This is episode 116 of the Baehr and Curadh podcast. We are going to talk about the zoo.
- There are more than 2,800 zoos and aquariums in the world.
- It is estimated that over 600 million people visit zoos each year. That is more people than all the sporting events and concerts combined.
- 29 zoos and aquariums in the USA have more than a million visitors a year.
- The oldest running zoo in the world is Vienna Zoo in Schonbrunn Austria, which dates from 1752.
- The Philadelphia Zoo was opened on July 1st, 1874 and is the oldest zoo in the USA.
- The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California has about 124 thousand individual animals and the largest number of animals in any zoo in the world.
- Animal print clothes are banned at the Chessington World of Adventures in the United Kingdom.
- A zoo in Henan Province, China, displayed fake wild animals. The animals displayed included a Tibetan mastiff posed as an African lion, giant sea cucumbers posed as snakes, and dogs dressed up as leopards and timber wolves.
- Wild elephants live longer than elephants in zoos. Zoo-born elephants live for only 17 to 19 years. Elephants in the wild live an average of 56 years.
- Animals being transferred between zoos and veterinarians must have armed guards to prevent them from being stolen.
- Chinese zoos have turned to using animals for circus-like performances such as being made to jump through burning hoops and balancing on balls.
- Zoochosis is a portmanteau of zoo and psychosis. It refers to abnormal, repetitive, and unnatural behaviors exhibited by animals in captivity.
- A polar bear’s hair is not white. It’s colorless. Beneath this transparent fur, the skin is black.
- A giraffe has seven bones in its neck, like all mammals, but they are much larger.
- Hippos kill many more people every year than lions. Causing an estimated 500 deaths annually (as compared to only 25 for lions).
- Adult bison are the largest land mammals in North America.
- A giant tortoise from the Galápagos Islands can weigh up to 550 pounds – the same as a brown bear.
- Otters have the densest fur of any mammal.
- The lion has the loudest roar of all cats. It can be heard as far as 3 miles away.
- Emperor penguins can stay underwater for up to 27 minutes and dive as far as 500 meters deep.
- Flamingos and shrimp are actually both pink from eating algae that contains carotenoid pigments.
