Jumping to Conclusions

We get a lot of the same questions at the zoo. Some of them are wildly off track for the way we operate. I guess people have experienced other bad zoos, and they expect us to operate the same way. But we're one of the good ones XD
(I have seen a terrible zoo, and a few others that weren't bad, but weren't great).

There's a small area where keepers can bring the lions or tigers inside for a brief checkup. But the cats aren't kept in there. They have big outdoor areas to roam around. But some people step into the lion house and think that the cats are kept in these tiny areas all the time.

And someone came to me after seeing the gorillas. I guess the male was sitting inside after the females had gone inside for the evening. And they just saw the male sitting there by himself, guarding the door (protecting his females like they always do, whether or not they're in a zoo).

So after seeing the gorilla, they said to me, "why don't you go catch more gorillas so he's not so sad and lonely?"
Well, that makes a couple wrong assumptions. First, he's not alone and lonely. And second, we do not catch animals from the wild. That's what people used to do before they knew better. But that can be extremely destructive. For example, catching a baby chimpanzee can kill ten other chimpanzees in the process, because they try to protect the baby.
No, good accredited zoos don't do that. Almost all of our animals were born at other zoos. Although we do have a few animals that were rescues because they can no longer care for themselves in the wild. Like birds that have been hit by cars, or orphaned bears.

Although to be fair, I jump to plenty of conclusions myself. I've always been a huge animal nerd. So I've "always" known how marsupials are different than placental mammals.

And I was surprised to find how few adults know anything about that. People are amazed to hear that koalas and kangaroos are born like a tiny jelly bean with stubby arms and legs.

(Okay, I got to pet a koala this weekend, and I'm so freaking excited about it? @_@ Is it weird that I was a lot more excited than the kids in the class? )