Hi Guys First I would like to start with a disclaimer, or three. I welcome the input from our overseas correspondants. I'm thrilled that you are such a keen zoo fan Mr Horbill. That an intelligent youth like yourself is interested enough to conribute to this forum gives me hope for the future of zoos. Grant, our Singaporean correspondant and all the others are welcome and interesting etc. I would hate to lose your input on this forum. Secondly, though I am not as upset as Patrick I do have to admit that there are lots of threads that I'm not bothering to read Thirdly I have no idea what it takes to create a forum like this. Which leads me to my suggestion. One of the reasons you are here is that there is no english language zoo forum for European zoos. Couldn't one of you guys start one? Johnathon you are obviously computer savvy enough to create an excellent website, perhaps you could have a chat with Sim about what it takes to create a forum. That way we can all subscribe to TWO forums, one for Australian zoos and one for European/British zoos. I would then be thrilled to contribute to both forums ( such as the birth of the first elephant in Ireland ) Just a suggestion, for all I know there are thousands of reasons why it can't be done and don't be scared off from this forum. Jason
i'm not upset - nor do i have a problem with all the non-australasian (i'm not fogetting you nigel) threads. i just want the australasian threads to stay largely (but not exclusively) on topic as i'm sure the singaporean, british and other threads should....
Patrick, I agree but sometimes it is quite relevent to put an example of what an oversea zoo is doing. Jay, I have tried to create my own forum before and it was deleted. But i'm trying again now.
Everybody is a bit right on this. Even Mr Hornbill has a valid point in saying that examples from overseas zoos are sometimes valid, that is how we all learn something from this Forum after all... I also thought perhaps as an obvious computer buff he could start a UK one too, which might take away some of the 'local' foreign input of your site which some people are finding irrelevant to the main topic threads- and give us some more European contacts at the same time. (cue Mr Hornbill) I also wouldn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, we probably all became interested in zoos in our early years- I know I did, but was not fortunate in having anyone to share that interest with until later on. But this Forum works very well so I shall continue posting on it. I hope I don't bore anybody too much if I inadvertantly refer to events in Uk/European zoos sometimes in the wrong places, though I'll attempt to keep that in check from now on.
I'd really like to see people try and keep threads on topic. If you want to talk about something related but off topic, start a new thread and link to it in the original thread. Otherwise I'm going to have appoint some moderators to start keeping everyone in line ! We have geography specific forums for zoos, but not for animals. If you start a thread about an animal, and are only interested in discussing it in the context of a single zoo or region, you should say so in your thread title to make it as obvious as possible. If someone starts a thread about a specific zoo, try not to take over the discussion by focusing on other zoos (you can talk about them if the context allows, just don't focus on it). In general, my rule is that the thread starter gets to say what the thread is about and what is off topic ... if you want to talk about something else, start your own thread.
Hi, I am new to the board, and I am from overseas too (Germany): I found this board while searching for a discussion baord about english zoos. However I am not in favour of creating a new board for european zoos in english language, this one has areas for european zoos, so why creating a second board? Visiting two boards instead of one just takes away time. It is likely that not all people visit both boards as often as they visit one, and so information and input gets lost. I agree that everyone should stay on topic, but I see no reason why someone should create a seperate board about European/ UK zoos. JMHO.
I agree Yassa - I'm quite happy for this board to be an international forum, I do travel overseas, so I'm very interested to hear what is happening in other zoos. I see no need for a separate forum. Just as a reminder for everyone, if you want to hide a particular forum from the "new posts" searches, you can do so following the instructions in this thread.
Nigels thoughts I think the best idea was that of Sims -- Keep to the topic , or start a new thread . I wouldnt want to lose any of our regular users just because they live in the northern hemisphere or somewhere else ... There are only 4 decent zoos in NZ , and approx 10 in Australia . Thats not alot of zoos to talk about . I want to be a bit more informed about zoos around the world , and I regularly come into this website and read -- even if I dont say that much I mean -- if there is some zoo in Czech republic that has a name that I cant pronounce , but they have better success in breeding rhinos than most other zoos , I am interested . I would like to know why they succeed ! Sim , if you still have time on your hands , perhaps you could go through the large posts and see if you could edit some of the content by making new threads for off tangent lines of thought . Then there will be more threads with more subjects . Therer was one large thread ( Something about Melbourne or Singapore Zoo if my memory serves me correctly ) that has about a page of comments about what various members like to drink . I have no problem with it , but it just wasnt relevant to the zoo concerned To Mr Hornbill -- you have a great deal of bird knowledge for a 13 year old , and I admire that . I hope that you stay with our forum as I think you have much to contribute .
ha ha... that was zooboy and glyn (no doubt posting late after a drinking session - in fact i distinctly remember after ignoring the thread for sometime as they hammerered away on their keyboards seeing a post that read "glyn: i know your there patrick..." )... and eventually i joined in!! like sim said - we can always use the function to stop "new posts" appearing on toics that do not interest us - the issue is about people diverging (too far) off topic. thats whats &%*@ing me to tears! yes, as i have repeated many times, its okay to draw a comparison but i can see that (after promising me in a PM too!!) hornbill for one has started going off on his tangents again.... gorillas at london does not = chimps at chester... what did i tell you? you think i wouldn't do it? theres a dead writhed hornbill here man and i may have taken its life but the bloods on your hands.... your hands
Are you sure its a Writhed Hornbill, and not a Wreathed Hornbill? Can you tell for certain? Perhaps you should check with our resident expert....
If people notice off topic posts in a thread - use the "report this post" function (the red triangle with the black line in it on the left of every post) ... that way I'll get notified and can look at moving the posts to a new thread.