Those We Have Known....

The nature of a group such as this is, in many ways, very odd.

We spend a great deal of time reading the thoughts of others, usually only knowing those people in the rather removed forum of the on-line world.

Sometimes, those whose thoughts we have enjoyed, and with whom we have relished an occasional exchange of opinions, vanish from view. In some cases, their departure is a relief - regular readers will, perhaps, wince at the memories of some who exploded into Zoochat, posted liberally and annoyingly, and then disappeared.

But another phenomenon altogether are those who are frequent, erudite and enthusiastic contributors who just fall off. Is it because they decide they are not interested in zoos after all? Is it because they decide that sharing their thoughts with strangers, and caring about the thoughts of those strangers, is an odd thing to do? Is it because their circumstances change, and it is no longer possible or easy to regularly access the site? Is it because a tussle in cyber-space has soured the experience for them? Or is it, heaven forbid, because they have been stricken by serious illness or death?

Others may have particular contributors they miss, but here are a few to start the ball rolling:

• CZJimmy. Made abut 3,000 posts, then stopped in July last year, telling us that the female giant otter was in with the male at Chester Zoo. Since then, silence.... he was knowledgeable and lively.
• Dan. Posted last August to say he had been unwell, but would be back. He was a brilliant contributor, who had a very clear sense of what he believed and argued for it passionately. I sincerely hope he is well, and would be very grateful for any news on this score.
• Baldur. No posts since June last year, after several thousand before that. I know he was miffed by the confrontational stance of some on here. A shame - he is witty, and adventurous, and generous with his information giving.
• Red Panda. No posting since August 2010, although I believe he is still around, occasionally looking in. Before that, well over 1000 posts, mostly entertaining and interesting.
• Writhedhornbill. Probably the most extreme example. Made more than 4000 contributions between 2007 and 2009, but since asking about the progress of the Congo peafowl house at Antwerp, not a peep has been heard from him.
• Trebaruna. Excellent contributions from Holland. Several hundred of them. But nothing since November 2010.
• Sun Wukong. The most missed of all, for me. Intelligent, knowledgeable, a bit prickly, funny. Banned after being a bit mean to an irritating youth from Cincinnati (I think). The place is the weaker for his absence.
• Zebraduiker / Tarsius. Those of us who enjoyed the quirky posting of this multi-headed hydra have been unsatisfied since August 2011 (a typically barbed comment on Gondwanaland). But we may be watching the contributions of Fuzzball with interest....

 

A most interesting thread.

I think you will find Writhed Hornbill, whose posts we all enjoyed, stopped posting because of his connection with Chester Zoo. Its possible the same may be true of CZJimmy, another excellent supplier of information from Chester. Some zoos don't like their members/supporters posting on here and if the person wishes to stay onside with the Zoo, they choose the alternative, stopping posting.

Without going into detail, Sun Wukong would probably still be posting, but was eventually permanently banned from the site due to his repeatedly hostility to a number of other members.

Baldur's sudden absence is a mysterious loss as he was very informative and provided many good photos too.

Other previously frequent posters who I have noticed have stopped completely are Zambar(Marwell) and Tuan

 

I have also mourned the loss of several key contributors to ZooChat, and have often wondered about their demise. I know that several individuals on this forum have eventually managed to find employment in the zoo community, essentially ending their involvement with the day-to-day postings here. However, lurkers abound in all corners...from directors of zoos to docents/volunteers all across the globe. One key person that you missed is Mark (the moderator) who has not been seen in over a year! Even the other Aussie moderator (ZYBen) is rarely contributing anymore.

In regards to the Icelandic poster Baldur (who spent much of 2011 in Edinburgh), he is truly alive and well and I consider him a fine friend. I've never met him in person but we exchange extremely long emails about every 3-4 months, and somewhat shockingly he has soured a little on zoos. He has visited around 150 of them but Baldur has now turned his attention and university courses to studying animals in the wild rather than gazing at them in captivity.

It is sad when an intelligent poster vanishes into thin air, and I often scratch my head with frustration as I try to imagine where they might be and hope that nothing dreadful has happened to them. It is important for individuals to become more regular contributors as that generates thoughtful discussion and preserves the nature of the forum. It also preserves photos, as when the Great Purge of 2010 eliminated 40,000 photos the ones that had been commented on were saved from extinction. Thus I make a point of typing up remarks on many photos, to not only keep the photos forever (hopefully) but to also gain knowledge through varied responses.

Lastly, in regards to Sun Wukong I've always maintained that he was a highly intelligent member of the zoo community but whether he has been missed would definitely be up for debate. I know that I personally only once argued with him, but others on this site were driven batty combating his seemingly endless verbal attacks.

 

Mark's disappearance seemed to coincide with the Queensland Flood Disaster, the same state where he lived, though I don't know if there was any connection. He was one of the very earliest ZooBeat/Zoochatters and such a regular and steady contributor his disappearance is both sad and mysterious. I hope maybe he will return.

 

Tuan stopped posting because of his connection with Chester Zoo, I think you are missing Taun?

 

A common thread running through this thread, most of the members that have not posted for an age are connected to a zoo, surely this will not stop them commenting on the 1000's of other threads and galleries that are out there.

P.S I miss okapikpr's posts.

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking that...

It is always sad to loose a good contributor to ZooChat. I myself had a lot of contact of Writhedhornbill back in the days and have since hoped that he would return to the forum. Two other members that I miss on ZooChat are Dan and Baldur. Dan I have not heard from in a while which is a great shame as he did spice up the Scandinavian forum (in a very positive way). I still keep contact with Baldur and he has given me the same explanation as snowleopard. I have tried to encourage him to come back to the forum maybe just as an occasional contributor but so far no luck

But to be honest I have also myself thought about leaving ZooChat or at least becoming less involved. The forum seems to have taken a more "mainstream" turn over the last year or so. While this shouldn't be a bad thing it does seem to have let to more types like Fossa Dude, Cinzoo man and Gforrestersmith and others with posts ranging from the slightly naive and dumbfounding to the downright nasty and trolling (sometimes also from older members). The tone in general on the forum seems in many instances to have deteriorated to childish or rude postings. This is a great shame as ZooChat is unique on the internet in regards to what it has to offer zoo enthusiasts.

Like I said I have also considered leaving but how would that solve anything? Honestly, I would miss the good discussions I have had with members such as Maguari, snowleopard, lintworm, kiang, Pertinax, Pygathrix and many more.

 

That all depends on the zoo. Personally, I would find it hard to work at an establishment that would attempt to limit my freedom of speech in such a degree. Naturally, there are things you can't and cannot posts when connected to a zoo but this line is honestly not that hard to find and common sense can get you a looooong way.

 

In regard to Tarsius/Zebraduiker/Fuzzball I asked Fuzzball outright and they denied any connection to the previous alias's even though I think the evidence speaks for itself...

 

Don't forget "Charly" (another of his former aliases)

 

Charly is a new one on me, i'll add it to the list!

 

I don't think the level of that has changed very much in all the time its been running. The last year or so has in fact been relatively smooth running and free of major problems- at least in the parts of the Forum I am active in.

I would never see leaving as an answer to the problem- the only person who suffers is the leaver. Just carry on being involved and disregard the rubbish! The troublemakers usually depart fairly quickly anyway.

 

I have a feeling, if that is the reason, that they may be requested not to have involvement with Zoochat per se. As one who has no affilition with any particular Zoo anymore I would regard myself as more fortunate than them in this case!

 

In my short time on the forum i've noticed that this is the trend, troublemakers and idiots tend to be shot down pretty quickly but those with reasoned opinions are made that little more welcome! Prime exanples are Cinzoo Man, Fossadude & GForresterSmith. Again I find myself agreeing with Toddy on this subject...

 

Actually the problem of posting about a zoo that you have very strong links with,on here is one that I'm very aware of due to links that I have had or still have with zoo's in the UK.Many people will have noticed that with regards to Chester I only post on anything that could be seen by any other zoochatter,when they visit the zoo I will no longer be posting anything but what any body could find out about Chester,in the hope that someday we get the good relationship back that this site used to have with Chester.I have taken this decision because I don't want to put at risk the very good relationship/friendship I have with many people at Chester that I have known for well over 20 years in many cases!

 

I hadn't realised that this relationship had gone wrong

 

Hmmmmm....

Let's see - a fairly caustic response to old-school zoo architecture, a touch of humour which is sometimes puzzling and sometimes quite funny, an interest in aquaria, collects zoo guides.... No, can't possibly be the same person! Maybe when we see scurrilous comments about the director of Berlin Zoo we may have to connect these various pseudonyms.

 

I'd agree. A while ago I 'left' for a while, but I think in any place like this you just have to ignore those who need ignoring. It's too easy to get wound up by things that are best left alone. I think some of those who have left have undoubtedly done so because of the tone that is, occasionally, adopted by some. Is that tone worse here than elsewhere? Are the courtesy levels lower on Zoochat than on similar sites? About average, I'd say. I - occasionally - participate in a similar thing for the football team I support. It's a soul-destroying experience, often, with levels of inane, brainlessness and pre-pubescent insult-throwing that make me want to forego all contact with the human race. A music one I use, connected to the UK magazine Word, seems to attract a greater degree of civility, it must be said. It's nowhere near as easy to use, nor to navigate, though - so respect to Sim for the way that Zoobeat is set up.

 

You mention the Berlin zoo and director and I'm sure thats already occured, i'm using my phone now but once I get home i'll link the thread. If you can't wait that long then check "why is San Diego the best?" or similar... You also failed to mention thr aversion to "indoor only" exhibits.
Glad to see I'm not being totally paranoid!

 

No reason that you should have noticed it had gone wrong!!