It started last year for me when just all of a sudden a wanted to see zoos and try to learn and help save animals and then I found zoo chat which is a website I could only dream of so I want to hear your story
I was searching the Web for photographs of certain zoo exhibits. Turned out that over 90% of them came from one site
My interest was after visiting the Henry Doorly Zoo. They had such a large gorilla collection I became curious which zoo had the largest one. Then I came across this site while Googling that question.
I was searching the Web for info on Mercedes the Polar Bear at Edinburgh when I came across zoochat, though it took a few years for me to join when I decided I had to get involved in an argument over the new tiger enclosure at London!
After visiting the Madrid Zoo-Aquarium and Faunia, and having started my weekly animal albums on Facebook and DeviantArt, I found that I had so many animal pictures that would otherwise go unappreciated that I decided to start an account. :3
Googling behind the scene tours for zoos. A thread on this site came up and i figured i could find some good info on keeper chats, tours and just general tips about zoos i havent been to but plan to visit someday. Hooked ever since!
I have been a wild cat freak till I was a child and discover amazing world of zoology (and photography) and I've started looking for more information about species, subspecies and individuals Felidae family living in zoos around the world... I dreamed about a trip to Berlin to see Javan leopards. And I found Zoochat where I could observe Berlins' threads. I have plenty of questions, however my 'Leopardus wiedii' shyness kept myself at a distance in the past. I've always want to share my photo-work with others and I think this was decisive to join in. Yep, and I think it's a good thread for a little come back .
I became a member of Zoo Chat when searching the internet and emailing my local zoo came up short when I was trying to find out why one of the two Amur Leopard brothers at our zoo was gone suddenly. This site has been very valuable to me both in the information I have learned on these animals specifically and the vast inventory of zoos worldwide. The photos and the first hand accounts of the exhibits definitely help prioritize a wish list of places to visit.
I liked the idea of being apart of a place where like-minded people can talked about the one interest we all have in common: animals. In real-life I know people that like animals, but with only two exceptions, I don't closely know anyone that is as interested in them as I am.
Since joining I have gained an enormous amount of information that has been new to me. Although I worked in zoos, and also once built my own zoo, it was many years ago and much has been learned that is new to me. It is also really good to be in contact with like minded people from all over the world and to see their comments and photographs. In my every day life I rarely meet anyone who shares my interest and continued passion for animals, and with whom I can have a decent chat.
