To wonder why older kids never go to the zoo?

[anotherfinemess1]

I had a fantastic day out with DS (8 years old) at London Zoo yesterday. We all loved seeing the animals and it’s great now he’s older and can read the signs and learn about species and how they are being saved in the wild. I was really shocked that he was about the oldest kid there. Why don’t older kids (8+) go to zoos any more? I hope my son never grows out of it - at the moment he wants to be a conservationist when he grows up and surely that’s going to be really important for his generation after the older generations have made such a mess of the planet!

Agree with Birdscratch, we're not into animal captivity either. Those animals don't belong here and not in cages/enclosures.

Zoos are very depressing places for us. We hate seeing the caged animals. My older child enjoys seeing domestic and farm animals at our local farm park. Those animals seem happy and in enclosures appropriate for their needs. It's far harder to house a wild animal in a climate that doesn't suit it.

There is absolutely no way that your 8 year old was the oldest kid at London zoo on a Saturday.

Its expensive, it takes all day to look round and our nearest one is more than an hours drive away. Every time we've been to a zoo either in the UK or abroad they always like the playground best so I'm not a fan of paying upwards of £120 for them to go on a climbing frame, we can do that for free!

I guess if I had a child who was interested in animals or conservation I might feel differently about it.

I don’t think zoos are about conservation, they are about money. Whether children or eight plus recognise the cruelty is questionable; I’d suspect cost. But I know when I went to Twycross it was pretty awful, and I felt pretty bad for having lined their pockets.

Because we're not into animal captivity.

I doubt there are very many primary school children whose parents aren’t ethically opposed to zoos and who took them to zoos when they were younger that have convinced their parents to boycott zoos.

I would think the simple answer is many of the parents of preschoolers/infant school kids you saw have season tickets. It’s expensive going to the zoo unless you buy an annual pass. There are fewer age appropriate family days out for preschoolers compared to primary school children. It’s term time, lots of school kids have activities and hobbies at weekends. They have independent social lives (going to play with friends, parties etc). It’s winter, it’s out of tourist season, and Christmas is getting close. If you are going to make a one off expensive trip to the zoo, you are probably going to pick a day with nice weather in the holidays when money isn’t tight. If you have a season ticket and a bored toddler, you are probably going to go regularly.

My DGD 12-18 love the zoo. And wildlife parks. But they don't spend 100% of their spare time online watching Tik tok so there's that.

I have a friend who loves zoos, so do her teenage children. They visit lots and the oldest child wants to work in a zoo when they leave school.
Last year, my child told me that he doesn't like zoos as it's not nice for the animals to be kept in captivity. We haven't been to the zoo for a couple of years. I remember seeing the elephants at London Zoo many years ago on a school trip, that was heartbreaking. I only took my children to a different zoo when they were young because it's expected.

I took my 17 and 16 yo's to Rotterdam zoo earlier this year. We had a lovely day and stayed about 6 hrs!

Last year, my child told me that he doesn't like zoos as it's not nice for the animals to be kept in captivity.

Yes, my dd was the same. The zoo was one of her favourite places to go but as she got older her opinions changed and now I can't imagine for a moment her going to a zoo. They are a bit sad once you become aware.

I think a lot of younger children want to work with animals but they start to develop more varied interests as they grow up. It's like wanting to be a footballer.

We had memberships at the local zoo until youngest DC went to school, DD was 9. They were both past it, but loved it until that point.

I can’t speak for other kids but mine are 9 and 12 and whilst they love animals, they are very much into outings where they can be physical and interact and get involved in activities. They are not so much into things where they are just going round looking at stuff. So they would choose eg Go Ape over a zoo.

They did love going to a place with loads of goats recently but that’s because they could pet and feed the goats not just look at them over a fence.

Sounds like a lot of the children on here need to be taught about the benefits of good zoos, the conservation work they do, the education and research, the breeding and release, the holding of saviour collections (might not be the right name, where a disaster somewhere could wipe out a species so have some in captivity as backup).

My teens still enjoy a zoo trip once in a while. My 16 year old has asked for aquarium tickets for xmas.

Unless you yourself would be happy to spend your life caged just in case a disaster wiped out humans, you shouldn’t speak for the animals really.

There are some good zoos, but far from all.

Ok so maybe my family is just weird but we liked going to Tring to see the Rothschild Collection.

Or, The Dead Zoo as my kids call it 😬🤦🏻‍♀️

It's a bit old and motheaten in places, and some of the expressions on the animals are interesting to say the least, but you can stand right next to the exhibits and see them close up.

Also the NHM in London has lots of animal exhibits and models where you can get a sense of the wonder of the natural world.

I think that museums combined with the amazing wildlife film footage we have now, gives a much better experience without seeing live animals in cages.

The main zoo we go to is Jersey, set up by Gerald Durrell.

Mine are 11 and 14 and still enjoy a zoo.

ONCE? A? MONTH? WTF?

Why not, with membership?

But doesn't help with breeding.

Not sure about others but one of my 15 year olds still loves the zoo. Her twin sister isn't really as keen. My 13, 9 and 6 year olds all also like it there and would never pass up a trip. It's shocking your 8 year old was the oldest child because their school does a Zoo trip when the kids are about 9/10 and everyone goes and enjoys.

Why would older kids want to walk round all day and look at bored animals in cages?

Because animals are beautiful, interesting, graceful. Keeper talks are interesting and informative. Because in a good zoo they are enriched in open enclosures and are not 'bored animals in cages'.