Mari. 21.
A real actual person runs this blog.
She's just bad at social media.
Fandom blog: perpetuallyponderous
Cute animal blog: ferociousfelines
If I follow you, you likely know a few of the others too lol
fireminer asked:
why-animals-do-the-thing answered:
Absolutely not, because that is not a reality in modern American zoos. There are a number of things I am frequently aggravated about zoos not investing in, but safety protocols and precautions are not counted among them.
Whenever a safety incident happens at a zoo that is not AZA-accredited, there’s a veritable cast and choir waiting to throw the facility under a bus with allegations of negligence or willfully lax safety precautions. Animal rights groups love to say that zoos are too stingy to do right by the keepers or the animals or the guests, but it is flat out not true.
First off, every facility I have ever been to has done the absolute best they can to secure their animals and keep everyone safe with the resources they have available. Having a ton of money to throw at stuff doesn’t make a zoo less likely to have safety issues - the big fancy AZA zoos with tons of money have almost as many historical issues as smaller facilities. When things do happen, it is almost always due to an accident or human error. Animals will hesitate under living doors that can’t be halted mid-motion easily, damage to a barrier will get missed, or people will screw up and miss a lock. No amount of monetary investment can mitigate the fact that humans are not perfect, and that’s what causes the broad majority of safety issues in zoos. (Also, no amount of monetary investment will stop guests from jumping fences to slap hippos or pet snow leopards.)
Second, if we’re talking financial concerns as a motivating factor here - it’s not a good business move to set yourself up for animal escapes or human injuries. One incident brings a lot of bad press, not even considering how massively traumatic it is for everyone in a zoo’s employ. More than one can get you shut down. It is must profitable to run a safe, secure facility at all times.
People who portray zoological facilities as cutting corners to save money always have an agenda. For all that corporate-level people running a zoo are somewhat distanced from the facility’s daily operation, they do actually care about the safety of their animals and guests. No zoo is purposefully choosing to risk lives on the regular - every facility does what they feel is necessary to keep people safe within the bounds of what they can afford.
