First! ... Happy Birthday Tucker! ... Tucker turned 12 yesterday! I posted his Birthday Greeting on my San Francisco Zoo Friend Facebook Page. Check it out! Learn more about Tucker and all the Zoo Friends! ... I waited til today to post this, so not to take away from his Special Day.
I always try to wait til the end of the Day to post Zoo Friend Birthdays, mostly because I don't like to give the Zoo a heads up. They rarely give Zoo Friends a shout out for their Birthdays and even rarer give them any special treats on their Special Day. I'm repeating myself, but it seems like the ones they do give a shout out to, are those who can get them some attention, not because its nice, cool, right, respectful, ... to acknowledge the Animals that live at the Zoo, on their Birthday, but their way of pimping the Animals usually for Media attention or acknowledgement from local Sports Teams (as most of the one's they pimp are named for local Ball Players.
First I will say, for those who have missed this notation in the past, I Do Not frequent the Zoo's Facebook Page or any of their other Social Networking pages, because for the most part I don't support their efforts. I do go there a few times a month to see what they've posted on, just so I can keep up with the irritating stuff they post. That said, this Disgrace came to my FB feed via a third party, and I'm Outraged at the Disrespect this Animal has been shown since the minute he got here.
As soon as I saw this my Heart Hurt for Tucker, my Ears started to Pulsate and Words of Outrage started swirling in my mind and this is what came out.
SFZoo, are you F#%K-ing kidding me?!?!
Screen-Cap from SFZoo FB Page
I'm always surprised when I actually see which Animal rates a mention. THEN I saw they are now calling him "Bruce Bochy"????!?!?!?! Again, are you F#%K-ing kidding me?!?! ... Wasn't enough you stole his Given Name from him at age 8, and ReNamed him after Giants Player Brian Wilson?! Now what, Brian Wilson is no longer on the Team, so you go and ReName him again after the Team Manager? What's next in the chain of Disrespect of this Precious Being? Un-F#%K-ing-believable!
That said, we all know that one of my biggest issues is the Zoo's Disrespectful Name Game. My first post about this ReNaming crap was coincidentally in regard to Sweet Tucker.
Please read the post at the link, as I can't repeat the whole story of Disrespect to this Animal and others. Seeing this Bruce Bochy shit is making my ears pulsate, if I have to reiterate too much, my head might explode!
I know this sounds extreme, and I think this is one of the few times that I've spouted off in this way, but the amount of bullshit that comes out of this place is so upsetting. I have so much Passion for these Precious Animals to be Respected both by the Zoo and the Visitors. Speaking of the Visitors, and again, I have a longer post in the works about this (Visitor Misbehavior), but in regard to Respect, and reflective of the Zoo's own signage about Respecting the Animals, How can we expect the Visitors to Respect the Animals, when the Zoo doesn't even Respect them?
I'd like to see the Staff rename themselves. Rename their kids. Why doesn't Zoo Director Tanya Peterson rename her kids? THAT I'd like to see. If I had funds to spare, and it were an option, I'd donate to change Staff names, just to show them their Identity means nothing, because that's the message they send by doing this to the Animals.
Tucker is one of my favs. I was so happy to hear he was coming here. Anticipated his arrival. Just overjoyed to see him. When the series of Disrespects started, it really hurt. I love this guy and it makes me sad that these things go on at the Zoo. He doesn't know, but I know.
A Few Facts about Tucker and his journey to SFZoo.
He was Born at the Disney Animal Park in 2003. Given the Name Tucker. Trained and Responds to Tucker.
He moved to the Topeka Zoo in 2009. I have a Friend who worked with him at that Zoo. She said he knows his Name and Responds to it.
He was crated at Topeka Zoo on a Tuesday early afternoon, for his move to San Francisco Zoo. He traveled over 34 hours (in the crate) by truck and plane. ... I was told by the Security Guard who was at the Zoo and sat with him all night, that he Arrived at 8pm. ... The SFZoo Staff did not uncrate him until the following morning. He was left in the crate, in his feces and urine, an additional 12 hours. I saw the photos. Truly Disgusting and Disrespectful.
Once uncrated, his Name was not ever used again. It would be over 4 months before the Zoo Staff would refer to him by name, and then it was "Brian Wilson". Tucker, the Name he carried his whole life was discarded and never used again, not even those who care for him. Truly Disgusting and Disrespectful.
I felt this way years ago when gorilla Ike Ozo was renamed Barney for donors. To this day I think of him as Ike. You are not alone in your unhappiness, if you read the comments on the SF Zoo page there are a LOT of very confused zoo goers out there, and many commented on this. I wished him Happy Birthday TUCKER on their page.
ReplyDeleteJoanne T.
Hi Joanne! Thank you for you comment. ... I remember we talked about Ike Ozo. I can't remember, but please post further info on the history of his name. I would like to honor Animals true names any way I can. ... Good to hear there are others who aren't happy with this. I think that many just don't know these Animals are being ReNamed. As you noted the comments on the Zoo's page have reflected that by way of confusion. If I could only reach all Zoo Goers with what goes on there, there might be public outcry on more issues, like with the Chimps. I haven't been back to see what else has been written, but thank you for wishing him there and using his true and real name Tucker! Going to look for you post!
ReplyDeleteI agree with how you feel about the name changes. My dad was a professional dog trainer and you just do not change animals names. Would you change your kids names? NOT. I also believe its a safety issue and to not confuse the animal if it needs to be called in, in a hurry, don't confuse it with a new name and also, other employees might not know the animal you are talking about. Of course we have one hippo, but what if you started changing the big cats names, people wouldn't know who you were talking about. It also irks me about always naming them after sports people, we are not all fans. Just leave the names alone and if someone donates a huge amount of money, put their name on a plaque by the exhibit instead.
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