A few that mostly pertain to working with animals: When you're working in an animal contact area and you politely tell people the 3 things we ask them not to do, then as soon as they get inside they break every single rule and then some. When kids are so misbehaved towards the animals you have to step in and rescue the animal. Pertaining to both above: When you reprimand the kids and rescue the animal, and then the parents or whoever gets mad at you for doing your job. People acting like they know everything about the animal to their companions, and you have to bite your tongue as everything they say is wrong. The utter disrespect for "area closed" signs, and the large majority of people who don't read signs. The people who automatically assume any person in the exhibit with an animal is feeding it. Biggest pet peeve: the constant question of "does it bite?" whenever I'm working with an animal. Answer is yes people, it has a mouth! Yet many people assume that since it's wild (or non-domesticated at least) the animal tries to hurt you on a regular basis. Large carnivores aside, most animals would rather not bite you and won't unless you do something stupid. That said there is the occasional jerk that seems to enjoy biting you, and I've known a couple. Also people that try to sneak their emotional support animals past you because they know they aren't allowed, and act all entitled when you confront them about it. I seriously think the little dog would much rather be at home than stuck in a small dark bag any day.
I don't take the coronavirus jokes too seriously, as I find myself occasionally making jokes about current world events, so even as an Asian person, I can't really get offended because it would be hypocritical.
No, they can. Older people over the age of 40(?, I forgot, correct me if I'm wrong) are more prone to it because something to do with the immune system. No one is immune to it, it's just that the older folks are more easily infected.
When an author tries to mantrion a prehistoric animal but doesn’t know anything about it. I once read a book with ichthyosaurs as herbivorous dinosaurs and a castle that “looked like an archaeopteryx”. Considering archaeopteryx’s size, I don’t think it would ‘loom’ much.
Lately it has been people claiming the government isn't going to protect the population from the Covid-19 coronavirus (mostly because what they think should be done isn't) and/or spreading all kinds of conspiracy theories with regards to Covid-19. Yes, the situation is very serious indeed and with the recent outbreak in Italy I think much of Europe should be worried and vigilant indeed. But panic and conspiracy theories are not in my opinion going to help us at this point.
This reminded me, a lot of “top 5”/“top 10” YouTube videos about prehistoric animals were clearly made by people who knew nothing about them (errors ranging from confusing short-faced and cave bears to calling Dimetrodon a dinosaur)
How gloomy, pessimistic and easily upset I have been the last few days. Firstly, how increasingly worried and afraid with regards to the corona virus I am becoming now that it seems a large-scale epidemic in Europe is inevitable and the question only seems when it will come, how bad it will be, how close to me it will come and how much it will affect my daily life. Secondly, how upset and pessimistic I responded to the bird escape at Planckendael yesterday. Since I read about that I also haven't been feeling very positive about Planckendael or in fact zoos in general. I had a really poor night of sleep because I just couldn't stop myself from thinking about things so I'm feeling pretty poor today. And I'm not really sure what I should do at the current time.
Misinformation about Covid 19 being everywhere in the media and on social media is taking years off my life. It's good to be concerned and be prepared for the worst case scenario, obviously, but concern =/= panic. Wash your hands, go to a doctor if you're sick and call ahead if you've had a known exposure to a Covid 19 patient, limit contact with vulnerable populations (the elderly, very young children, immunocompromised individuals) if you're sick with anything. For a time I was seriously considering going for a Masters in Public Health and honestly this whole situation is making me reconsider choosing Forensic Anthropology over Public Health.
I personally continue to be very worried and near the edge of panic state about Covid-19, certainly now that there is an active and worsening epidemic in Europe, and the media and social media talk about it definitely aren't helping. Rationally speaking I know the things that need to be done and are being done or might be done if things get worse, but it is easy for irrationality to take over in times like this. I am still fearful about the potential impact of this outbreak on my daily life. I'm not in the age bracket where people are likely to get very ill and I don't have any medical issues that give me a higher risk, but I do rely on public transport so that is of concern. I am still afraid of contracting the disease and being quarantined, or of areas and/or elements of public life being shut down if things get worse. I also worry about zoos being closed and potentially suffering over this outbreak, as some countries are already shutting down events and public gatherings. I don't like stress, uncertainty and rapid change at all so these times aren't good for me. I'm trying hard not to be overly pessimistic about this epidemic but I still think things aren't looking very good for my country. A few more things that have lately irritated me with regards to the corona virus: - Experts, i.e. doctors, politicians and government officials fighting with each other in the media over different scenarios for the effects of Covid-19 and the measures that need to be taken. This only helps to increase misinformation and panic. Not something that should happen in times like this. - How difficult it has become to criticize or comment on certain practices in China that likely led to or contributed to the Covid-19 outbreak, like the consumption of a great variety of wildlife including bats, as well as animal abuse and human rights abuses in China, without tipping over into outright hatred or racism towards the Chinese. - Media reports on the irresponsible behavior on the part of some people who have recently traveled to Covid-19 infested regions (Northern Italy for example).
Ok, so let's break some of these concerns down. I'm personally only following what actual medical professionals and public health organizations (ie. the WHO and the CDC) are saying about the disease. I'm ignoring most of what the media is saying given it's tendency to misinterpret data, with the notable exception of keeping an eye on where reported cases and deaths are located in the US. I'm extremely glad that China has put an indefinite ban on the export of wildlife and wildlife products. And I think it's fair to criticize the harm that these markets are doing. However, it is not confirmed that Covid 19 originated in a wet market in Wuhan. Several early cases, including the documented Patient 0, had no direct know ties to the wet market in Wuhan. Furthermore, we do not have confirmation that SARS-CoV 2 originated in bats. Even if zoos are closed to the public essential staff will still most likely report for duty. They may take a financial hit but I sincerely doubt any will be permanently shuttered due to the outbreak.
I'm still reading quite a few media reports, but I try to look at them critically and I have started to avoid reading social media comments abput Covid-19. In terms of advise on what to do I'm going by and trying to do what public health and government agencies are saying. I agree that is a good thing that they did, however, I wouldn't be surprised if they allowed wildlife trade again after the outbreak (as they did after SARS), or if the trade continued illegally anyway. I know that it has not yet been confirmed that Covid-19 spilled over from bats via the Wuhan wet market, and I guess containing the epidemic is probably the first priority now. But the bat origin at least seems likely, given that this virus is related to the earlier Sars-CoV. And even if another animal is the source, this virus likely came from the disgusting wildlife trade in China. I think most if not all zoos will survive a few weeks of closure, but if the outbreak and resulting measures begin to last a month or more I could see some getting in serious trouble.
I really hate how anxious Covid-19 is making me and how much it starting to affect my life now that is getting closer to me. It seems the coronavirus epidemic is getting way worse each now everywhere except in China. The number of cases is escalating quickly now. I keep reading media reports and social media rumors that the number of cases and the severity of the disease are much worse than what official sources are publicly releasing. Even the WHO-chief has been sending out pretty dire-sounding warnings in the last couple of days. It sure seems there is a lot of reason to be worried right now.
I saw an article yesterday that half the people who had the virus have now recovered. Only one person has died from it in my state, and they had some major respiratory issues before getting the virus. Currently I'm not too worried. I suspect there's some politicalness in all the hype (US election year), but I don't want to get into that can of worms...
IIRC the virus has a 2% death rate, yet the media is acting like it's the 1918 Influenza epidemic all over again.
I should probably stay away from public areas due to the fact that I live near a major port, but the aquarium won't visit itself.
Actually the average mortality rate of the Spanish flu pandemic wasn't that much higher than that of Sars-CoV2/Covid-19 so far. However it differed greatly between populations. What was so staggering about the Spanish flu was that it infected so many people and such a large percentage of the world population and that it mostly caused serious illness or death in healthy young adults rather than in the old or infirm, as most influenza and corona viruses tend to do. If Covid-19 were to continue unchecked and it would infect millions (presently over 100k already) the number of deaths would still be shocking, even at an "only" 2% death rate. Also the death rate of Covid-19 seems to differ between countries. For example it seems to be substantially higher in Italy than in South Korea.
There is nothing like a pandemic of disease to whip up hysteria and fear in human populations yet scientists have been warning about the likelihood of the emergence of these viruses for decades. When it comes to zoonotic spillover viruses these things at least hypothetically should have a silver lining when it comes to highlighting to the public the link between ecological disequilibrium through our impact on the natural world and widescale human mortality. But after having witnessed over the years the well founded media and public hysteria regarding "mad cow disease", foot and mouth disease, AIDS/HIV, SARS, Ebola, Zika, yellow fever, Swine flu and bird flu I can't help but be very cynical. It appears to me that pandemics are something like climate change, antibiotic resistance or terrorism in the sense that non-scientists/analysts and policy makers only really worry about when it finally hits us. The rest of the time people just go sleep walking blithely through their lives and don't care about what is going on in the wider world. When the **** hits the fan a virus will typically become a talking point for a while and then eventually be largely forgotten by all but survivors and scientists until the next one arises. The fact that these pandemics are essentially an ecological blowback seems to be conveniently ignored by the majority. I hope the emergence of the Coronavirus at least highlights the relevance and need of effective conservation policies to people and leads to a far greater political and economical will towards investment in these I don't actually hold out much hope.
