When The Pandemic Came, The Zoos Closed, And The Animals Began to Act Differently

Science Alert ^ | 09 September 2022 | By DAVID NIELD

[JonPreston]

I find the two-legged animals on the street are also acting differently since COVID and the vaxxes

[meowmeow]

Meanwhile the Big Cats...didn’t care. 🦁🐯

[Theophilous Meatyard III]

The animals probably thought the humans finally wiped each other out and now there are probably no humans to deliver food.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Not because of physical visitors but the talking magic window in their enclosures that they obey.

[Jamestown1630]

It seems to me that ‘human watching’ would be engaging enrichment for primates living in cages and habitat enclosures.

[DannyTN]

Sounds like they just don’t like to have sex in front of people. Which is more than I can say for Hollywierd.

[Red Badger]

For the animals it was probably like watching TV all day................

[21twelve]

“...the gorillas changed the parts of their enclosures they spent the most time in...”

Just like the humans that did a lot of home renovations while they were stuck at home.

[Mr Radical]

Obviously further research is needed otherwise zoo animal welfare scientists and zoo animal welfare researchers might be out of a job.

"The team also observed that there was a visitor number threshold when it came to olive baboons, beyond which the animals stopped becoming increasingly active and stimulated by the passing cars in the safari park."
Has it ocurred to the team that perhaps the baboons simply like checking out the latest models [automobiles]?

[Red Badger]

[OldWarBaby]

It’s hardly any different than how much your hound dog misses you when you’ve been gone for awhile——the slobbers——ohhhh, the slobbers.

[T.B. Yoits]

[T.B. Yoits]

[17th Miss Regt]

And they started to gather for backgammon, card games and beer on Friday nights!

Lion: “Are those dreadful humans coming back soon?”

Tiger: “That’s what I heard. Ughh... three no trump!”

[nicollo]

The Lord says to love your neighbor. Proof positive here.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Something I was taught fifty years in a sociology class in Community College..

If a scientist wishes to observe a native tribe they must visit that tribe or else they will not get a true look at how that tribe lives.

BUT if they DO visit that tribe then their very presence will cause a change in what the natives do, giving you a false impression of how they live.

Sounds like the same for animals.

[livius]

Man is at the top of the heap…thanks to God…and other animals depend on us to “humanize” them, that is, make them sociable creatures with their space in human society.

I think a lot of large animals that were too big to actually live with humans had become dependent on us, and when we went away suddenly, it was a disaster for them. Think of horses never being visited or ridden but standing in their pasture all day, maybe with somebody coming in masked to throw them food…

Animals, even zoo animals, that have regular contact with humans develop a somewhat expanded ability to connect with us (that doesn’t mean that the tiger won’t still be dangerous!). And when that goes away, they drop into the wild animal state again.

We have to remember that all of Creation actually depends on us, but not the way the green freaks have it…God put us in charge of the garden and told us to increase and multiply, and that the other animals would be subject to us.

[Red Badger]

....The notorious Riff Raff....................

[dforest]

Uh huh, bet the ones in the zoo are better behaved.