Well, I'm a terrible collector... However I had a vision of postcard collection with felid motif (and I already have some nice additions like amazing postcard with Persian leopard from Cologne or Black-footed cats from Wuppertal - still wait for Asiatic Golden cat postcard!). It almost worked. Now I try to have at least one postcard from every visited zoo - and here I can name myself a semi-collector! I tried also with zooguides but only from visited zoos (well, Zurich tested me in that...). Also, any felidae-related pinch is a treasure... When I was a child I had a little collection of figures (all bought in Warsaw zoo, it was very important) but now I create them on my own. And my dream is to create more zoo-related stuff for people like postcards or shorter/longer guides, even if on a little scale. Honestly, I could say there's one thing which is zoo related (but more with zoology than zoos) and I collect perfectly. Feathers of Polish birds. But I doubt it counts here According to T-shirts, maybe it'd be a good way to do a basic line somewhere? I think best would be doing an analysis what people wear now, who is going to specific zoo, what they expect (in case of fashion) from places like zoos, if there were a unsuccessful attempt - why exactly they didn't buy these t-shirts? However it's a lot of research to do... especially in these mad times. Anyway, we have (in Wrocław) a little private shop which is quite popular - they have backpacks/bags and t-shirts only in two colours - black and white and one motif - a head of a zoo's specific animal/star - like Tengah the Sumatran tiger or Miombo the Angolan lion. It's just an observation not research but during visits I saw much people interested.
Still worthy of mention, I reckon I have a few nice bird feathers collected both in the wild and at a zoo or two!
I recently started collection zoo related items and I basically collect everthing.... It all started with spoons, you heard me spoons! In most zoos you were (sometimes still are) able to buy teaspoons with an animal and the name of the zoo on it as a souvenir. I started by collecting spoons of only Artis but it quickly run out of hands... I know have (tea)spoons of almost all Dutch zoos and at this moment I have decided to focus on Dutch zoos. However I do collect other zoo related items such as guides, postcards, keychains, magnets, collector coins, posters, glass, mugs and also miscellaneous items. So I collect quite a lot but I do try to focus on Dutch zoos only, but occasionally I do buy items of other zoos.
T-shirts are my most frequent souvenir. I also love laptop stickers, hats, and postcards. I also have some cups from some zoo visits that I'd like to turn into flowerpots. When I was younger (and still occasionally nowadays) I bought so many plushie animals.
I forgot, refrigerator magnets are another go-to for me. They make great gifts for family members. I also occasionally buy coffee mugs, but it's generally only to gift to family members.
Does anyone know where I can obtain zoo shirts/general merch? Many zoo web stores don't really sell what I look for.
Those are the best kinds of souvenirs! I had a lengthy talk with the curator or reptiles and amphibians here at my local zoo in Los Angeles, Ian Recchio. He was very informative and nice to talk to, it was during the week we had the arrival of Indian gharials. He took the time to answer my questions while observing the gharials together, even asked what I did and I told him I work in the vet field but want to hopefully one day work in a zoo Connections and contacts are essential and wonderful to have!
Oh I totally agree, I hope that you achieve your dreams of being a field vet and from what you've mentioned you are definitely already making the right connections and on the way to achieving this.
Thank you! I will even work prepping meals for the animals if that’s what it took, I love wanting to be part of the zoo experience even though every job will have its ups and downs I love talking to everyone who loves works at any zoo and give them the respect they deserve, even when I get a snack from the concession stands which some seem to know me already
Well, recently my local zoo Burgers' Zoo started selling some of their signage.. I managed to get my hands on these six beautiful pieces that are going to decorate my rooms wall Burgers' Zoo signs by Ursus posted 1 Oct 2020 at 5:49 PM
These have already sold out, I was lucky enough to be able to buy the last signage (a Thomson's Gazelle)...
Animal related things I collect are plastic animal figures, zoo maps, posters, and books. I used to collect animal and Pokemon plushies as well, but I eventually quit since they were taking up so much space. I also have this statue of an American White Ibis that is made entirely out of scrap wood and pecan shells, and I got it at a craft fair for my birthday a long time ago. It’s supposed to hang up on the wall, but I never put it up there fearing it might fall down.
I like to collect any zoo guidebook and leaflets, also a nice t-shirt, hoodie and anything else nice I kind find in the gift shops.
In addition to books about animals, I like small and inexpensive items (such as postcards and keychains) as well as authentic zoo animal footprints!
a heads-up for those that may not have noticed that Chester have a number of used signs for sale on their web shop: COLLECTABLES
I'm not going to lie, at first it looked really cool, but then I think the prices are a bit of a scam... Burgers' Zoo had also a sell-out of old signage. And I think those prices were far more reasonable, and much more affordable... My little collection (you can see up above) I got in total for I believe 130 euros. Which would still be cheaper then their smaller signages of £125, which translates according to google to 145.71 euros... Burgers' Zoo had reasonable prices of 10 euros for small sized signage and 45 for the really large pieces. I personally really love the idea of zoos selling old signage that they don't intend on reusing as collectors items however I do think that more reasonable prices would make it more attractive for zoo fans to buy it and also allows those who aren't as rich to purchase a piece of zoo-history.
