Species you hate to see in zoos

What animal species do you hate to see in zoos?
Either because you think it is cruel they are kept in zoos (just like many people do with cetaceans) or because you see them in every zoo etc.

I dislike seeing species such as meerkats, ring-tailed lemurs, african porcupines because they are far too common. I only usually visit their exhibits to see their enclosures and other information such as conservation.

 

While I understand what you're trying to say, I would say "hate" is too strong for disinterest in seeing meerkats or lemurs. I personally don't "hate" to see any animal in zoos, though I'm usually not really interested in chimpansees and bonobos.

Besides, there's already a topic for this:
Animals That Simply Don't Interest You

 

Humans, mostly

 

Ostriches,Emus and Rheas..... way too pecky!

 

I would say 'dislike' rather than 'hate'
but Birds of Prey generally, including Owls, and Vultures.

 

Whiny little kids, people who don't want to be there, those who think a monkey and an ape are the exact same thing.

 

Many people, including David Attenborough, think that large birds of prey should not be confined since they fly over large distances, although I know of no evidence to show that this deprivation has any profound effect upon them. Why does Pertinax dislike seeing captive raptors?

 

Hybrids, 'fancy' varieties and colour mutations. Albino anything, all fancy goldfish, black mollies, Catalina macaws, 'Flower Horns', leucistic lovebirds, rosa Bourkes, veiltail guppies, white lions, white tigers, zeedonks etc. I have no problem with common natural colour forms (such as black leopards) and educational examples of domestic animal breeds

 

Simply for that reason- that they spend a large amount of time soaring and of course that is completely denied to them in captivity. Of course one could argue Carnivores are denied hunting opportunity too etc but I don't much like seeing particularly the larger Birds of Prey in confinement as I feel a major part of their behaviour is denied them.

 

White lions, white tigers (my number one most disliked animal in a zoo apart from the last one in this comment), bactrian camels, asian short-clawed otters, any 'farm animal', fish, Humboldt penguins (to a lesser extent) and animatronic dinosaur exhibits (I know they aren't real but I just had to include it.)

 

I don't mind seeing domestics in a zoo but I dislike it when sheep/cattle/pigs etc are displayed with or alongside wild animals. The only exceptions would be Soay sheep, reindeer and the two old world camel species. Farm animals should be kept in farm areas.

 

Best Thread here ever, almost as good as"Should elephants/ceteceans/bears/apes"merkats"guinea pigs, honey bees be kept in Zoos".

My suggestion for a thread for disliked animals is" I can't see them anymore"

 

I don't get the hate for domestics presumably including secondarily wild and semi-wild: some are close to extinct aurochsen or tarpans or ancestral sheep and goats. Pariah dogs are also appropriate - dingo and singing dog for example.

 

I have no beef with domestics in zoos, I just think they should be kept in farm areas and not mixed with genuine wild species, Ankole cattle are one of the worst offenders along with Asian water buffalo. As I noted there are a couple of exceptions but on the whole it's a no from me!
Singing dogs and dingoes are a different case entirely, they have been living wild for too long now to be deemed feral as far as I'm concerned and merit a place in zoos.

 

Pertinax, I hope you are aware that falconers tell that birds of prey would never soar if satiated. A falconer must weigh or otherwise be certain that his bird is hungry before flying. Otherwise the bird will usually fly to the nearest treetop and sit there preening and resting until it gets hungry, with the falconer under the tree trying to persuade her go down.

 

Correct but the same can be said of many animals surely, even humans. The lack of need breeds laziness and lack of exercise.

 

I disagree about the water buffalo: like OW camels and reindeer they are exotic to most countries though they are domesticated. And unlike ankoles they exist mainly within their native range, with little morphological evolution. The cariboo might be a separate domesticate.

The uniqueness of dingoes & NGSD is overrated as they are similar to basenjis and other pariah landraces, into SE Europe and Africa. None of which are granted such special status though they must have inhabited localities like India longer than Australia or NG. Would you say all such landraces are wild animals and that ie. Anatolian wild boar are still "purely" wild animals, despite long gene flow between themselves and local domestic pigs? I'm not criticising. It's just interesting where people draw the line, if domestics are clearly separate from wild animals.

In my reckoning it doesn't work at the landrace level before intensive breeding: especially not the most primitive landraces. What fauna living alongside man, is unchanged by his ecological effects anyway? By now Soay-type sheep are as much native to N Europe as are dingoes to Australia. I'm not sure where a good line is myself.

 

Interesting someone mentioned Humboldt penguins. When I visited Tiergarten Schonnbrun for a few hours last month, I think my favorite encounter was photographing them swimming underwater. (Well maybe second favorite after lynx in the snow).

When I posted a report of my visit, I was lambasted for suggesting they have too much space given to domestic animals. Glad to see on this thread there are some who agree with me on the domestic animal front.

 

As a child, I found myself bored with domestic animals, but I have to admit as an adult, I now find more interest in getting a view at the farm life, being able to appreciate the emphasis on connections between domestic species and humans. That doesn't mean I don't still sympathize with those who find them boring.