Is it possible to get rid of your zoo interest?

I would say my general interest in zoos comes and goes, recently my interest has peaked up again due to new threads here. This level of interest also correlates to my activity on ZooChat, this is a normal thing with hobbies I think.

 

This is a really fascinating topic that really should be talked about more. My interest in zoos entered a six month recession in September of 2020, and I believe my last post around that time was about Carol Baskin being on Dancing With the Stars (Imagine if those were my last words on this site ). The headache that was online schooling and the temporary closure of some of my local zoos likely played a big part in that, but in general I was just really burnt out. I had little motivation to post on the site or visit any zoos, even the ones that were open. Between that six month gap of September 2020 and March 2021 I believe my only real posts here were thread the year related obligations. I was seriously thinking that my passion for zoos and animals was just a phase that I was moving on from, and it was rather sad in a way. My whole life this is something I had loved and the thought of it being gone really stung.

At the end of the March 2021 things completely changed. I was on vacation in Florida during Spring Break and did a revisit to Tampa with my father. I had already gone several times before so I wasn't particularly anticipating this visit in particular, but the primary reason I wanted to go was to check out the new shoebill exhibit. Watching those prehistoric birds and getting some amazing photographs revived an excitement I hadn't felt in a long time, I was genuinely giddy! There also was something else that happened that changed my mentality. A few days after that visit, my father unexpectedly passed away in his sleep. In a way, by coming with me to Tampa which reinvigorated my love of zoos, it felt like one last gift from him. This whole experience changed so much in this regard that I felt obligated to make it my site avatar. I'm sure there will be another time in the future where I'll need a break, but I don't see a future where I don't have a deep appreciation for zoos, hopefully even in a career path down the line.

I don't think there's a single person on this site who won't be sad to see you go, but you have to do what makes you happy and if your not finding that here it wouldn't be right to force yourself. With that said, don't completely disappear; your photos are way too good.

 

For me, my interest in zoos hat a more than 10 year hiatus from like 2008 to 2019. There was no clear reason for its beginning I just had other things at the time more interesting to me. It's not that I didn't visit zoos at all in the meantime I just didn't spend time researching about them. That changed after I moved to Berlin and after discovering the forums and all the discussions and games. I'm a huge statistics nerd and of course ZTL is a gold mine for this. It helped me a lot getting through lockdown.

But the main reason I stuck with the hobby until now is that it gave me motivation to visit new places and being active. The realiziation "I'm actually old enough and earn enough money to just go to places" didn't quite hit me in the context of zoos until then. As I didn't have a hobby like this before it really filled somthing I had missed in my life.

I'm not too opinionated when it comes to husbandry and conservation because I'm not an expert on those topics and I don't like taking part in heated discussions in my free time. I'm at a point where I can be 99% sure that my job will never involve zoos, so I enjoy taking it all in from a visitor's perspective. I still like reading about the backgrounds and understanding them, but I will never be the guy who decides what is a good or bad move by a zoo.

 

Although you may lose interest in zoos, if you have an interest in animal life then that will almost certainly stay with you! (Hope you never lose your interest in girls!!)

 

Work in zoos long enough and you'll not so much as lose interest in zoos, but you won't be that interested in looking at the animals, but more in how an enclosure is heated/ how they keep the humidity/ what mind of mechanism do the sliding doors have/ how do pools drain/ what levels are the hot wires sitting at/ where's the muck heap etc. You guys think you're zoo geeks by spotting as many species as you can....you have NO IDEA!

 

@mrcriss makes a very good point here. It's one thing to be interested in zoos and everything zoo-related as a hobby / as a visitor. It's another when it's occupational.

 

Having said all that though, it also gives you the opportunity of worming your way into a few lovely little extras if you're meeting one of the other keepers there, as we often do the courtesy of allowing our colleagues to meet some cool animals (was cuddling a rhino calf the other week, fell deeply in love, and have thought about little else since!)

 

That is an individual thing. Some of us are still struck by watching animals. I admit, I do focus first on exhibits and landscapes, but a cool animal is a cool animal.

 

Agree entirely. I no longer visit a zoo just to look at animals, and these days are much more interested in seeing animals in the wild. I generally plan a visit with for a specific propose or to see some aspect of their operations and facilities. Must say I still enjoy coming across unusual and interesting animals of course.

 

For me, my passion for zoos and animals has always been a relative part of my life and who I am as a person. It is the only interest I’ve ever had that I have stuck with, unlike most things which I knew were just phases. At no point in my life, have I ever had a decreased or nonexistent interest in looking at animals or visiting zoological establishments of any kind. If anything, my passion keeps growing stronger year by year, especially since I’m only two years away from going off to college, and I plan on making a career of this.


So going back to the original question, “Is it possible to get rid of your zoo interest?”

Well yes, but also no. It depends on who you are. For me, animals are my passion, but others might not feel the same way. For some, animals and zoos might just be a interest “phase” for that person, and there’s no telling when it’ll slow down or come to a stop entirely. And that’s completely normal and acceptable. But if you’re like me, with a growing passion for wildlife that started when I was only about one-and-a-half years old, I don’t think you will lose it anytime soon. What I’m basically trying to say is, as long as you love something enough, it will always be a part of you, and that extends to other aspects of your life too, not just this.

 

I've had several interests that have come and gone; Godzilla, Gravity Falls, Jurassic Park, writing, drawing, zoology, paleontology, and cryptozoology have never left.

 

That's like telling a toxic DeviantArt user to stop being so toxic. It probably wouldn't happen.

 

I am getting less and less interested that I see animals in the wild.

 

To be honest this past year, I forgot about this website because my interest kinda wanes out a bit. Still not as interested though.

 

After the removal of fantasy zoos, my interest in the website has kind of faded a bit. I just have yet to find a thread I'm interested in.

 

I just check in periodically. I do miss some of the old fantasy zoo threads except for the games with too many rules or trading.

 

I wish the literal dream zoos thread was still there though. It's interesting on how people dream about zoos they visit on a dream.

 

Yeah, I did have other threads I participated in; I just have yet to find one that interests me currently.