Zoo/Aquarium Hot Takes

[La Cucaracha]

My hot take is that I absolutely despise free-roaming peafowl. Indian peacocks are certainly not a conservation effort, and by dint of being such ostentatious birds, they're constantly harassed by guests after their feathers. Zoos don't just keep animals in enclosures to protect visitors, but also the animals, and it just strikes me as impractical if not impossible to properly protect the welfare of a bird that can just go wherever it wants and eat any trash a visitor might feed them

I agree about peafowl for all the reasons you stated. Plus, we are currently in an avian flu epidemic... Peafowl have no respect for exhibits they don't belong in. The risk for cross contamination is there, however much you may or may not love the males' tails and the cute baby chicks.

I would, however, like to see more free roaming species of other kinds. Maybe giant tortoises?

 

[NNM.]

Correct me if this is a hot take or not, because it’s certainly not in the normal world of the casual visitor, but it seems to be on ZooChat.

I take no issue with commonly-seen small mammals at zoos, like ring-tailed lemurs, river otters, or meerkats. I find them all to be engaging animals, and whenever a zoo I visit has them, I look forward to seeing them. That doesn’t mean I don’t want more variety in zoos, it’s just me saying I enjoy what is “generic.” Maybe that makes me sound basic, but my viewpoint on zoos seems a bit more simplistic than others on ZooChat.

 

[RandomZooVisitorYT]

Correct me if this is a hot take or not, because it’s certainly not in the normal world of the casual visitor, but it seems to be on ZooChat.

I take no issue with commonly-seen small mammals at zoos, like ring-tailed lemurs, river otters, or meerkats. I find them all to be engaging animals, and whenever a zoo I visit has them, I look forward to seeing them. That doesn’t mean I don’t want more variety in zoos, it’s just me saying I enjoy what is “generic.” Maybe that makes me sound basic, but my viewpoint on zoos seems a bit more simplistic than others on ZooChat.

It's only a hot take depending on who sees it, I for one love all 3 species you mentioned and see no issue, the only problem I would have is if they Replaces an uncommon species like when Cincinnati replaced their bat eared foxes who were moved back to their cramped exhibit at the children's zoo with meerkats. I have definitely seen people who want to not have those at zoos but having crowd pleasing animals is nice so long as you still have variety

 

[NNM.]

It's only a hot take depending on who sees it, I for one love all 3 species you mentioned and see no issue, the only problem I would have is if they Replaces an uncommon species like when Cincinnati replaced their bat eared foxes who were moved back to their cramped exhibit at the children's zoo with meerkats. I have definitely seen people who want to not have those at zoos but having crowd pleasing animals is nice so long as you still have variety

That's a good mentality to have. I'd be annoyed if the keas at Franklin Park were replaced with cockatoos or a more commonly-seen tropical bird, seeing as those seem to be less commonly-seen in zoos.

 

[SwampDonkey]

I would, however, like to see more free roaming species of other kinds. Maybe giant tortoises?

They are very expensive animals and people would try and steal them.

 

[birdsandbats]

They are very expensive animals and people would try and steal them.

Reptile Gardens in South Dakota has a giant tortoise walkthrough.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Reptile Gardens in South Dakota has a giant tortoise walkthrough.

A walk through isn't free range, however.

 

[birdsandbats]

Menominee Park Zoo in Oshkosh, Wisconsin has a free-roaming African Spurred Tortoise.

 

[La Cucaracha]

They are very expensive animals and people would try and steal them.

You are right, but it would be akin to stealing a giant boulder in broad daylight.
There is a botanic garden in the Seychelles that does do this, but that's self-explanatory.

 

[RandomZooVisitorYT]

They are very expensive animals and people would try and steal them.

That feels very unlikely as the largest animal that was stolen from a zoo (to my knowledge) was either a Meerkat or a penguin. Also giant tortoises are incredibly heavy and bit really hard if needed.

 

[SwampDonkey]

That feels very unlikely as the largest animal that was stolen from a zoo (to my knowledge) was either a Meerkat or a penguin. Also giant tortoises are incredibly heavy and bit really hard if needed.

You are right, but it would be akin to stealing a giant boulder in broad daylight.

It happened in St. Augustine FL last November. The thieves stole two Galapagos tortoises using strollers to assist in the heist. They were taken during open hours from an enclosure with a waist high fence, a free range tortoise would be even easier to steal. The two taken were juveniles, but we can assume the free range torts would range in ages, and a full grown sulcata isn't to big to handle with a stroller.

I have seen people try and steal all kinds of animals. Macaws and other parrots, various exotic birds, small mammals, reptiles, you name it - people try and steal it if they have access.

 

[La Cucaracha]

It happened in St. Augustine FL last November. The thieves stole two Galapagos tortoises using strollers to assist in the heist. They were taken during open hours from an enclosure with a waist high fence, a free range tortoise would be even easier to steal. The two taken were juveniles, but we can assume the free range torts would range in ages, and a full grown sulcata isn't to big to handle with a stroller.

That's very sad that a tortoise died because of this.

Even keepers have been convicted in the theft of the same species.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdok/pr/former-oklahoma-city-zoo-employee-sentenced-after-pleading-guilty-trafficking#:~:text=At the hearing, Lucas, a,his tenure at the Zoo.

 

[SwampDonkey]

That's very sad that a tortoise died because of this.

Animal theft happens all over the place, people are often not trustworthy. It happens more frequently than gets reported to the media as well. Occasionally it is after hours, but with small animals it happens typically in the daytime.

In the last couple of years we had monkeys stolen in Dallas and Louisiana, as well as lemurs in California, torts in Idaho among many others. The problem is not just an American issue, it happens in Europe too, lion tailed macaques in Leipzig and further: Nat Geo 2017:

Since 2011 some 400 animals have been stolen from European zoos. In 2015 alone, 25 members of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria reported thefts.

“It is really a severe problem,” says Volker Homes, the director of the Association of Zoological Gardens in Germany. Zoos have lost small primates, including ring-tailed lemurs, silvery marmosets, and squirrel monkeys. Reptiles and exotic birds, like parrots and penguins, are common targets too. In one case thieves stole 79 tortoises from a French zoo in a single swoop.

 

[ZooElephantMan]

If giant tortoises are free range, kids also might try to ride or sit on them.

 

[SwampDonkey]

If giant tortoises are free range, kids also might try to ride or sit on them.

And adults....never underestimate how stupid people can be.

 

[La Cucaracha]

If giant tortoises are free range, kids also might try to ride or sit on them.

In defense of

And adults....never underestimate how stupid people can be.

If giant tortoises are free range, kids also might try to ride or sit on them.

I've seen a parent practically shove a stroller into a giant tortoise enclosure with a waist-high wall.

At least free-ranging tortoises could get away, in theory.

 

[La Cucaracha]

And that's just vertebrate animals.

Thefts from staff are disproportionately so much worse with invertebrates.

 

[CMTM]

"Unless you are talking about an octopus or an orangutan, the enclosure is not to keep the animal in. It is to keep the public out."

 

[NNM.]

"Unless you are talking about an octopus or an orangutan, the enclosure is not to keep the animal in. It is to keep the public out."

Put that on a plaque on the entrance of every zoo and aquarium in the world.

 

[La Cucaracha]

"Unless you are talking about an octopus or an orangutan, the enclosure is not to keep the animal in. It is to keep the public out."

As much as I agree, some exhibits seem to do a lousy job at that. Mostly moats.