I think you can do a balance of things. I can't deny that these things are legit nice for people but if you plan right, there's room for everyone to be pleased
Zoo trends that are overdone.
- Thread starter owensluis
- Start date
Overdoing the soft news on socials:
Soft news/drivel appeals to the general public; but when it’s overdone, it becomes really annoying:
Five photos of animals with pumpkins posted over five days (each titled ‘x sleeps till Halloween). Unless you’re promoting an event, just do a single post (on October 31) and be done with it.
12 days of Christmas where the first day starts with 12 identical photos of lovebirds forming a collage. Even the general public would be more interested to know facts about animals in cold climates; a post about how the zoo runs on Christmas Day (if closed) etc.
Birthday posts. I’d enjoy these a lot more if they included a photo of the animal when it was a cub/calf/infant. Usually you just see them eating a cake with an assurance it’s sugar free.
Every other zoo is happy to celebrate World Elephant Day with a single post; but we’re gonna extend that to a week even though we have no pregnancies to announce and say what could have been said in a day over the course of seven. A day raises awareness; but seven is overkill.
Soft news/drivel appeals to the general public; but when it’s overdone, it becomes really annoying:
Five photos of animals with pumpkins posted over five days (each titled ‘x sleeps till Halloween). Unless you’re promoting an event, just do a single post (on October 31) and be done with it.
12 days of Christmas where the first day starts with 12 identical photos of lovebirds forming a collage. Even the general public would be more interested to know facts about animals in cold climates; a post about how the zoo runs on Christmas Day (if closed) etc.
Birthday posts. I’d enjoy these a lot more if they included a photo of the animal when it was a cub/calf/infant. Usually you just see them eating a cake with an assurance it’s sugar free.
Every other zoo is happy to celebrate World Elephant Day with a single post; but we’re gonna extend that to a week even though we have no pregnancies to announce and say what could have been said in a day over the course of seven. A day raises awareness; but seven is overkill.
Alright, I feel like we're beginning to run out of things to complain about.
When has this ever happened?
Yeah it can be frustrating, but such programs often are easier to manage bts and the animals often breed easier.
There's literally a whole thread discussing why this is such a popular and successful entrance exhibit - it works extremely well.
Why? If it's safe to do so what's the issue? Definitely a case by case basis, but I don't see any reason why not when safe to do so.
They have no obligation to disclose that information, frustrating as it can be. It's going to remain commonplace as zoos don't see the need to tell the public every time an animal passes away.
Also, editing your post to remove ones you've gotten pushback for when we can still see them in quotes just makes you look silly, fwiw...
Wisp O' Mist
Well-Known Member
Yeah, sue me, but I like it when zoos celebrate their animals birthdays.
Yes, they're almost entirely for human rather than animal benefit, but they're nice way to give accolades to 'keepers and they put what species the birthday animal is in the public's collective mind's eye for the day.
Besides, it's a fun change of pace for the animals themselves. They get to try novel food items and enjoy some extra enrichment, should we really be complaining about good animal welfare?
Well said, and I can attest to this. When I first visited Tampa close to ten years ago I was so excited at the idea of feeding a giraffe, have colorful birds land on my head, and being allowed to go inside the wallaby enclosure. These were all completely foreign concepts to me and were amazing experiences during those formative years as a zoo nerd in-the-making. Since then all of these have made their way to my local zoo and with age I couldn't care less, but it can't be undersold how impactful stuff like this is to Joe public. Considering these trends are often premium experiences, it's also easy money.
I was thinking about this when I made my comment about the African Savannas’ usual 3 species. From a regular visitor point of view, what we see as “overdone” can really make a difference to them as we all remember the first we fed a giraffe or exotic animal (I still remember when I fed a Nilgai for the first time). That being said, we can also wish that some zoos refresh the mold of certain exhibit ideas. (Ex. Himalayan Exhibits that display species like Markhor or Yaks).
Well you can have a Western African or Kalahari savanna. Have giraffe interactions but also make sure to have cool ungulates like roan, lechwe, etc.
The Ungulate TAG profile page has a ton of cool ideas for exhibits
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Generally, I would say leaning into species homogenization. Which isn't necessarily be a bad thing in terms of increasing the amount of holders of a species that needs a robust genetic population, but at the same time if there's two medium-sized or larger zoos that are an hour apart that have the same large, charismatic species (e.g. big cat, bear, large mammal, great ape), maybe there could be some level of variety. One zoo could have sloth bear while another has Andean bear, one zoo could have generic/reticulated giraffe while the other has Masai, one zoo could have bonobos as their great ape while another has orangutans, etc. Same deal with reptiles, amphibians, birds, invertebrates especially. I think green tree python and emerald tree boas are a cool species to have, but it seems like everyone and their mother has them. So long as these two or three zoos have a baseline collection to help out with SSPs and enough rarities/points of difference to stand out, that would be ideal to me personally.
I think this is especially pertinent in herps where a number of the common species aren't even ones the AZA manages. Especially in zoos that don't specialize in herps, the same species that tend to appear time and time again include some that, while cool species, aren't ones managed by the AZA. Granted, there are times this makes sense. Some native species are particularly common, but oftentimes tie into local conservation efforts and have high education value. Similarly, some larger snakes and giant tortoises are iconic in their own right and can't easily be replaced with a different species. However, in a lot of the smaller herps I'd definitely appreciate it if zoos chose to break the mold and house species other than the same few repetitive species. The two snakes you mentioned are great examples, but I think this is especially evident in the poison dart frogs. The same three least concern species are common in so many zoos, but wouldn't it be great to see more zoos really feature the fascinating diversity of this family and house some of the more endangered species in higher numbers?
Unfortunately ZooTampa has not been a walkabout for a couple of years. They took out the doors and just made them glass windows. So now it is just a yellow-footed rock wallaby habitat. It is, however, in the process of getting a refresh as is the whole Australia section (no longer called Wallaroo Station).
While frequent zoo aficionados, like most zoochatters are, will notice things like an over-used name or homogenization of species, most casual zoo visitors will never know or care. The person that seeks out zoos in every city or specifically travels to see different zoos is not common. Obviously it is very common on this forum, but not in the general public.
That said I also decry the homogenization, which is what makes some zoos that are less so even more exciting.
That said I also decry the homogenization, which is what makes some zoos that are less so even more exciting.
I Like Zoos
Active Member
I barely get to go to zoos not finishing school yet and although I have seen many wallaby walkabouts and stuff previously mentioned my younger siblings really enjoy them and that makes me happy
I 100% agree. Anyone with younger siblings or kids of their own can see the great value in domestic petting zoos and the common interactive exhibits like stingray tanks and wallaby walkabouts. These are the best part of a zoo to many kids, and give great value to sparking children's love of animals and being close to them.
Yeah, and at most zoos that are also places easy to skip if you aren't particularly interested in domestics. I've been to Rosamond Gifford Zoo on a number of occasions now, but have maybe once entered the barn. While I don't think farms need to be a mainstay at every single zoo, having them can be very valuable and I am certainly a fan of farms that are well-designed, both with education as a primary goal and a focus on heritage breeds. Having San Clemente Island goats will always, in my opinion, be superior to having African pygmy goats.
Aardwolf
Well-Known Member
I think it comes down to the comparative value of the goals of a zoo. If the main goal of a zoo is conservation than yeah, domestic animals have little value. You could use that space for another group of animals that is of higher conservation priority. If the main goal is education, then domestics can be very valuable. If we're teaching people about animals and their relationship with humans over the millennia, there's few topics more interesting than domestication - why we did it, how we did it, and why some species work but others don't. If the goal is getting visitors to fall in love with animals and develop empathy, they're golden. Goats, one might say, are a gateway drug to gazelles.
Komodo Dragon
Well-Known Member
Also, guests like to learn personal information about the animals they see (genders, names, etc.) And it can be a learning experience to teach how long a species can live.
I agree with this strongly, especially in the current social media age. There are many pitfills to this strategy as has been seen with certain welfare movements -- but by God, there are people who are going to Cincinnati Zoo just to see Fiona, and it isn't because there aren't hippopotamus anywhere else, you know? Similarly almost every zoo with a history of holding gorillas, polar bears, lions, or elephants has had a special individual or two that has been treasured for a generation and is remembered fondly like a local celebrity. Bushman is still a Chicago icon to this day and he's been dead for decades.
In particular, in my experience, it strengthens the connection between the local community and the zoo -- the named animals become part of the community to these people, to be valued and celebrated and protected like any other neighbor. Some of us will not be impressed to see more lions after so many facilities, but for locals, that's their lion, that's lion they saw as a child and that they share with their children, and it's one more reason to support the zoo.
I know Milwaukee isn't a popular facility on zc but I think they do a wonderful job balancing educating guests about species themselves and drawing attention to the uniqueness of their individual animals.