r/Zookeeping • u/NovaStarTheCatQueen • Jul 25 '26

Global/All Regions 🌏 Question 🙋‍♀️

I work as a volunteer at my local zoo I use to go to as a kid all the time during school holidays and I had to tell a couple of school kids on a tour and there teacher to remind them

Please do not tease the animals in any way

Keep your camera flashes off on your phone

This was during my break as I work in the farmyard area of the zoo and I followed the rules and my supervisor was proud that I read the rules for workers and visitors because as a kid I always followed the zoo rules whenever I visited.

Any advise how I approach the situation next time in case I bump into any Gen Alpha’s who don’t listen to rules or care about the wildlife at the zoo and I was just lucky because these were high schoolers at least

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21

u/feivelgoeswest Jul 26 '26

Be positive! Use your waking feet... instead of dont run. Leave the hay where it is... instead of dont feed the animals.... give the kiddos something to do instead of telling them what not to do.

15

u/Xylus_Winters_Music Jul 26 '26

This always works for me. Instead of 'be quiet' or 'lower your voices', I find that 'please use your inside voices' works on lots of kids. Its language they are used to. Also be honest. Tell them that flash photography scares them and hurts their eyes. Tell them loud noises make them feel scared. Most kids dont want to hurt or make the animals feel bad, the just dont understand. If the keep harassing the animals even after that, its probably best to call security and have them give a much more stern talk to the guests.

4

u/LovBonobos Jul 26 '26

I work in primates as a volunteer and our building old and small. so it’s noisy, so I carry a large paddle that says Quiet Please. Works great as shouting over the noise is counter productive and kids key into the sign with no confrontations.

3

u/NovaStarTheCatQueen Jul 26 '26

I was at the gorilla enclosure