#JurassicZoo Overtakes the Internet

Photo credit: Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Pictures

It was a simple scene in this summer’s mega hit, “Jurassic World,” but it took on a life of its own Wednesday when zookeepers everywhere started posted their re-enactments of it.

The scene in question is where Chris Pratt’s character, Owen, tames a trio of velociraptors. That scene resonated with zookeepers because it showed the kind of training zookeepers conduct with their animals, said Rick Schwartz, a keeper at the San Diego Zoo -- who help start the meme, #JurassicZoo.

He tweeted a picture on his public persona’s page, @ZooKeeperRick, and it took off. Pretty soon, zoos everywhere started to get in on the fun, including the California Academy of Sciences in the Bay Area.

“I think there are seven or eight zoos doing it now,” Schwartz said.

But the idea didn’t originate from him. He saw a few posts from his colleagues online (the zookeeping community is a tight-knit one) and thought the idea was a fun one. He asked Nicole Leslie from the Santa Ana Zoo for her permission to post her picture on his public page.

The rest, as they say, is history. Schwartz certainly didn’t think it was going to go viral.

“The Internet is like the white-water rapids,” he said. “It’s gonna take you where it’s gonna take you.”

The one thing Schwartz hopes to come from the Internet fame is that people take notice and visit their local zoos, he said.

“To go see some real animals instead some CGI ones,” he said.