Honolulu Zoo, part two: the tax deductable pictures

[urbpan]

When I visit a zoo I take pictures of details that interest me as someone who works in the field. Every zoo does things a little differently, and there's always something to learn.


This is the white-handed gibbon exhibit. It's an island with a big climbing structure made of pipe painted to look like bamboo, firehose, and a real tree. The feature most interesting to me is the children's step, painted yellow to make it visible. At Drumlin one of the common complaints is that the children can't see over the barrier fences.



One of the frustrations of being an animal keeper is that the animals are there to be enjoyed, but many people's idea of enjoying the animals is to scream at them or throw stuff at them (to get them to move, or to feed them or whatever). Our job is to keep the animal healthy, and yet the very fact of them being on exhibit puts them through stress that damages their health. There were a bunch of these rhyming signs, which had good messages (but terrible poetry). I wonder if the rhyming helps visitors remember the message.

My running gag at Drumlin was that the signage should include the word "pie hole."


Again the theme is "respect." Everybody can understand respect. I like that they saved the crap people had thrown into the gharial exhibit. "Look what you idiots have done!" is the message.


I really like this sign. I love that they threaten legal action, and I like the fact that the zoo includes both simple rhyming signs with pictures on them as well as dense wordy informative signs. In my opinion, if you invoke the law (especially in the passive tense as on this sign) it gives the message that it's not the zoo that's being a hard ass, you're breaking the law, bub. At a meeting at Drumlin, a similar message ("It's against federal regulations for the animals to be fed by the public") was shot down as too unfriendly. NOTE TO SELF: suggest that a weed trimmer be used around the sheep and goat fences to eliminate the tempting grass that people pull and feed to the animals.


WHAT'S IN HERE? WHAT'S IN HERE? I DON'T SEE THE ANIMAL!
This sign is a courtesy, and to keep the crowds moving. I think this sign's light-hearted, irreverent tone is fun.
The Honolulu Zoo exhibits are actually really well designed in terms of how visible the animals are.

Comments

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

i'd like an oral reprimand, please.

[whatisbiscuits.livejournal.com]

It looks like some people threw stuff at the sign instead of the animals.

[meryddian.livejournal.com]

I like their signs. I don't go to the zoo often (it kind of depresses me when I see some of the limited spaces that most of the animals have) but I get annoyed when I see how some people act.

I've been to both the Lincoln Park and Brookfield Zoo lately. I wish I'd taken a snap of the sign at Brookfield that showed a turtle with its shell in an hourglass shape due to a 6-pack plastic piece.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I saw pictures of that turtle on wtf_inc.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

Are there any open plains zoos in the U.S.?

[meryddian.livejournal.com]

Well... to whatever extent it can be called a "zoo"... Busch Gardens, Tampa, FL, has a "safari" setting for their animals.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

I can think of at least 3 in Australia. Huge tracts of land where various (compatible) animals are house together in large paddocks.

Most zoos might have one or two deer, Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo has a herd of at least 20.

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

You are right about invoking the law. There are lots of signs in food stores telling customers how not to be morons "by order of the Health Department" or by order of my government agency. I've never seen a store get fined for something a customer does (like bring in their swaddled dog-baby), but a store owner told me that the customer will call him all kinds of names if he asks them politely to not bring a dog in his store.

If I carried a camera around, I might start a photo series in my own blog about signs I see in stores.

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

I love the sign on the last picture...sometimes at my work the rabbit we have is out on the deck and people will look in her indoor cage and complain they can't see her...and we have to tell them over and over that she is OUTSIDE. My boss thinks having a sign saying the same message we have to repeat over and over "looks bad"...sheesh.
I love all the signs...they're informative, not rude, and puts the message across perfectly...
I love that little kid stool! :)

[mozzer131.livejournal.com]

At the NJ Aquarium, the hippo exhibit has some big birds (don't ask me what kind, I was chasing my nephew and didn't get a chance to really enjoy anything, sadly). There are branches arranged to look like a giant tree, and many of the birds sit in said branches, which visitors can stand under.

There's a big sign that says: "Birds poop every 15 minutes. How long have you been standing here?" I cracked up when I saw it and wanted a picture of it, but only had my crappy cell phone camera.

[bluelinegoddess.livejournal.com]

The Denver Zoo has a sign with a picture of a cut open stomach from a sealion - full of pennies. Why anyone would throw change into an exhibit is beyond me.