This past weekend, I went to the Akron Zoo with my sister, because they had a fabulous deal on tickets and we had never been there before.
(The Akron Zoo, IMHO, is WAY better than the Cleveland Zoo, not in it's animals [The Clvland Zoo has way more] but in the care of some of it's inhabitants) The enclosures were big, open and very nice compared to some other zoos I've visited (anybody been to either one?) but this REALLY REALLY bothered me. So they had two Galapagos tortoises (I mean, why else would I have gone
) and the inside area was setup like a desert. Like, not kidding, full thrown dessert. Sand on the floor, NO plants except for these cacti that were out of the poor guys reach, a tiny, miniscule, water thing in the floor (it must have been a couple inches deep) and no hides! A nice thing about it was the guys had access to a small yard outdoors, but the fence was really bad. Like, think 'classic' pirate skip railing. With rope. Completely see through! Very shabby. I mean, With a little push those torts could have gotten lose in the zoo! There was okay shade in the yard, but no water. There was also a zoo employee there giving out info on them, and she told this guy who was asking all sorts of questions (his daughter adorably asked Where are his teeth?) and she told him they ate lettuce and some fruit. Lettuce. LETTUCE.
Oh yeah, the torts were very pyramided. So I was trying not be judgmental or anything, but I HAD to point that out, because it could be SO easily fixed!
And my sister said, ''Well, this is a zoo, so they know what they're doing. It's just the type of tortoise it is. The shell is SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THAT.''
I felt really bad about those poor tortoises right then. That zoo is having a 'superiority' complex going on... They know everything better about them than the next guy, because they're A ZOO. Just because, they MUST know what best for them. They have been entrusted with two special, endangered animals to care for and watch out for, and they aren't doing a good job! It;s just like pet store! They 'know' so everyone will trust that that's just RIGHT. And I know that other zoos do that too. And then I felt very sad for all those other, special animals that were being treated without 'proper' care, like they had two komodo dragons, but not going to get into that. The other animals had great care, such as the big cats. Which made me wonder if they simply don't care enough about the tortoises to give them the respect they deserve. I mean, they'll probably still be alive when (as guille24 has pointed out) when their grand kids retire!
I know there are bunch of threads like this, but I had to point that out. And that just kinda made me hate that employee who couldn't care less.
Criticize it, and differing opinions welcome
(The Akron Zoo, IMHO, is WAY better than the Cleveland Zoo, not in it's animals [The Clvland Zoo has way more] but in the care of some of it's inhabitants) The enclosures were big, open and very nice compared to some other zoos I've visited (anybody been to either one?) but this REALLY REALLY bothered me. So they had two Galapagos tortoises (I mean, why else would I have gone
) and the inside area was setup like a desert. Like, not kidding, full thrown dessert. Sand on the floor, NO plants except for these cacti that were out of the poor guys reach, a tiny, miniscule, water thing in the floor (it must have been a couple inches deep) and no hides! A nice thing about it was the guys had access to a small yard outdoors, but the fence was really bad. Like, think 'classic' pirate skip railing. With rope. Completely see through! Very shabby. I mean, With a little push those torts could have gotten lose in the zoo! There was okay shade in the yard, but no water. There was also a zoo employee there giving out info on them, and she told this guy who was asking all sorts of questions (his daughter adorably asked Where are his teeth?) and she told him they ate lettuce and some fruit. Lettuce. LETTUCE. Oh yeah, the torts were very pyramided. So I was trying not be judgmental or anything, but I HAD to point that out, because it could be SO easily fixed!
And my sister said, ''Well, this is a zoo, so they know what they're doing. It's just the type of tortoise it is. The shell is SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THAT.''
I felt really bad about those poor tortoises right then. That zoo is having a 'superiority' complex going on... They know everything better about them than the next guy, because they're A ZOO. Just because, they MUST know what best for them. They have been entrusted with two special, endangered animals to care for and watch out for, and they aren't doing a good job! It;s just like pet store! They 'know' so everyone will trust that that's just RIGHT. And I know that other zoos do that too. And then I felt very sad for all those other, special animals that were being treated without 'proper' care, like they had two komodo dragons, but not going to get into that. The other animals had great care, such as the big cats. Which made me wonder if they simply don't care enough about the tortoises to give them the respect they deserve. I mean, they'll probably still be alive when (as guille24 has pointed out) when their grand kids retire!
I know there are bunch of threads like this, but I had to point that out. And that just kinda made me hate that employee who couldn't care less.
Criticize it, and differing opinions welcome
