Animals That Simply Don't Interest You

For me I usually don't spend much time viewing animals I can see at home. That includes species like bison, pronghorn, elk, moose, or coyotes. Since I don't get to see grizzlies or black bears too much I do spend a little time looking at them at zoos. I also still like to see bald eagles even though I've seen them quite a few times in the wild.

 

Dudley's male was a beauty, he was called Thurston. I found him fascinating as he was the first I had ever seen.

Port Lympne's pair was one of the first of the newer imports into the UK. Firstly they were in the wooded area, later near the Elephants. But the original pair never bred until finally one of them died and was replaced with a younger one from Howletts. Howletts obtained theirs seperately at a later date and those have bred very successfully.

Warty Pigs are quickly becoming almost equally as numerous. Not as attractive IMO though conservation-wise higher ranking for places in zoos.

 

i tend to agree with most of you about getting a bit bored seeing species I have seen many times before. There can be exceptions, though. I liked seeing Dudley's Oriental short-claweed otters as they kept turning round to see where I was. I also liked seeing a male Rothschild's giraffe at Prague and the way the black spots contrasted against the whitish background - this is the most spectacular giraffe I've seen. I also liked seeing the hairless young ruffed lemurs in London Zoo's Clore a few decades ago. There can also be surprises in zoos. I went to Marwell and my friend said we may as well go into the Vicuna House and this contained a variety of small mammals. I'm glad I went.

 

Having thought about this again I think I have to say Penguins, I liked the king penguins at Edinburgh,but most of the smaller ones leave me cold, they all look rather alike and do the same thing hop swim and argue. Sorry John Lewis and others. Plus they are a bit like meerkats and turning up all over the place,in films on TV and in zoo's

On the subject of Red River Hogs I was amazed at the first ones I saw at Colchester about 18 years ago and listed as Madagascan I seam to recall, but I suppose familiarity breeds contempt.

 

I loved him and his little moated enclosure - I was obsessed with moats in those days.

 

See for me I'd probably only go past the bison and eagle really. The others are all still unusual and neat enough that I'll stop and watch.

~Thylo

 

Hardly novel, but I don't really bother with meerkats. Which is a little odd, as I like seeing ring-tailed lemurs, red necked wallabies, mara and other staples.

Chimpanzees don't interest me, I'm not sure why as I like the other great apes. Maybe it's the tales of Frodo's savagery, or the fact that my local zoo has a group of old ladies but I find them unappealing and not very interesting.

 

A couple of months ago I might've told you pinnipeds but upon my last two zoo visits they were unusually active for me and I enjoyed seeing them IMMENSELY.

I'm kind of bored with tigers, and it's not because I don't like tigers, but they just aren't animals that do much, even more so than other cats, so I increasingly find myself not wanting to spend much time by them. It's not a dislike of the species by any means.

On a similar note, I'd love to visit a great orangutan exhibit, but both local exhibits leave so much to be desired I don't pay them much attention.

 

Species that don't really do it for me are chimps, Bornean orangs, plains zebras (although Grevy's and mountain are both interesting), capybara and lowland tapir. Also, like Pertinax, I'm not a fan of capuchins as a family but I'm not quite sure why exactly!?
I tend to skip "filler" animals if pressed for time as well; meerkats, ring-tailed lemurs, maras, red-necked wallabies and such like but if time isn't precious I will watch them.

 

Fish. For me a fish is food, or a decorative thing. Not as in fishtank, more like a stuffed clownfish framed as wall decoration. Or live decorating the seven seas. But aquariums are simply boring in my eyes.
(Jellyfish is a different matter, I could watch them for hours. It's sort of Zen.)

 

Borneo Orangutans have come up twice, why? Is it because Sumatran Orangutans are less common in zoos? Or is there something uninteresting about them or more exciting about Sumatrans?

 

I've always had something with horses - I simply cannot find them interesting. I mean, they can be somewhat cute when you pet them on the muzzle and such, but there's just something inherently boring to them. I cannot really explain it. Anyways, this makes me usually skip horses, and it extends to their wild relatives as well - I guess I find the zebra to be the most boring exotic zoo animal.

But unlike the average Zoochatter, I actually find more chimpanzees more interesting to watch than gorillas and orangutans. I like gorillas and orangutans, too - chimpanzees just fascinate me a bit more.

 

In general, Sumatrans are more active than Borneans. They are also often slimmer, perhaps because of this, and the adult males have wide, dish-shaped faces which are rather more attractive than flabbier flanges of Bornean males.
In addition Sumatran males can sometimes be trusted with infants, so family groups can be exhibited together. Bornean males are not usually trustworthy and are generally kept singly.

Alan

 

It's interesting to see how European zoo enthusiasts react to this thread vs. North Americans. I would love to see a plains zebra or lowland tapir! And I'm so tired of seeing grevy's… they are everywhere and so mean!

I also pass by the ring-tailed lemurs and meerkats. Many of the apes too, probably because I feel very uncomfortable when I'm around them. Elephants, giraffes, lions, and Amur leopards are way too common for me to spend too much time watching them.

I have also never enjoyed any NA animals in zoos. They are very boring to me. Mountain lions, grizzlies, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, wolves, bobcat… etc are sadly an annoyance when I walk around zoos. But unusually, I spend a great deal of time at Cheyenne's beaver and skunk exhibit.

I also have an issue when zoos put commonly kept reptiles on exhibit like corn snakes or bearded dragons.

 

Man!

I find most wildlife interesting in their own way. Admittedly, as far as zoo exhibits go, insects provide very limited attention from me. Sorry insect lovers.

 

I could drive just a little ways from my house and see pronghorn and have a good chance of seeing coyotes. Moose don't get much of a glance from me in the wild but I would stop for a grizzly as I haven't seen to many of those. It is funny what you take for granted. To me seeing those species would be like a person from Australia passing over a kangaroo and emu exhibit in a zoo or a person from South Africa not caring if they saw giraffes or elephants in a zoo.

 

Why do apes make you uncomfortable?

 

I think they are ugly, particularly the Browns. That said, I'm not a huge fan of New World monkeys in general, I far prefer the Old World species.

Other species that don't do it for me are Camels and to a lesser extent, Common Chimpanzees, though Bonobos are a different matter.