#zoos and aquariums

[great-and-small]

Thank you for you excellent defense of the zoo environment on the coyote post! As someone who is currently pursuing a degree in Zoology (with a focus on animal behavior and welfare specifically, along with Zoo & Aquarium Sciences), it makes me very happy to see such a calm, informed, and well-educated response to someone who clearly did not have all the information. Yet another reason I'm glad I follow your blog! <3

Educating about the value of accredited zoos and aquariums is so important! Thank you for your kind words and for pursuing a degree in such a crucial field of study.

[cave-cryptid]

I still recall when someone proudly and nonchalantly retold how while they were driving they saw a snake in the road, and they then proceeded to turn their car around in order to go back and run the snake over.

I still recall when as a child I was asked what my favorite animal was, and when I responded "the wolf" being met with genuine horror and disgust from the other person.

To this day those times still bother me immensely.

We need wildlife education so so much, it hurts me to think about how many animals, snake and wolves included, that are demonized and hated by people.

I'm so unbelievably lucky that I was raised watching Animal Planet and Steve Irwin and was allowed to experience nature and capture reptiles and watch tadpoles grow into teeny frogs and got to interact with a feral cat colony, I was taught to love and respect the natural world and I wish everyone could have that. Once you get close to all these different animals, really see them and understand them, you learn to admire and respect even the most dangerous animals because you learn they aren't built of malice but they're all beautiful and fascinating creatures that we can live beside.

I could go on and on I just

I have feelings

[saritawolff]

As reports of other incidents are beginning to come in, I thought I’d make a thread on all the crazy break-ins going on in the zoo world since the beginning of 2023.

On January 13th, Dallas Zoo closed due to a loose clouded leopard. Within hours she was discovered close to her home and safely returned to her enclosure with her sister, who had not left. Her wire mesh fence was discovered to have been intentionally cut open.

The next day, January 14th, it was announced that another cut had been discovered in the Dallas Zoo’s spectacled langur exhibit. However, the monkeys did not leave their enclosure and all were reportedly accounted for and uninjured.

On January 22nd, a highly endangered lappet-faced vulture at the Dallas Zoo was found dead in his enclosure with a “suspicious wound.” The wound appeared to be unnatural and is suspected of being a stab wound.

On January 29th keepers at Zoosiana discovered that 12 of their squirrel monkeys were stolen in the night. The remaining monkeys were uninjured but stressed.

On January 30th, attention was back on the Dallas Zoo as it reported that two of its emperor tamarins were missing after their enclosure had been cut into. As Dallas was in the middle of a freeze, it was doubtful the monkeys would have left their heated enclosure willingly. They were believed to have been taken.

On January 31st, Dallas police released photos and a video of a person of interest who may be connected to the theft of the tamarins.

Later that day, the tamarins were found in an abandoned home following a tip from the owners of the neighboring church. The monkeys were in a closet filled with bird feces and moldy clothes. Police also found cats, cat feces, pigeons, and a water jug containing dead fish in the home.

The tamarins were reportedly very happy to return to their warm home, but had lost weight. The zoo currently has them in quarantine to get their weight back up and monitor them for any illnesses they could have caught from the other animals in the abandoned house.

On February 2nd, 24-year-old Davion Dwight Irvin was arrested after an employee of the Dallas World Aquarium recognized him from the “person of interest” photos. He was reportedly scoping out mesh enclosures at the aquarium and approached the employee to ask questions about the animals’ care.

Apparently there had been unreported thefts in early January of feeder fish and fish supplies as well as training supplies taken from the behind the scenes otter area at the Dallas Zoo.

Meanwhile, also on February 2nd, someone cut open the stainless steel mesh of the Central Park Zoo’s Eurasian eagle owl exhibit. The owl, Flaco, has been under zoo surveillance since he was located on the 3rd and the hope is to lure him back with food once he gets hungry. As of today, February 8th, he has not eaten or drank, as he does not know how to in the wild.

Back to Texas, and despite zoos in the area doubling security, on February 6th keepers found a 4-inch cut in the Houston Zoo’s brown pelican enclosure. The birds are reportedly all accounted for and unharmed.

On February 7th, it was reported that Davion had not only confessed to stealing the Dallas Zoo’s monkeys, but also stated that, if released, he would go right back to stealing animals.

Davion confessed that he had attempted to take Nova, the clouded leopard, but he was only able to pet her before she climbed out of reach. He was also linked to cutting the langurs’ enclosure, but not charged since the langurs did not escape.

It was also revealed that Davion had been a person of interest after staff recognized the zoo regular as someone who often asked a lot of abnormal questions (such as how to shift the tamarins in and out of their various spaces) and had been previously been caught sneaking into staff only areas.

So far the vulture, Pin’s, death is still under investigation. Pin’s enclosure was on the other side of the zoo from the area Davion had been targeting.

As for Zoosiana’s squirrel monkeys, an arrest has been made in connection to the theft. 61-year-old Joseph Randell has been taken in for questioning. The 12 monkeys remain missing.

As it stands, we still have one dead vulture who’s killer may still be at large, 12 missing squirrel monkeys, and an owl in danger of starvation or injury in New York City.

I will reblog with updates to ongoing cases as they become available, or if more zoo sabotage happens (God forbid). Please feel free to correct me if I’ve gotten any dates or information wrong and I will edit or update this post.

(Also, I am on mobile and won’t be able to add a readmore until I can access a computer, sorry) Update: I was finally able to add a readmore and also turned all news links into hyperlinks.

[cl0ckworkpuppet]

ranking things the zoo guests do/say/ask on a regular basis

for context, i work at a zoo, and people are fucking insane

"can we pet them?": 3/10. no, you can't. the signs say you can't. but I commend you for asking. If you ask after you've already pet one, though, -8/10. do better.

"i think there's a nursery rhyme about the kookaburra!": 5/10. cool trivia fact! if you actually start singing it, though, 1/10. cool you actually know it, but please stop

"garfunkel, huh? where's simon?": -10000/10. You Suck. I hate when people ask me this and I hate them personally. Because of this job I now have a vendetta against Simon and Garfunkel.

(starts playing kookaburra noises on their phone speaker): 2/10. clever, but annoying. also, doesn't work if you're trying to get them to make noise. they only laugh when no one is watching them.

"well, one of 'em over there let me pet 'em just fine!": -6/10. you did not have to tell me you did that. and just by that description, i know it was garfunkel, who is usually resting because He Is Overheated. animals laying down is not an open invitation to come pet them.

"i was just taking pictures!": 0/10. you can take pictures from the designated guest path. Stay On It.

"can we pet the swans?": just for this question specifically, -16/10. are you fucking kidding me? can you pet the swans? ask me that question again but slowly.

"garfunkel?? they need to get some spaghetti, cuz that's not quite italian enough!": 10000/10. i've only ever heard this once, and it was today from a 13 year old, but I genuinely had to stop myself from bursting out laughing on the job

"are the emus friendly?": 4/10. Australia lost a war to them for a reason.

"why aren't the animals in cages?": -5/10. first of all, we don't cage animals, we keep them in habitats. second of all, this is the Australia Walkabout. Where you Walk About with the Australian animals. You came in here for that exact purpose.

"i don't like birds": -7/10. not because you're afraid, birds are a totally normal thing to dislike. i'm just baffled why you came into an enclosure full of many many free roaming birds if you are afraid of them

"why is the swan pond so dirty?": 1/10. first of all, that is algae, and in small amounts it's not bad at all. it's pretty natural, especially for a giant pond directly in the sun. but more importantly, it is hundreds of gallons, and we cannot put chlorine in it, and it is not feasible to clean every day. we do clean it multiple times a week, but it gets especially bad after storms or heavy rain

"will the budgies poop on me?": 7/10. valid concern, actually. budgies shit every 10-15 minutes. maybe. i've had it happen plenty of times before to guests and especially myself. to answer their question, you'll only get pooped on if you stand directly under them. they don't shit while flying so ur good

"can my child ride the [emu/wallaby/giraffe]?": -284/10. i don't know what kind of cocaine you need to be on to ask me this question seriously, or especially to expect the answer to be yes, but even as a joke this question isn't funny. if i had a nickel for every time i was asked this question, i'd have a quarter

"will the giraffes bite me if i feed them?": 8/10. no, they physically can't. nor do they want to. but it's a valid question; they're pretty big animals to be feeding so carelessly. you'll probably get licked though

(does an australian accent): just because it barely ever happens, 8/10. you'd think it'd happen more often, but no. i've only ever got it a couple times. i rank it so high because hearing these guys try and fail to do an accent makes me laugh so hard

"are you a farmer?": 9999/10. little kids ask me this question when they see my safari hat. makes my day every time.

"are these kangaroos?": 5/10. on one hand, fine. not everyone knows the difference between kangaroos and wallabies. since wallabies are like a quarter of the size of roos, they're often mistakenly called baby kangaroos. plus they're in the same family and look very similar. on the other hand, do you honestly think we'd be stupid enough to put actual fucking kangaroos in with guests walking around freely without an enclosure? be for real

"do these wallabies have pouches?": 3/10. fine question, but these guys have comically large balls

"is that wallaby dead?": 4/10. no, that's garfunkel. he sleeps all the time. i promise he's ok.

"can we pet the budgies?": 2/10. you're welcome to try, but even i can't get them on a seed stick let alone touch them

"can we grab the budgies out of the air?": -999999999/10. Explode.

"don't you hate how the animals are treated in zoos?": -999999/10. you are not the PETA warrior you think you are. when executed properly, they can be really good for the animals inside of them. natural does not necessarily mean good, nor does unnatural necessarily mean bad. that's called a Logical Fallacy. some of these animals Cannot Be Released. please do any amount of research on zoos and aquariums that are not seaworld or the once in a while shitshows

"what year do you graduate high school?": -infinity/10. i am in College.

"when i was younger, budgie feeding was one dollar each, not two!": -18/10. that was in 1943, grandma. plus i'm just some guy. what do you want me to do about that?

"can i have a seed stick for free?": if you're an adult, -10/10. No. if you're a child, 10/10. No (wink and passes under table).

"can you break a hundred?": -100/10. No.

"i like your hat": 10/10. thank you! i like yours too!

"that's a cool pin you have!": 10000/10. my pins are all pronouns and trans flags. i love you.

(sees me cleaning the budgie aviary) (looks at their kid) "See that man in there? If you don't behave, I'll force you to have his job.": -infinity plus one/10. First of all, fuck you for shitting on janitorial positions. I'm sure you would prefer to not step in bird shit. Second of all, I'm not a janitor. Third of all, fuck you for getting your child to behave using fear tactics and threats. Fourth of all, I love my job. I tell these kids and parents straight up to their face that I do. That this isn't everything I have to do in my job. Some parts might be dirty, but that's okay, and no one's job is ever something to be laughed at. One kid told their parent after I told them everything I get to do in my job that they actually want my job when they grow up. That parent was furious. Good. Fuck you, Karen, for shitting on workers that only help make your experience more enjoyable. I've only gotten this three times, thank god, but holy shit. The entitlement of these people is fucking insane

anyway i might think of more later

[woodlnds]

Some screenshots of my (work in progress) forested temperate/taiga themed zoo! I’m still unsure of a name, but I’m thinking of calling it Northwest Zoological Gardens, or NZG.

[crowleyisourking]

Oh to be as peaceful as this baby goat I saw basking in the sun at zoo today

[plutachrogers]

Hippos secrete this thing called blood-sweat. It is neither blood or sweat but a built in sunscreen. It is called blood-sweat cause it is red.

[mochisquish]

Thank you, Snoop Logg...

[alien-insomniac-05]

It kinda pisses me off with like animal rights activists how they are constantly like “release these animals back into the wild”

My brother in Christ, they wouldn’t survive in the wild. Captive animals don’t just suddenly have the skills they need to survive, if they have been around people and have relied on them more of their lives, they aren’t gonna survive in the wild. I really wish people would understand this.

Y’all need to look up Flaco

[inferodios]

“What the pterodactyl?!”

- Young child at the zoo yesterday upon seeing a Cinereous vulture.

[floridianfireflyfaith]

Also, the whole "boop the stick" thing is called "target training". It is SO important and is not a matter of making the animals do circus tricks.

This applies for any medical issues, but let's say in this case that we suspect that one of our tigers is pregnant. The last thing we want to do is tranq her or go into the exhibit just to do a sonogram. Changes in routine can stress the animal out and especially in the case of a pregnant female, that can be dangerous to the animals' (and the keepers') health. Target training allows her to do something familiar and rewarding (coming to the fence and standing on her hind legs to touch the target in exchange for a snack) without stress. This allows us to do whatever medical work we need to, a sonogram in this case, from the other side without unneeded stress for anyone.

If she's not pregnant, well then, good thing we didn't freak her out and make her uncomfortable for nothing. If she is, awesome!! And we'll take steps towards whatever training, monitoring, and medical procedures need to happen next.

6 zoo myths that arent true

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Learning anything about marine mammal training will make you re-evaluate so much of your relationship with your own pets. There is so much force involved in the way we handle domestic animals. Most of it isn’t even intentional, it just stems from impatience. I’m guilty of it myself!

But with the exception of certain veterinary settings where the animal’s health is the immediate priority, why is it so important to us that animals do exactly what we want exactly when we want it? Why do we have to invent all these tools and contraptions to force them to behave?

When a whale swam away from a session, that was that. The trainer just waited for them to decide to come back. If they flat out refused to participate in behaviors, they still got their allotment of fish. Nothing bad happened. Not even when 20-30 people were assembled for a procedure, and the whale chose not to enter the medical pool. No big deal. Their choice and comfort were prioritized over human convenience.

It’s almost shocking to return to domestic animal medicine afterwards and watch owners use shock collars and chokers and whips to control their animals. It’s no wonder that positive reinforcement was pioneered by marine mammal trainers. When you literally can’t force an animal to do what you want, it changes your entire perspective.

I want to see that mindset extended to our domestic animals.

[ciameth]

Every year I invest in infinite fish viewing, it's great.

If you’re an adult, do the stuff you couldn’t as a kid.

Like, me and my sister went to a museum, and they had an extra exhibit of butterflies. But it cost £3. So we sighed, walked past, then stopped. We each had £3. We could see the butterflies. And we did it was great. We followed it up with an ice-cream as well because Mum and Dad weren’t there to say no.

I was driving back from a work trip with 2 other people in their early 20s, and we drove past a MacDonalds. One of the others went “Aww man, I’d love a McFlurry.” And the guy driving pulled in to the drive through. It was wild. But it was great.

I went to a park over the weekend and I was thinking “Man, I’d love to hire one of those bikes and cycle round the park.” It took me a few minutes to go “Wait, I can hire one of those bikes!”

I guess what I’m saying is, those impulsive things you wanted to do as a kid - see the dinosaur exhibit, play in the fountains with the other kids, lie in the shade for 2 hours - you can do when you’re an adult. You have to deal with a whole lot of other bull, but at least you can indulge your inner 8 year-old.

[thunnderthighs]

here's a weird poll for ya

[asherelbein]

A few months ago, I got a tip about a lawsuit. It cracked open the secretive world of American zoos — where sexual harassment goes unchecked, labor exploitation is rife, and speaking out can get you blacklisted.

(CW: Sexual assault. It's not graphically described, but it is a fundamental part of the story.)

[weedgolem]

Ladies if you were to hypothetically bring me on an aquarium date... i might hypothetically find you a diamond ring really fast