The only social media platform I use is Facebook (for my photography page), so I don't know if other platforms like Twitter or Instagram have similar subheadings. On Facebook, business or organization pages have a word or phrase underneath their name to describe what kind of business they are. Traditionally the title underneath the name of a zoo would be "zoo". Lately I have noticed many zoos are using other words or phrases. I can only assume this is because they feel that "zoo" now has a negative connotation and they are trying to paint themselves as something better. In my opinion this is absurd because many of them still have the word zoo in their very title, so who do they think they're fooling? I also think (my opinion) that it is a bad move because they are giving in to extremists and in a roundabout way they are confirming the accusation that zoos are bad. Why not make a stand? I just did a random check of several zoos, including a couple wildlife parks and theme parks and living museums. This list is by no means exhaustive or even representative of the percentage of zoos that have changed. I just randomly entered some of the big names that came to my head until I got tired and stopped. These are also USA based but I invite research on what zoos in other countries are posting.
Here is what I found: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum “botanical garden” Phoenix Zoo “wildlife sanctuary” Reid Park Zoo “zoo” San Diego Zoo “wildlife sanctuary” San Diego Safari Park “non profit organization” Woodland Park Zoo “environmental conservation organization” Point Defiance Zoo & Aqurium “zoo” Bronx Zoo “zoo” Central Park Zoo “zoo” Queens Zoo “recreation spot” Prospect Park Zoo “park” Omaha's Henry Doorly & Aquarium “zoo” The Living Desert “zoo” Northwest Trek “environmental conservation organization” Fossil Rim “wildlife sanctuary” Dallas Zoo “zoo” Fort Worth Zoo “zoo” Zoo Miami “zoo” Columbus Zoo & Aquarium “aquarium” Cincinnati Zoo “nonprofit organization” Los Angeles Zoo “zoo” Fresno Chaffee Zoo “zoo” Oregon Zoo “nonprofit organization” Disney's Animal Kingdom “performance and event venue” Busch Gardens Tampa “amusement and theme park” Denver Zoo “zoo” Nashville Zoo “zoo” Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium & Safari Park “landmark and historical place”
Some of these are "interesting" including the fact that parent organizations list their own facilities differently. Look at New York - two of their four zoos are zoos but a third is merely a park and a fourth is a recreation spot? And someone at Columbus has an unrealistically high opinion of their on-site aquarium to label the entire campus as an aquarium instead of a zoo. If you need a good laugh, I mean roll-on-the-floor and bust-your-gut, just look at Wildlife World (especially for those of us who have been there).
For a facility that has aquarium in its name, Columbus has the most simple aquarium I've ever seen. A manatee, a big reef tank, and that's about it besides a couple of other smaller tanks.
