I started a Facebook shitstorm with an American private zoo

[Käpt'n]

I had my very first shitstorm last week. It was fun at first but got pretty scary the next day because it almost got me into actual trouble.

Early last week I found out about the "Wildlife Wonderland" in Florida. A small private zoo where they keep endangered species and want to teach people about conservation.
Sounds awesome, right? It's just what I want to do!
I actually regularly volunteer at one of the local zoos. I help the staff look after the lemurs, I make sure the visitors follow the rules in their free ranging enclosure and I also use that opportunity to tell people
about lemur conservation efforts.

But then I noticed the photos and videos the folks at the Wildlife Wonderland share on Instagram and Facebook...
In that content they show how they are keeping their lemurs as pets in their own home. They show how to put diapers on them, how they feed them with noodles and how they are taking food from their plates while they are having dinner.

So they want to keep people from keeping lemurs as pets but they are essentially sharing photos and videos that show how to keep them at home...

This photo is especially telling in my opinion:

Nothing says conservation like a lemur playing with a winebottle...

 

Or this masterpiece:

The kid actually sits on the lemur's foot and he struggles to get away.

This has NOTHING to do with conservation.
When I showed this to the higher ups of an actual conservation network they were shocked. This is exactly what they don't want to happen to endangered animals. It's wrong on so many levels!

So what did I do? I gave them a bad rating on Facebook and urged my friends to do the same.

Moments later I started receiving insulting comments from their visitors! They were so pathetic it was actually very entertaining While I was blocking them I looked at their profiles and noticed a lot of Trump voters... Anyway.
One of my friends, who wrote his master thesis on ruffed lemurs, left a negative review as well and was called an idiot who has no idea about lemurs. That was fun as well.

A few hours later I noticed a new post by them. Apparently someone launched a "negative campaign" against them. They also claimed to have contacted the zoo where that person works.
This is where the scary part started for me...
These people actually dug through my Facebook profile, found photos of me and lemurs that were tagged with the zoo where I volunteer and they really did contact that zoo.
The next morning I actually got a mail from the representative of the zoos friends' association. He chewed me out and told me that the Wildlife Wonderland sent multiple emails to the office of the zoo director and they also tried to call them multiple times.
They complained about me and warmed them about the "dangerous person" they are employing.
It was absolutely insane! They stalked my profile, they blew my negative critique way out of proportion and they lied about me!
I was actually afraid of being banned from the zoo because of this bullshit.

However, the negative comments I received did show me that their approach to conservation is absolutely useless.
The very first comment I got was that I am "jealous because I can't afford to keep a lemur".
So I was absolutely right. Their awful videos do nothing but show people what "great pets" lemurs are.

One thing is for sure. Florida just got added to my list of places I will never visit.

[Conker]

This is the terrifying thing about social media. I don't really have anything to say other than I hope this doesn't affect your life in any meaningful way other than lulz on the internet.

[Toshabi]

6 hours ago, Käpt'n said:

Moments later I started receiving insulting comments from their visitors! They were so pathetic it was actually very entertaining

CaptainCool, Age 11

 

 

For real though, that sucks, however:

 

The way you write seems more like a toddler prancing around the class because they had the right answer to "2+2" rather than you legitimately sounding like you're concerned and want to help. Additionally, you went straight to public reviews to a place you never even visited to point out how "Wrong and stupid" they were for having their animals cared for in the manner they have rather than to speak to the staff behind the scenes first. 

 

Sad to say it, but honestly, you do more harm than good. I'm even having trouble feeling bad for you because I know just how shit you are at explaining things in a constructive manner that doesn't come off as you looking for a quick way to get a lap pinky.

 

 

Honestly though, you got what you deserved. Keep silent and ask an adult nearby to talk to these kinds of places for you. If we had you as a spokesperson for endangered species, we'd probably see a vast increase of animals going extinct.

[Käpt'n]

5 hours ago, Toshabi said:

CaptainCool, Age 11

 

 

For real though, that sucks, however:

 

The way you write seems more like a toddler prancing around the class because they had the right answer to "2+2" rather than you legitimately sounding like you're concerned and want to help. Additionally, you went straight to public reviews to a place you never even visited to point out how "Wrong and stupid" they were for having their animals cared for in the manner they have rather than to speak to the staff behind the scenes first. 

 

Sad to say it, but honestly, you do more harm than good. I'm even having trouble feeling bad for you because I know just how shit you are at explaining things in a constructive manner that doesn't come off as you looking for a quick way to get a lap pinky.

 

 

Honestly though, you got what you deserved. Keep silent and ask an adult nearby to talk to these kinds of places for you. If we had you as a spokesperson for endangered species, we'd probably see a vast increase of animals going extinct.

Cool it.

[Käpt'n]

7 hours ago, Conker said:

This is the terrifying thing about social media. I don't really have anything to say other than I hope this doesn't affect your life in any meaningful way other than lulz on the internet.

That's my whole point really. I left constructive criticism and got flamed pretty hard. It's not like I told them that "THEY ARE WRONG AND HERE IS WHY" but I explained why keeping endangered animals as pets, showing how to keep them and then claiming that you want to keep people from keeping them is just completely flawed.

I didn't tell them to stop keeping them but instead I *suggested* that it would be a good idea to stop actually portraying them as pets. I think it's wrong what they are doing but as long as it happens behind closed doors...

And as I said, the first comment and also some after that implied that I'm jealous because I can't have my own Catta. So I really was right, their methods are entirely ineffective.

They also called one of the conservation networks I support "extremists" and compared them to PETA. All they do is fly to Madagascar to do research on how to keep them from going extinct.

Oh and no, I don't think I have to worry about anything. I actually deleted my negative review to calm the shitstorm and I don't actually work for the zoo. They just assumed I work there which is crazy enough as it is.

[Toshabi]

You're so full of shit Captain Cool. Unless you fucking pussied out and deleted your review, but the only other person here is from Florida.

 

 

[Toshabi]

Please tell me I got the wrong one, cause I legit want to see you write something "Constructive".

 

 

Edit: I checked through the pages photos and was able to match them with the photos on the instagram that's found in the youtube channel. CaptainCool do you REALLY gotto makepretend that you stood up to a big bad threat to wildlife? lets not forget the only 1 star reviews are from April of this year and January of 2016. Did you just dream all of this up? I don't believe for a second that you'd delete something vital like that especially if you were in the right in all this. Do you realize what sort of sob story you threw away? Your chance to be in the limelight on exposing a toxic company? If you were legit in the right and you backed down, wtf kind of animal's right tit do you think you are? And your zoo had your post to go by to disprove the Florida's zoo's remarks about you being a 'threat to the zoo'..... unless..... Cool, was your review actually NOT constructive and could legit be used against you from your own wording?

 

Either or I doubt any of what you say is true unless you begged your friend to delete his reviews when the going got tough. This some Grade A bullshit.

 

 

tl;drl- 

 

 

[BennyJackdaw]

If they're not caring for lemurs properly, that's a valid complaint.

[Käpt'n]

10 hours ago, Toshabi said:

But that's the thing: He didn't. He sat back down (or never stood up at all). Maybe you should say something to that animal institution, or is sitting on your ass to bicker about furries talking about hunting taking too much time from your 24 hour do-nothing day?

 

And WHERE in my posts did I say the Florida institution was in the right animal care/abuse wise? Might've gotten that conclusion somewhere up your ass.

Say it, don't spray it.

But to actually reply to you, yes, I did delete my negative critique. I said that I did. I did it because I got sick of all the negative feedback I got, my phone was going mental.
And no, I did not write it in a way that would come back to bite me.

Edited October 7, 2017 by Vae
Stop bringing personal shit into the debate.

[Vae]

<mod post>
Keep the thread on-topic.
</mod post>

[BennyJackdaw]

I'm just trying to stand up for Kaptn, who Toshabi is bullying with an ego trip. All he's been doing is flippantly belittling Kaptn for no good reason.


But anyway, on topic I don't know much about lemurs, but it does dishearten me every time I see any animal mistreated. And like I said before, it's hard standing your ground when trying to fight for what you believe in. Intimidation can be a powerful tool. I don't know the full details of what you did Kaptn, but I'm not going to jump to conclusions.

[Vae]

3 minutes ago, BennyJackdaw said:

I'm just trying to stand up for Kaptn, who Toshabi is bullying with an ego trip. All he's been doing is flippantly belittling Kaptn for no good reason.

Don't care.
OP's and Toshabi's argument has nothing to do with you.
Don't derail this shit further, by interjecting in a way that's irrelevant to the central topic.

[Vae]

Temp-locking for cleanup.
Go out and get a breath of fresh air. Get lunch. Smell the flowers. Calm down.

[willow]

ATTENTION:

When this thread reopens, please refrain from insulting other users or making inflammatory remarks. They will not be tolerated after this point.

Consider this a final warning and violators will be given infractions.

[Toshabi]

10 hours ago, Käpt'n said:

Say it, don't spray it.

But to actually reply to you, yes, I did delete my negative critique. I said that I did. I did it because I got sick of all the negative feedback I got, my phone was going mental.
And no, I did not write it in a way that would come back to bite me.

Right so all I'm saying is:

- You claim to be for wanting to better the treatment of these animals, but clearly, you crumbled the moment the going got tough.

 

- You went to write a review about a place you never even visited instead of talking to this instution's staff about it first.

- You're afraid of losing your local zoo priviledges despite you showing your "zoo expert friend" and him agreeing with you that the place was bad. If what you were saying was the case and you brought that up with your local zoo if they even did consider banning you for being "constructive" on the intetnet, I'm sure you would've had a big institution back you and comment on how "poorly" that other place is treating their animals.

- I still doubt what you said was in good taste given how you post like a 11 year old who found a nickel on the ground and thinks he can buy a space station.

 

 

So without your post, I can only assume you did a horrible job explaining things on a review you shouldn't have wrote and got what you deserved. I know you don't perceive it as such, but the way you write makes people automatically want to oppose you even if you're in the right.

[QT Melon]

Social Media is a great thing, however...

 

It shouldn't be the first thing used to resolve a situation especially if you work there. I sympathize with the improper care of animals, but we also are supposedly a smarter reasoning species. It stands to reason that if we work with other human beings, we should be able to talk with them first. Not run over and cause more problems by not talking with our employers.

 

If you're surprised they stalked your profile. If you said you work there, people outside the situation are going to do the research to validate the claims. The problem is after it is found out, you don't have much control what other people do with that situation.

 

You should have figured out how to help in private, when you decided to make it a public spectacle first don't be surprised when the circus comes to you.

 

Don't expect the results in a day either. They have to do their own investigation to see how deep it goes. You could impede on it by making them destroy evidence when they realize they're caught with bigger consequences.

[Käpt'n]

14 hours ago, Toshabi said:

Right so all I'm saying is:

- You claim to be for wanting to better the treatment of these animals, but clearly, you crumbled the moment the going got tough.

 

- You went to write a review about a place you never even visited instead of talking to this instution's staff about it first.

- You're afraid of losing your local zoo priviledges despite you showing your "zoo expert friend" and him agreeing with you that the place was bad. If what you were saying was the case and you brought that up with your local zoo if they even did consider banning you for being "constructive" on the intetnet, I'm sure you would've had a big institution back you and comment on how "poorly" that other place is treating their animals.

- I still doubt what you said was in good taste given how you post like a 11 year old who found a nickel on the ground and thinks he can buy a space station.

 

 

So without your post, I can only assume you did a horrible job explaining things on a review you shouldn't have wrote and got what you deserved. I know you don't perceive it as such, but the way you write makes people automatically want to oppose you even if you're in the right.

- We decided to delete all negative reviews and posts to stop the shitstorm from spreading. This was done so it doesn't spread to the conservation networks I am in contact with.

-Yes. I did. You don't have to visit a place to point out flaws.

- My friend isn't a "zoo expert". He is a guy who studied ruffed lemurs and wrote his master thesis about them. The reason I was afraid this could get back to me was because a) they lied to the zoo staff and b) because the zoo staff doesn't handle bad news very well. They thought I mentioned the zoo even though I didn't. I didn't even mention that I volunteer there.

- I thought no more insults?

[QT Melon]

Still sounds like you didn't properly follow the chain of command. 

 

I don't understand how people think Facebook offers anonymity when you post. We give out way too much info on the platform willingly for this to ever be the case. You can't exactly consider it "stalking" if you give out this info.

I can understand unwarranted harassment but if it's info on your profile you freely give...

This is the whole problem I have with your "accident" This was in fact intentional. You decided not to follow the chain of command and ENCOURAGED a negative campaign against the group BEFORE seeking alternative means of resolution.

[Käpt'n]

On 8.10.2017 at 7:34 PM, QT Melon said:

Still sounds like you didn't properly follow the chain of command. 

 

I don't understand how people think Facebook offers anonymity when you post. We give out way too much info on the platform willingly for this to ever be the case. You can't exactly consider it "stalking" if you give out this info.

I can understand unwarranted harassment but if it's info on your profile you freely give...

This is the whole problem I have with your "accident" This was in fact intentional. You decided not to follow the chain of command and ENCOURAGED a negative campaign against the group BEFORE seeking alternative means of resolution.

What "chain of command"? o_O

I posted something according to my personal opinion and they felt so threatened by that they tried to get me "fired" from a place I never even mentioned there and don't even work for.

Their response wasn't an explanation of why they do what they do, they just went nutjob American on me and tried to nuke me. It was pathetic.

[QT Melon]

If you think Facebook is the first answer in resolving things, you might want to re-evaluate your life choices.

[Vallium]

No full opinion except the way you phrased the second video of the kids sitting on the lemur made it sound like a big deal, but it was a minor accident, the lemur wriggled free, and all parties were fine. The lemur wasnt trapped there kicking and screaming, I step on my cat's tail or dog's paw sometimes, too.

 

Also, for what its worth, you could have explained the situation to your local zoo if it was a valid complaint, and screenshotted your original comment to show them

And if you didnt expect any kind of backlash, maybe you know next time to post anonymously instead of facebook of all places

[Plants]

Agreeing with what most people here are saying. There's a certain level of professionalism you have to maintain - especially anywhere with your real name - and doubly so regarding critique or criticism. The private zoo, though obviously sketchy, is a place you have not actually visited, therefore a negative review is not the way to criticize them. 

I'm not saying they're within their right to lash out as strongly as they did, either, but I don't think they were the only ones being unprofessional here. If you actually wanted to criticize them, send them an email. Ask what their accreditation is. Ask about safety procedures, vaccinations, etc etc. Ask your "friend" to ask if you yourself are not qualified. Contact local wildlife/ASPCA offices with concern. By "trolling", or leaving negative comments on Facebook, all you're doing is making them defensive, nothing is going to change, if anything they'll just double down. If there is a legitimate concern then you have to contact legitimate ways to have it resolved.

 

And I know. Procedure sucks. But if you want what's best for the animals, you have to follow it - legal threats are pretty much the only thing some people will listen to. Your "friend" should have known better as well. They're not randos on tumblr, they're people with a forward facing business - which is why credible legal issues are much more likely to get their attention than some person on facebook being like "u suck this place sucks & i know more than u". 

Sidenote: no one is impressed about starting internet fights unless you're Gordon Ramsey and the Faceook page is Amy's Baking Company because that meltdown was amazing 

Edited October 19, 2017 by Plants

[AshleyAshes]

Thing that I do: Work in the film industry
Thing that I don't do: Talk shit about companies or productions in the film industry on social media and such.

[Toshabi]

On 10/18/2017 at 11:29 PM, Käpt'n said:

What "chain of command"? o_O

I posted something according to my personal opinion and they felt so threatened by that they tried to get me "fired" from a place I never even mentioned there and don't even work for.

Their response wasn't an explanation of why they do what they do, they just went nutjob American on me and tried to nuke me. It was pathetic.

No offense, but do you have a mental disorder? The fact that you can't seem to grasp the points people are so clearly laying out for you, nor do you not see how poorly written your posts are is a little bit scary. I would be more sympathetic to you if you legit had a mental problem. 

 

Either that or your head is so far up your ass to see yourself as anything but some form of animal Jesus. 

[Socketosis]

8 hours ago, Toshabi said:

No offense, but do you have a mental disorder? The fact that you can't seem to grasp the points people are so clearly laying out for you, nor do you not see how poorly written your posts are is a little bit scary. I would be more sympathetic to you if you legit had a mental problem. 

 

Either that or your head is so far up your ass to see yourself as anything but some form of animal Jesus. 

Ah smart Toshabi waits for his heat meter to drop down before rampaging again.

[QT Melon]

On 10/6/2017 at 3:04 PM, Käpt'n said:

IOne thing is for sure. Florida just got added to my list of places I will never visit.

I missed this gem of a scapegoat. I don't think the entire state is at fault for poor decision making, especially on the part of the OP. Nor do I think the entire state is at fault that some individuals are not really out there for the well being of the Ring Tailed Lemurs.

What's most unfortunate is that if we used social media bias, and just internet to make judgements on who would be best to take care of these lemurs, I'd feel the species would be doomed by the poor judgements reflected by  the OP and the conservationists involved in this sad shitstorm perpetuated by the OP.

Fortunately, I have a bit more faith in humanity and believe there are groups out there that are taking care of the animals, and any conflict they have has been handled in a much better manner than the selfishness shown by the parties in the thread.

[Toshabi]

3 hours ago, Socketosis said:

Ah smart Toshabi waits for his heat meter to drop down before rampaging again.

I was being sincere BELIEVE IT OR NOT. I legit just have to wonder cause his responses all in his thread, his complete disregard for the points people are pointing out and how immature his whole attitude has been with this whole ordeal from OP and beyond show signs of Asperger's syndrome. I'd be more understanding of his way of conducting himself if that was the case. If not then he's just an idiot incredibly dense person.

 

[AshleyAshes]

6 hours ago, Toshabi said:

I was being sincere BELIEVE IT OR NOT. I legit just have to wonder cause his responses all in his thread, his complete disregard for the points people are pointing out and how immature his whole attitude has been with this whole ordeal from OP and beyond show signs of Asperger's syndrome. I'd be more understanding of his way of conducting himself if that was the case. If not then he's just an idiot incredibly dense person.

My only guess is that since he didn't face any direct consequences himself, that being that the place he volunteers at didn't care about 'FaceBook Randos' contacting them to shit talk him, he can't comprehend the hat potential consequences he COULD have faced.  Even if he's volunteering and it's unpaid, he must get something out of volunteering there, so had he gotten booted from volunteering it would have affected him. But since that's not what went down, he doesn't 'get it'.

[Käpt'n]

I didn't want to prove anything, I don't get anything from volunteering (that's why it's called volunteering).
I was simply disappointed by that situation.

[AshleyAshes]

2 minutes ago, Käpt'n said:

I don't get anything from volunteering (that's why it's called volunteering).

If you didn't get anything from it, you wouldn't do it.

And, fucking seriously, you post Lemur photos to forums and FA.  You get into a fight on FaceBook with a Lemur sanctuary.  But that Zoo you volenteer at so you can take care of Lemurs, you want us to believe that you 'don't get anything from volunteering'?  Just come the fuck on.

[willow]

k. we're done here, I guess 

 

(locked at OP's request)