Zookeepers have been sharing the least fun animals to care for – 17 critters that are a nightmare behind the scenes
Zoos are a great day out. You get to see animals from all around the world in one place. What’s not to love?
Well, if you’re a zookeeper, quite a lot. That’s because animals are less fun behind the scenes. And we know this because huveldust put the following question to zoo staff over at r/AskReddit:
‘Zookeepers of reddit, which animal is way less fun to care for than most people would expect?’
These top replies will change your view of zoos forever…
1.
‘Prairie dogs. Only enclosure that I went into armed (with a broom lol). Those little fuckers will launch themselves at you like demonic little missiles. And with their labyrinth of tunnels you never know where they will pop up. Most terrifying game of whack a mole ever (no I never hit them, the broom was more of a shield or a deterrent).’
-Turbulent-Language20
2.
‘River otters
‘I love them but the smell is not worth the cuteness for me.
‘Pair the ultra-fast metabolism of a creature that eats 25% of its body mass in raw fish every day with superpowered ferret-like scent glands, and you get an animal that’s real efficient at turning fish into goopy piles of fish-gut-anal-gland-poo-goo and spreading it everywhere to help mark territory.’
-dizzyd232
3.
‘My personal least favourite was red pandas. Don’t get me wrong, they’re so cute. Beautiful creatures. But my god they shit so much. Its equal parts unreasonable and impressive that so much can come out of an animal that size in 24 hours.’
-GetBent616
4.
‘Great apes, but especially the chimps. Forget the fact that they are terrifyingly strong and dangerous. They just let the piss and shit rip at any time, anywhere (you’d think an animal that intelligent would at least move away from their resting spot before taking a hot dump but noooo).
‘They reek like the strongest human B.O. you could imagine. Major risk for zoonosis because they are so closely related to us. They are on the short list of animals I would never apply to work with. They are fun to watch… from far away.’
-ScamperSand
5.
‘I’ve read a few AMAs by zoo employees, almost every one describes zebras as demons.’
-DogAlienInvisibleMan
6.
‘I got to chat with the head keeper of the large carnivores at a zoo once. He said that the Black Footed Cat is a vicious little demon. When they clean their enclosure the cats are kept in a holding cage, and they spend the entire time throwing themselves against the door, trying to murder the keepers.
‘The tigers might hurt you by accident because they’re so big, but the teeny little Black Footed Cats know they are Nature’s perfect killing machines, and will take any chance to remind you.’
-ca77ywumpus
7.
‘Former zookeeper.
‘I would say any of the primates or monkeys but more specifically Baboons.
‘They live for destruction, the episode of the Simpsons where Ned ends up in a Baboon enclosure is 100% accurate.
They are just total bastards with no redeeming qualities.’
-snake_girl
8.
‘Everyone thinks seals are cute sea puppies, they smell worse than you can possibly imagine.’
-ProfessionalOil2014
9.
‘For me it was alpacas. Super cute. Super soft. Super easy to clean up after.
‘But they never, ever want to be friends with you no matter how much you feed them. They hate being touched. They try to hump you if they’re male. No amount of trying to tame them will ever get them past aloof indifference.’
-Zooophagous