Some of you may have seen some funny zoo signs during your Internet travels. I think they're pretty
hilarious but, as a keeper, I can see that zoos are using humor out
of desperation to get their point across. There are so many people
who break the rules as zoos and they don't think twice about what the
consequence may be for the animals.
I personally don't care if you lose an
arm or your life if you're stupid enough to enter a dangerous animals
enclosure, but I DO care that you have sealed the fate of one of my
animals. It's common for animals to be put down if they killed or
injured a person. It shouldn't be a surprise that lions are dangerous
but to some people this is new information. I spend my entire day
hyper aware of my movements. I never lean on fences and I'm always
aware of where an animal is when I'm inside or standing next to an
enclosure. This may appear effortless to you and you might think,
“hey, I can do that,” but no, no you can't. You will not be
careful and you don't know the animals like their keepers do. The
comical signs about “oh noes, you fell in,” or “you will be
sent to the after life if you enter this enclosure” are our attempt
to say “seriously guys, don't do this,” because we know what the
consequences are for your actions and we've tried telling you a
million other ways.
Note: If you truly want to see the
fury zoo keeper, then jump a fence. I've only lost my temper twice
during my career and both times were because some idiot decided they
wanted a closer look at my lion.
And if you doubt
what can happen to you if you jump barriers, then watch this.
Warning: graphic content. This video annoys me because they spin it
like the bear is some savage that wants to eat people. That's not the
case, if you disregard barriers and get in an animal's space then be
prepared to get treated like a intruder. It wouldn't have mattered if
she was 5 or 6 feet away and nothing had happened, you still do not
jump barrier fences.
The two signs below are our way of
saying “don't throw your shit into our animal's home.” If there
are any parents out there, think about how you would feel if someone
threw a foreign object into your backyard and your child become ill
because they ate it or chewed on it - either costing you time and
money to nurse them back to health or resulting in their death. I
don't think you would be too happy and neither would we. So
seriously, don't throw your shit into animal enclosures ever. I'm
tired of picking up wrappers and chewed on soothers in my animal
enclosures.
Signs like the one below mean “stop
complaining that the zoo smells like a zoo.” Animals are stinky,
that's nature for you. In fact, ring-tailed lemurs have stink glands
in their arm pits that the males use to stinkify (technical term)
their tails so that they can have stink wars against one another to
compete for mates. The worst smelling poo I've worked with is bear
poo. That stuff is nasty, but I've heard from many keepers who have
had the pleasure of working with fish eating birds that they are by
far the smelliest animal. So before you stick you note in the
complaint box, remember that captive animals are still animals and
they come with their adorable looks and their smelliness – it's a
package deal.
The sign below sign is very funny but
also very serious. The whole sign reads “Splatter zone.”
Hippos spread their poo around by fanning their tale – it's a
mating behaviour. So once you're done snickering at the funny sign,
take a few steps back.
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