fish tanks that weren't for petting.
 
I saw this at La Jolla with the California sea lions. People were coming right up to them, even putting their hands right in their faces. Sure, they tend to be very tolerant of humans, to the point of being able to peacefully share a crowded beach with us, but approaching and taunting a 700 pound wild animal just isn't smart.
 
cloudedleopard611 said:
I saw this at La Jolla with the California sea lions. People were coming right up to them, even putting their hands right in their faces. Sure, they tend to be very tolerant of humans, to the point of being able to peacefully share a crowded beach with us, but approaching and taunting a 700 pound wild animal just isn't smart.
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It's also illegal, of course.
 
Zoofan15 said:
If anything, I'd say people over-exaggerate how dangerous animals are, when many are fine as long as commonsense is applied. Many people believe animals are out to get them, when in reality they will only attack when cornered, threatened or defending young.

There's two exceptions I've seen:

- Chimpanzees are happy, friendly monkeys

- African wild dogs are cute dogs with ears like Mickey Mouse.
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Oh the irony of chimps being friendly…
TinoPup said:
I've heard it a lot, mostly as people thinking animals won't bite. If it has a mouth, it can bite, no matter how small or tame it is. I've had numerous incidents where I wasn't able to grab a toddler's arm in time and they've been bit by birds, and then the adults with them act shocked that it happened. The same with people sticking hands into open top turtle / fish tanks that weren't for petting.
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When I was younger, I was at a Petco and mindlessly put my hand over an open-top tank. Then my finger got nipped by a Tiger Oscar…
 
Corangurilla said:
Oh the irony of chimps being friendly…
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People are amazed when they learn how ferocious chimpanzees can be. Zoos and conservationists have worked so hard to overturn the King Kong image of gorillas that chimpanzees are often tarred with the same brush (as shy, gentle, peaceful creatures).

I suppose it’s a progression from assuming all areas are blood thirsty monsters, but ideally the general public would be capable of holding two contrasting concepts in parallel to each other.
 
I was once roundly shouted down on another, non-zoo site when I mentioned how dangerous chimps can be.

Too many people watching Monkey Life and thinking "if the keepers are in with them, then I can do it".

What they DON'T pick up on is the keepers only go in the nursery group not with the full on adult groups where they would be torn apart in seconds.

Meerkats-even the TV documentaries show these as living in a sort of Game of Thrones saga of sex, double-cross and death, but because of a series of poorly animated TV ads, people think they are cuddly and cute.

Dolphins-Seaworld and Flipper to blame here. That perma-smile hides a pretty dark back story of intelligent and intended violence and even attempted sexual assault of women swimming, due to hormones. They are much bigger and more powerful than most realise when they see them touted as therapy animals. They hunt for a living and are cunning. I wouldn't get in the water with one.

Elephants-always touted as wise and peaceful, especially in the current WWF ads, which call them "our oldest friends". Really? Highly temperamental and capable of homicidal rages without warning, and given their size, accidental crushing.

These are the most common misconceptions I see/hear. People should wise up.
 
I'm personally more used to people hearing about chimpanzees and thinking of them as bloodthirsty and predatory, not to say that this is a majority but definitely not knowledge limited to zoo nerds. I think the older people who think of them as harmless are from the days when Bubbles and the Chimp Channel were still common, but those practices have ceased being publicized, and the Travis incident gained a LOT of attention. They have also been overshadowed by gorillas and orangutan.

The animals that come to mind as most underestimated are pinnipeds, otters and penguins. Piscivores tend to be seen as relatively harmless to humans, I think partly because eating fish doesn't feel to many people the same as eating mammals or birds. I've never seen anyone call a seal 'harmless' of course, but I don't see many people bring up how horrifying it would be to be dragged underwater by one!
 
Zoofan15 said:
If anything, I'd say people over-exaggerate how dangerous animals are, when many are fine as long as commonsense is applied. Many people believe animals are out to get them, when in reality they will only attack when cornered, threatened or defending young.

There's two exceptions I've seen:

- Chimpanzees are happy, friendly monkeys

- African wild dogs are cute dogs with ears like Mickey Mouse.
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In my home zoo (Beauval), African Hunting Dogs aren't especially perceived as cute. They are often seen as Hyaenas or, at best, a kind of Wolf, not extremely tame or gentle animals in both cases.
 
JVM said:
I'm personally more used to people hearing about chimpanzees and thinking of them as bloodthirsty and predatory, not to say that this is a majority but definitely not knowledge limited to zoo nerds. I think the older people who think of them as harmless are from the days when Bubbles and the Chimp Channel were still common, but those practices have ceased being publicized, and the Travis incident gained a LOT of attention. They have also been overshadowed by gorillas and orangutan.

The animals that come to mind as most underestimated are pinnipeds, otters and penguins. Piscivores tend to be seen as relatively harmless to humans, I think partly because eating fish doesn't feel to many people the same as eating mammals or birds. I've never seen anyone call a seal 'harmless' of course, but I don't see many people bring up how horrifying it would be to be dragged underwater by one!
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Penguins are of course wonderfully adapted survival machines. They’re also very clever bitey little bastards that bear grudges, target individuals, and take offence easily.
 
Zoofan15 said:
People are amazed when they learn how ferocious chimpanzees can be. Zoos and conservationists have worked so hard to overturn the King Kong image of gorillas that chimpanzees are often tarred with the same brush (as shy, gentle, peaceful creatures).
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I think they've been a bit too successful with Gorillas also. Like most species there are two sides to the behavioural coin. Sure, they are gentle and peaceful in many aspects of their lives, but equally they can be very aggressive at times, will practise infanticide and can inflict nasty wounds on each other. Some individuals in captivity, particularly adult males, are downright dangerous and untrustworthy too.
 
Pleistocene891 said:
Have these people not heard countless incidents involving zoo animals? Is it just stupidity from people or is there something influencing their beliefs?
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In Indonesia, It's because of the ever-growing trend of keeping exotic animals, influenced by local celebrities and YouTubers. These peoples treat animals like owls, monkeys, and even big cats like tigers and lions as house pets, while having the audacity to call what they were doing as "conservation and education".

What's worse is that these type of content is very popular in Indonesia, especially among children and young adults.

Examples:

I always cited the popularity of these contents as a big influence to the normal viewers, including kids. Which is why a lot of visitors here, like you say, think these animals are tame and harmless. While also resulting in a lot of cases in visitors trying to pet the animals or in some cases, this:
 
I think some zoo staff underestimate how dangerous some zoo animals are. There are several cases where staff have been killed by animals, sometimes after not checking that parts of the enclosures are locked. Some keepers play with adult animals and have been attacked by them.
 
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