General Zoo.... It's well known that the following are the only kinds of bird there are: If it's on the water, it's a duck If it talks, it's a parrot If it eats you, it' s a vulture If it's bigger than you, it's an ostrich. Anything else is a sparrow. Many zoo visitors only want to know two things about a bird: What's its name? Does it talk?
Recently heard at London Zoo: "Look at da lions!" (proceeds to bang on the glass to "wake it up!") "Look at all 'is bitches! 'Ow many fe-lions dey got?" A part of me died inside that day.
Brookfield Zoo, decades ago, had a sign in front of an empty exhibit claiming it was for unicorns. According to the zoo's history book Let the Lions Roar, a keeper overheard a father tell his son the exhibit had unicorns, with the boy replying they did not exist. The father told him, "Can't you read the sign?"
What do they say about penguins? "If it dives, it's a penguin" or "If it's black and white, it's a penguin"? People still know penguins apart cause they're cute or something.
I suspect a large number of people don't realise penguins are birds... One of my lecturers once ran a quiz for a group of first-year biology students and a significant proportion (I think around a third) ticked mammals when asked what class penguins were in.
I think that is common, which is sad really... although you would have hoped that everyone doing a biology class would know what a penguin was! I came across an old (2006) Birdforum thread a few days ago where someone was asking if penguins were birds. They thought they were in their own group somehow. Another poster on the thread asked, in genuine wonderment, did the person think that vertebrates were divided into fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and penguins, but it was simply that they had never even thought about it before. They were just penguins.
I don't recall ever meeting someone who didn't know a penguin was a bird. Plenty of people who've mistaken puffins for penguins, though. Another thing with birds is that most people think sea birds are either a penguin, a gull, or a pelican. ~Thylo
When I was at Atlantis,Paradise Island. I was over by the big marine habitat they have (can't remember the name, the one with the manta rays) There was a touch tank with Starfish, Horsehoe Crabs, Queen Conchs and a sea cucumber, when someone told another person what the sea cucumber was, he said "What kind of plant does it grow from?" And it wasn't even in a sarcastic tone, It sounded like he was legitamately asking that question
Erie Zoo Genet=cat Akron Zoo Komodo dragon=dinosaur! Andean condor=chicken Columbus Zoo Echidna=porcupine, warthog, polar bear (I think!) Cincinnati Zoo Potto=monkey Cleveland Zoo At the seal/sea lion exhibit- The big ones are the sea lions, and the small ones are the sea otters Everywhere (especially at Bay Village Nature and Science Center) Tortoise=turtle
Hello Cloudedleopard While I agree that most of the misconceptions show a lack of knowledge, in the USA the term 'turtle' is applied to all chelonians, including tortoises and terrapins. I have tried to tell London Zoo visitors about the way chelonians should be classified into hidden-necked and side-necked turtles, but I need the right kind of audience for this. Similarly, dolphins are 'porpoises' in the USA, while the name 'elk' is applied to the wapiti, rather the moose.
When I was living in New York State and attending Jr High School, one of my teachers paused in the midst of his lecture, to reference the text of the Life Sciences book we were using, and clarify that Penguins were indeed, obviously Mammals...my 13 year old self was stunned. Right on with the Puffins and you can add Murries and Auklets to the list of Seabirds misidentified by the casual naturalist as Penguins. The park ranger at Kenai Fjords National Park went out of his way to remind visitors that Penguins don't live in Alaska, but was still graciously patient when one observed a puffin flying by the boat and remarked that they thought Penguins didn't fly!
A lot of people say that 'bird-eating' spiders are tarantulas, whereas true tarantulas are European wolf spiders (Lycosa tarantula).
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo At Cleveland- Colobus monkey, "Chimpanzees, man." Ring-tailed lemur- Raccoon Meerkat- Muskrat
[ Similarly, dolphins are 'porpoises' in the USA, while the name 'elk' is applied to the wapiti, rather the moose.[/QUOTE] Very true regarding wapiti/elk vs moose/elk or elch or eland!! When I was young I made an effort to use Wapiti for American Elk and Bison for American Buffalo. Bison stuck. Wapiti did not. When I was in Europe I did use European Elk too describe the Alces present in those zoos. It's funny we adopt one Algonquin word for the Moose, but not the one for Elk. Moose is gaining cache in Europe too isn't it? Here in Alaska we use Brown Bear to refer to all Grizzly Bears. Most other Americans would not and even only rarely apply that name to the coastal populations traditionally referred to as Brown Bears. I was thinking of that yesterday at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center when every child who came up to the exhibit referred to the Animals within as Brown Bears...and not Grizzlys...to include the Toklat subspecies exhibited next to the coastal bear.
One thing regarding Alces alces is that I believe there is some evidence suggesting that the North American and Eurasian populations represent two species. If this is the case, Moose is probably an appropriate way to refer to the North American species. When it comes to Ursus arctos, I believe most Americans refer to all the bears as Grizzly Bear, whether or not the animal in question is actually a member of that subspecies. This is likely due to the fact that almost all captive specimens as well as most of the animals shown in nature documentaries are actually U. a. horriblis and called Grizzly Bears so the public applies this to all bears. Even at Bronx, where the signage lists only one bear as a Grizzly and the other three as Brown Bears (they're actually U. a. sitkensis), the visitors usually just call them all Grizzlies. ~Thylo
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who goes around zoos grumbling due to the idiotic things that other zoo patrons say. At the Wallaby/Tortoise exhibit at Capron Park Zoo: Look at the turtle! Look at the rabbit! At places with dwarf animals the world over: "Look at the Babies." In front of a Beluga Whale: "Look at the Dolphins." This is likely to get me punched someday, but I am in the habit of correcting people when they make mistakes like that. Should I keep doing it?
