I used to be involved in competitive Ballroom dancing for many years, which was a massively subjective little world, so I’m used to coming across huge differences of opinion based upon personal taste. My only phobias are of medium sized spiders (very small and very large do not bother me for some reason) and anything that can flap and fly too close to me (bats and birds included). I have nothing at all against insects, snakes or rodents - again, I guess this is all just a personal thing.
Yeah, phobias are weird like that. I adore snakes and bats, think large insects are really cool and even find scorpions fascinating but it's always been just spiders for me. I don't know how it ended up that way. On the topic of more popular and common species; maybe it's because I don't get to visit zoos much more than once a year but even the most common animals that "don't do much" in captivity like zebras and ostriches enthrall me. And I don't know how people can look at giraffes and not be continuously floored by their size and freaky anatomy. That said I can probably understand the boredom with lethargic big cats the most, although they're my favorite group and it makes it all the more exciting when they are active. I guess I'm guilty of one example, though - giant pandas. Living near Atlanta maybe I've just had my fill of them, but my interest in them is fleeting. Unlike cats literally all they seem to do is lounge and eat, and their exhibit is always so packed to bursting with visitors that it's rarely worth it for me to bother!
I started this thread by saying I avoided Chimpanzees I do actually like Chimpanzee's but the fact that I have seen so many over the years is the only reason I avoid them I would much rather see a Mongoose than a Meerkat? I love birds and to me there's no boring birds. on the other hand if we all liked the same then the world would be such a boring place.
Exhibits that I rarely bother with would be bat walk-throughs , butterfly houses and I have little interest in any invertebrates, I personally can't understand why so many rate B.U.G S at London, I think most of the individual exhibits are poor, apart from the jellyfish!
I find all animals interesting, including Homo sapiens. Like most people I pay less attention to more commonly kept species but every so often stop to admire meerkats. The only exhibits I really don't like are animatronic dinosaurs.
I don’t mind an animatronic dinosaur exhibit - it makes me feel like I’m about five years old again, which is never a bad thing.
How did I forget to mention these?! I think it's probably because I try to block them from my memory!
I to dont like panda exhibits, even if they are rare. They also get way to much attention from the zoo and are in constant spotlight. And the exhibits are, like you said, way to packed up.
I think it’s all relative - there are of course plenty of rarer animals to see. I also find the attention that they receive from the zoo to be very cliched. And having all those people breathing all over me and in my personal space is a real turn off.
We are, of course, all entitled to our own opinion but I don't share the dislike of animatronic dinosaurs. Obviously, like all ZooChatters, I visit zoos to see live animals not models. However, provided the dinosaur displays are educational and don't encroach on the animal collection then I have no objection to them. Such dinosaurs tend to be extremely popular so encourage visitors and hence generate revenue. If the profits are used for worthwhile purposes, such as improving the zoo or contributing to conservation projects, then what is there to dislike? I'd certainly rather see good quality, well presented animatronic dinosaurs than fairground rides or children's playgrounds.
Of course, there are animatronic dinosaurs and then there are animatronic dinosaurs - the ones at Wingham are horrific albeit strangely charming in a "laughing at how bad they are" way.
And there’s also the Blackpool Zoo dinosaurs - they’re definitely something else! I agree, anything but children’s playgrounds!
I dislike them because I find them boring, they're no more interesting to watch than a vending machine. Also some of these dinosaurs are taking up space that could be used for living animals, Plzen for example. I would ask what is there to like? I know they bring in money but why do the general public wasn't you see them? They're fake and they do very little. In fact I find it sad that people spend time looking at them when they could be seeing real animals.
It’s all just a bit of fun for me, a novelty, something slightly different from the usual zoo trip. I would never go to a zoo especially to see them, however.
I think if it doesn't encroach on the live exhibits and instills any further interest and appreciation for the animal kingdom, it has its place. I think they speak a lot to children especially, the potential impacts on which shouldn't be overlooked. Some of them could end up paleontologists! That said I feel like such exhibits are more appropriate in museums personally speaking but either way.
I skip farm exhibits usually and often gloss over North American hoof stock like bison, elk, moose, deer, bighorn sheep, or pronghorn since I've seen them in the wild.
Your answer makes me wonder if where we are all from has some level of bearing on our answers to this question. For me, a lot of these animals are actually quite a novelty. I really enjoy bison! I think they are so majestic. And also their young are just adorable. I would absolutely love to see them in the wild! I’m quite keen on bighorn sheep too, and like elk and moose too. I’m not normally an enormous fan of hoofstock, but these animals especially do tend to catch my eye. Maybe as they are a little less common in my part of the world?
