Yeah, I'm also confused. I grew up in very urban areas in Sydney and I was very familiar with all sorts of flora and fauna (we were taught about them in primary school, and you would see them around the playground). Not to mention spiders in the garden, blue bottles and jellyfish on the beach, all manner of bugs and bats late at night, etc.

I also played Pokemon as a kid, and I don't recall ever thinking that animals were uninteresting.