Striped Hyaenas at Colchester 29/11/09

Well, in truth, some of them have had names, but we never used them. It just became the budgies or the guinea pigs or the goldfish.

And now I tend to keep amphibians and inverts. You can't really name inverts; and I just don't feel the need to name fire-bellied toads and tree frogs!

And I enjoy seeing wild animals as well - but opportunities time-and-money-wise are few and far between. Animal highlight of 2007 was probably humpback whales in Dominica, which was a great trip.

I always like to call attention to this, 'cos it's a rare occurrence - I agree with snowleopard entirely here.

Please note that I am not advocating that zoos completely abandon exhibiting live animals. However, I certainly think that they should present a more holistic view of ecosystems.

Regarding visitation, numerous studies have revealed that the majority of zoo visitors are interested in the zoo primarily as a social and recreational venue. This helps explain why so many visitors spend such little time looking at the actual animals.

I've uploaded more than 2500 images, and one of my most viewed pictures is of a toilet in Kuwait Zoo.

http://www.zoochat.com/935/public-toilet-male-70055/

Definitely agree with that!

That is almost the direct reverse of Colchester- where the animals are very visible but many of the backdrops aren't so great.