Wildlife parks lacking knowledge.

[sarah_m]

I am just wondering if anyone else has been to a wildlife park and seen info displayed about some of the animals that is wrong?

I was in the reptile house at a wildlife park in Victoria a while ago and saw the following errors:
1/ Tank labelled scrub python, but that contained a very large coastal carpet python
2/ Tank labelled brown tree snake Boiga irregularis, but that housed a common tree snake
3/Distribution map for the water python, showing that it occurs over the whole of Australia.:shock:

Surely if you are running a wildlife park you would double check this sort of basic info before displaying it for people to see and learn from!

Has anyone else seen this before?

 

[Snowman]

Just a "possible" explanation....

for 1&2: the original occupants of the enclosures may have infact been what was labled. When replacing the specimens the lables may not have been updated.

3. No doubt a big **** up. but if the area it was found was painted on, maybe someone scratched it off... Or maybe it belonged to another animal as well. (any pictures?)

Still don't be too hard on them. At least someone is promoting wildlife. I think people would rather see the wrong thing in an enclosure than an empty enclosure when visiting a park.

 

[Jonno from ERD]

It's purely a financial problem. Wildlife parks are very expensive to run, and if there are corners to be cut, they are. This includes staff - the vast majority of wildlife parks employ inexperienced staff, becuase those with suitable experience won't work for what they pay. A friend of mine worked for a prominent wildlife park for several years as head keeper of his department, and was given a pay rise - his new par rate was $40,000 a year.

 

[Waterrat]

In most cases, it's a laziness on behalf of the keepers. They often move animals from one enclosure to another (for whatever reasons) and don't bother changing the signs. Gana do it tomorrow ........

 

[sarah_m]

3. No doubt a big **** up. but if the area it was found was painted on, maybe someone scratched it off... Or maybe it belonged to another animal as well. (any pictures?)

Still don't be too hard on them. At least someone is promoting wildlife. I think people would rather see the wrong thing in an enclosure than an empty enclosure when visiting a park.

Not sure if we got pics, will check tonight if I get a chance. Didn't get many pics at all cos the 2 kids with us were hot and cranky and wanted to leave (did the reptiles last).

Paint hadn't been scratched off, the distrbution was painted black.
I know, it's good they are promoting it but I was just disappointed that they had it wrong.

 

[JasonL]

a sign in the Daintree

 

[waruikazi]

To most people they all look the same, they don't even know the difference.

 

[Klaery]

Was at lamington national park on the weekend and one of the information signs they put along the walking track was describing fungi as a type of plant..

 

[Waterrat]

"a sign in the Daintree"

wow, that's good, one of the QPWS Rangers at Daintree is Lyall Naylor. I trust he didn't see this sign, although it looks very old.

 

[sarah_m]

I know it's not a huge deal, so what if the average person cant tell the difference between a scrub python and a carpet python.
It's just a shame that some of the places that should be teaching people about wildlife are giving them the wrong information.
I wondered how commonly this happens.

 

[JasonL]

pic was taken two years ago, but yes, looked to have been up for a bit.

 

[sarah_m]

This is the only pic I had from the reptile house in question. This is the "scrub python". Wish I had a picture of the signs and othe snakes

 

[najanaja]

Its a part of life unfortuantly.

I watched the snake show at Currumbin Sanctuary a while ago,
I know there are some great knolledged Herps inside those walls
But the girl on the mic wasnt one..

She referred to the Common Taipan as the deadliest snake in the world,
Refered to the Westeren Taipan As purely from Western Australia as its name persists
Still refered the King Brown as a Brown Snake and not a Mulga
And got her Water Python and Olive mixed up...

But the message she gave was clear
They hold a valuable part of our Ecosysten
She showed correct first aid
And was fun and made people listen

Human error can be made by all humans
I put hers down to nerves
So i approached her after the show and told her of her errors
and her one oclock show was error free.

As with the tread title
we do expect those who educate us to be precise
But even with errors
at least their trying..

 

[snakeluvver]

I actually find their lack of knowledge worrying, as if they don't know what type of snake it is, how would they know how to keep them properly?

 

[Kristy_07]

The people giving presentations at wildlife parks are often not the specialised keepers - just the charismatic ones

 

[Waterrat]

The whole animal park industry sucs.
In the eighties, I worked as a head reptile keeper in an animal park and I was earning $350.- a week in hand and I had two staff members in the reptile section. Today, there is no head keeper because there is no additional staff in that section and the guy running the show single-handedly takes home $400.- a week. THAT'S PROGRESS IN 25 YEARS!
On most days, the place is buzzing with volunteers, who work for nothing while dreaming about landing a good, well paid job with animals one day. That day never comes for 99% of them. Qualified keepers, mainly men are leaving their jobs because they're unable to support family on the lousy pay they're getting. Why are the park owners and managers exploiting this "get a volunteer" option? Because they can.
Put you hand up those of you who have done your time as a volunteer and found a great career job as a result of your experience.

The poor knowledge at presentations, wrong signage, etc., is a result of unqualified people occupying qualified person's jobs.
That's my opinion.

 

[D3pro]

lol,
-"this is a BHP"
-err... no that's a taipan
-"oh %$&"...

 

[ozziepythons]

The whole animal park industry sucs.
On most days, the place is buzzing with volunteers, who work for nothing while dreaming about landing a good, well paid job with animals one day. That day never comes for 99% of them. Qualified keepers, mainly men are leaving their jobs because they're unable to support family on the lousy pay they're getting. Why are the park owners and managers exploiting this "get a volunteer" option? Because they can.
Put you hand up those of you who have done your time as a volunteer and found a great career job as a result of your experience.

The poor knowledge at presentations, wrong signage, etc., is a result of unqualified people occupying qualified person's jobs.
That's my opinion.

You nailed it Michael. This sort of cost cutting hardley does justice the the fauna such parks stand to represent, and as a keeper I wouldn't want to work at such a place that in a way, represents me in return. The parks that get it right I make a point to encourage people to visit.

 

[imported_Varanus]

I worked as a "farm hand" for Malcolm Douglas (in Broome). Take home pay averaged $450 Wk, but Malcolm let us stay in a first class, two bedroom unit he owned for nix and we could earn extra by doing one hour croc talks/ park tours ($30). I had no family and some days were 12 hours (with no overtime), but I enjoyed the experience immensly. Even got to tag along on a film shoot to Ningaloo after Whale Sharks! So you can't generalise and you can luck out sometimes. My friend, who also worked for Malcolm and whom I shared the unit with later moved to Vietnam and she got a position working with Tigers!! And all without any formal Quals!!!

 

[snakeluvver]

lol,
-"this is a BHP"
-err... no that's a taipan
-"oh %$&"...

That's a mistake that nobody would like to make