Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Zoo

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[edit] Welcome

Welcome to the new project, everyone! The paint is still wet around here, so feel free to comment on everything or make improvements as you see fit. --Ars Scriptor 17:59, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Project

I am excited to see the new project! Some time back I created some articles about zoo-related topics: environmental enrichment and stereotypical behavior. Would these fall within the WikiProject, or will it focus only on individual facilities? --Ginkgo100 talk 04:40, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

I would have no problem included zoo-related topics. In fact, both the articles you linked I think could/should be added to {{Zoos}} after some further cleanup/changes. Cburnett 05:36, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
Agreed, those would make excellent additions to the template. --Ars Scriptor 13:37, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] General tasks

Where would be the appropriate place to add the following general/non-article specific tasks on the main project page?

  • Lots of red links at List of zoo associations that could be created with list of members or accredited zoos by them.
  • Add infoboxes on zoo, aquarium, and adviary articles (I have AZA members covered, but there's the WAZA and many others: see previous point)
  • Request logos and photos for zoo signs/entrances to put in the infobox
  • Flesh out infoboxes with sourced information (# of animals, featured exhibits, date opened, etc.).
  • Add {{Zoos}} to each page (I'm currently into the L's in List of AZA member zoos and aquariums)
  • Add {{WPZOO}} to each talk page (also to L for AZA)
  • Revamp {{Zoos}} to include non-facility related articles; add organization to it
  • Write articles :)
  • Per Ginkgo100's question above, find more non-facility articles to include that are related to zoos, aquaria, and aviaries

Cburnett 05:49, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scope of project

Also include formal recognition of butterfly zoos, petting zoos, reptile centres, and safari parks in the scope of this project? Cburnett 05:49, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

I expanded the open task box to include these types of things - it is now organized into "Project-wide tasks" and "Specific article tasks". What do you think? --Ars Scriptor 14:38, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
Works for me. Cburnett 16:02, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
Awesome. Just moving right along here, aren't we. I also expanding the "scope" statement to include the other things you mentioned. --Ars Scriptor 16:21, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
I support including the types of facilities you mentioned in the project. What about animal sanctuaries? I feel they don't fit but would like to know what others think. --Ginkgo100 talk 02:54, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
Hmm, I'm on the fence about that one. Zoos and animal sanctuaries have animals in a protected environment in common, but differ in their purpose. The former is to educate, the later just a "safe haven" as the article puts it. I see animal sanctuary, animal shelter, wildlife refuge, and nature reserve...and more. I think it might be easiest to leave it at those that could be considered a living museum. A shelter and sanctuary are not. Cburnett 02:34, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
That's my thought. A sanctuary seems to fit more properly in the category of "animal shelter" rather than "animal park". --Ginkgo100 talk 04:07, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] List of animals

I created List of animals at the Minnesota Zoo some time ago because another author was complaining that it took up too much space on Minnesota Zoo. Opinions and thoughts on lists of animals at a particular zoo? I obviously support their existance and think they are intersted and could be helpful if more lists were created for zoos. What if you wanted to find a zoo that had a Golden-breasted Starling or a Grevy's Zebra? Cburnett 06:00, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

I support this kind of list, although I wonder if it could become obsolete too quickly. I know my zoo changes exhibits all the time, adds or removes animals. It is a good list subject though, because it can easily be sourced and is comprehensive. --Ars Scriptor 16:16, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Zoos in Quebec

Just for your information... I'm almost only contributing on the french wikipedia, where I've created some articles about zoos in Quebec. Maybe some of these articles may be interesting to be translated from french: fr:Parc Aquarium du Québec, Quebec's aquarium park in Quebec City; fr:Zoo de Granby which is a stub in english; fr:Jardin zoologique du Québec, the oldest zoo in Canada, in Quebec City, that was unfortunately closed in 2005; fr:Liste des jardins zoologiques et aquariums du Québec, a list of zoos and aquaria in Quebec... I'll be working sooner or later on the Parc Safari (a ride-in-with-your-car type zoo in Hemmingford, Quebec), the Zoo sauvage de Saint-Félicien - Centre de conservation de la Biodiversité Boréale, the Wild zoo of Saint-Félicien, and the Toronto Zoo. If someone speaks french on this new project, he may find a lot of articles about zoos in France in the following categories: fr:Catégorie:Parc zoologique and fr:Catégorie:Aquarium public. There is even one that is an Article de qualité (featured article): fr:Zoo de la Palmyre. Cordially and zoologically yours, Boréal 18:57, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Guitarists in need of Attention ???

In "Specific Article Tasks", the section "Articles in need of attention" currently points to "Guitarist articles needing attention". That can't be right; what should it point to? Gosgood 11:58, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Issue addressed. Gosgood 16:52, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia Day Awards

Hello, all. It was initially my hope to try to have this done as part of Esperanza's proposal for an appreciation week to end on Wikipedia Day, January 15. However, several people have once again proposed the entirety of Esperanza for deletion, so that might not work. It was the intention of the Appreciation Week proposal to set aside a given time when the various individuals who have made significant, valuable contributions to the encyclopedia would be recognized and honored. I believe that, with some effort, this could still be done. My proposal is to, with luck, try to organize the various WikiProjects and other entities of wikipedia to take part in a larger celebrartion of its contributors to take place in January, probably beginning January 15, 2007. I have created yet another new subpage for myself (a weakness of mine, I'm afraid) at User talk:Badbilltucker/Appreciation Week where I would greatly appreciate any indications from the members of this project as to whether and how they might be willing and/or able to assist in recognizing the contributions of our editors. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 17:08, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Denver Zoo photos

I know it's short notice, but I'll be going to the Denver Zoo with my camera in about half an hour. Any requests for specific photos? I'll definitely get the entry area, anything else? --Ginkgo100 talk 17:13, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Anything special about this particular zoo? Any buildings or animals? As far as I'm concerned, take pictures of aniamls and add them to the page like I've done for Henry Doorly Zoo. Cburnett 17:27, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposal to merge articles on cetaceans in captivity

Hello,I've created a proposal to merge some existing articles into a general article on cetaceans in captivity. I noticed some of those articles are in WikiProject Zoo. I thought maybe some of you would care to drop by at your cousin-wikiproject and comment: Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Cetaceans#Proposal_to_merge_articles_on_cetaceans_in_captivity. Cheers, Kla'quot 11:22, 29 January 2007 (UTC) ♥♥♥

[edit] Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration

This is about the article on Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration. I am planning on expanding it later today, because it barely has any information, and the information it does have is inaccurate. I just wanted to let you know that I am going to expand it. Thanks. --Semajws 18:35, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Great! Don't forget to cite your sources, and please don't hesitate to ask with any questions. --Ginkgo100talk 22:05, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

I am a contributor to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium article. It is currently a Start-class article, and am curious if it warrants a better rating or what people think needs to be added. It has been discussed on WikiProject Ohio of adding a couple images, but other then that, what would be a good addition? Thanks for all your thoughts. Polypmaster 22:31, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I bumped it to a B. It has the basics: intro, history, current events, exhibits, and infobox but could be more indepth. See other B-rated zoo articles for ideas like Henry Doorly Zoo or Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Some suggestions:
  • Picture of the main entrance
  • Description of exhibits: buildings, size, # of animals, key points of interest, etc.
  • More detailed history (e.g., why did it close in Oct 1905?)
  • Any research/conservation efforts they do there?
  • Any trams or trains or other rides?
  • References. Specifically the # of animals & species, and the history section. Any number has to come from somewhere
That help? Cburnett 22:43, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Feature article review for: Aquarium

Aquarium has been nominated for a featured article review. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to featured quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, articles are moved onto the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Remove" the article from featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Reviewers' concerns are here. MidgleyDJ 05:42, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] the Wilds

I recently created an article for the Wilds, a wildlife conservation center in Ohio. If anyone knows more about this or wishes to research it more, please feel free. It is off to a good start, but needs images, and more info on what they do. Also, I could not find a good list of all the animals and facilities there. Polypmaster 20:33, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Good Article Nomination

I have nominated the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium article for Good Article status. Feel free to review and comment on the article at Wikipedia:Good article candidates. Polypmaster 18:58, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] AFD for List of AZA member zoos and aquariums

The article List of AZA member zoos and aquariums is up for deletion. I assume everyone here would want to keep it? :) Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of AZA member zoos and aquariums Cburnett 04:01, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Toledo Zoo unsourced statement that sounds fishy

Ok User:72.241.14.177 put this on Toledo Zoo yesterday:

being the only place in the world where a pair of twin polar bear cubs have been born and survived (in captivity)[citation needed]

I flagged it because it was unsourced and little strong, they added the in captivity today, and provided a few weblinks in the external links, but I found nothing in them about the statement. I then did a google search and found book Amazon was selling about San Diego Zoo set of twin polar bear cubs. I guess I need guidance what to do with the quote.BeckyAnne 18:33, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Removed. Need a source for a statement like that that is likely to be challenged. And you did challenge it. :) --Spike Wilbury 20:12, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Washington Park Zoo and washington park zoo

Ok Washington Park Zoo is in Michigan City, Indiana and the lower case one is a redirect to Oregon Zoo. Now I put a {{For}} on Oregon Zoo page to direct people to the other zoo, but should we be redirecting the lower case one or let them go to the upper case one and then use the existing {{For}} to get to the Oregon Zoo page. BeckyAnne 04:03, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Sounds good to me, unless the Oregon Zoo is wildly popular and the other one is tiny. We just need to figure out what most people would be looking for if they typed in "Washington park zoo" :) --Spike Wilbury 03:58, 16 May 2007 (UTC)
I have personally been to the Mich City one, and it in my mind seemed small, I have no clue on the Oregon Zoo one. BeckyAnne 04:03, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Assessment

I just noticed that we don't have any unassessed articles. And that is neato. Good work everyone. --Spike Wilbury 04:07, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tagging

I noticed that there are still a lot of articles in Category:Zoos and it subcategories that we have not tagged. I'd like to get them all tagged so we can get a firm idea of the scope of this project, so I'll be spending some time digging through. We should be putting {{zoos}} at the bottom of each article, and {{WPZOO}} on each Talk page with a proper assessment. --Spike Wilbury 14:56, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jacksonville zoo

I would like to nominate the Jacksonville Zoo page for GA article status. Feel free to commentJa —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.191.106.37 (talk • contribs) \

In order for the zoo to be a GA it needs references that is the first thing that comes to my mind. It is currently rated start class, but I dont think it is a start class. It looks a B class, but I would like someone to verify that info for me. I tagged a few claims with [citation needed] that you should work on first of all. Also I fixed a few references to use <ref>webpage</ref>. I also moved the logo and lead image to the infobox.
Speaking about infobox, the infobox needs added to it |date_opened= and |coordinates=. The date open is in the article, the coordinates I usually get from google earth, but I am sure there are other programs out there. To add the coordinates use {{coor}} flag. For more info on that see WikiProject Zoo Infobox Template Info.
It looks like a good article, with some little improvements it will be well on it way to GA status. BeckyAnne(talk) 22:37, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
Also the Zoo History is a word for word copy from the zoos websites. That will need to be fixed too. It appears a lot of the article is copy right issue. BeckyAnne(talk) 23:19, 1 June 2007 (UTC)so
I fixed some parts of the articles so they aren't the verbatum official zoo descriptions. I'll get links later
Ok, but the Zoo History part is the major part that needs fixing, actually I am going to delete the whole bit, your welcome to add a history part back, but make sure it isnt a copy violation. BeckyAnne(talk) 23:58, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
Added some more depth to the lead, aswell as some more references

[edit] Moving John Ball Park to John Ball Zoo

Can I get some people to comment on this over at Talk:John_Ball_Park#May_2007, Thank You. BeckyAnne(talk) 03:35, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Prospect Park Zoo is GA

Epbr123 was the reviewer; I was article custodian (furnishing 'da Brooklyn' point of view). Tip o' the Hat to this project for help and advice during an earlier peer review. Appreciate any and all help in keeping this article GA. Take care. — Gosgood 02:47, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Nice work! --Spike Wilbury 03:43, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia ads

I'm proud to announce that WikiProject Zoo now has a banner in rotation with Wikipedia ads. It appears as follows:

--Spike Wilbury ♫ talk 01:00, 30 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Edinburgh Zoo good article nomination

I've nominated the Edinburgh Zoo article for Good Article status. Please feel free to review and comment on the article as it stands, or if you feel you can improve it, please do! — Jack · talk · 04:33, Thursday, 3 January 2008

[edit] Zoos by US State

Does EVERY US state with a Zoo need to have its own category? I'm tempted to divide it into regions (with overlap for border states), put them all just in the US category, or just remove the categories altogether.Andy Christ (talk) 01:20, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] London Zoo

I've done a bit of work on London Zoo, adding a lot more about the areas and attractions, and history. I was thinking of putting it up for WP:PR and maybe nominate it for GA in a bit (wait until Blackburn pavilion opens tomorrow, at least). Anyone got any comments on what else could be done? Chris_huhtalk 19:28, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

See the London Zoo talk page. Take care. Gosgood (talk) 22:17, 22 March 2008 (UTC)