LisaAnnOKane
Tampa, FL
Female, 32
During my zookeeping and environmental education career, I have interacted and worked with a variety of animals, including brown bears, wolverines, red foxes, moose, camels, mountain goats, dolphins, sea lions, raccoons, porcupines, snakes, raptors and ravens. I am also a young adult author, and my debut novel ESSENCE was released in June 2014 by Strange Chemistry Books. Ask me anything!
Hi again, CAT! The sky is practically the limit with enrichment--as long as the items used are found to be safe. Depending on the species, you can use balls, boxes, buckets, containers, empty kegs, ropes, nets, bells, newspaper, treats... The list goes on and on. If you are looking for ideas, Disney's Animal Programs has a great website with species-specific suggestions: http://www.animalenrichment.org
Undesirable behavior is typically addressed through training--though this varies greatly, depending on the specific behavior. Effectiveness measures also vary greatly depending on the species and the specific goals of each enrichment plan. Is there a specific species and enrichment item you are wondering about?
Hope this is helpful!
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Hi Chelsea! I assume this question is piggy-backing on your last question about animal escapes. Since I have already answered what an employee would do in this situation, I will expand and say that if a zoo guest ever sees an escape, he/she should tell whichever employee is the closest to him/her--whether that employee is a gardener, a custodian, a camp counselor, etc. All employees are trained to deal with emergency situations, so those people will know exactly how to make sure the proper authorities receive the alert.
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Oh, totally! This happens all the time, and it never gets less embarassing. I volunteered as a tour guide at my local zoo in high school, and I always stammered through an awkward explanation, like the tigers were "wrestling" or "playing" or whatever. Nowadays, I tend to be a little more honest, though I usually try to minimize and move on as quickly as possible. (Ironically, the parents usually laugh harder than the kids, but we DO share inside jokes on occasion!)
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I'm not certain I know how to accurately answer this question, as each animal is typically owned by the zoo from which it escapes--with a few exceptions for breeding loans, etc. Also, each animal is generally apprehended before too much time passes, so it is almost never necessary to report an escape to an outside owner.
If, for some reason, a breeder loan animal (or other outside animal) either went missing or was forced to be put down during an escape, there would typically be a clause in that animal's loan contract that would detail how the receiving zoo would respond to this--whether it is a no-fault situation, a situation where a replacement animal would need to be acquired, etc.
(Again, this happens to infrequently that it's almost never necessary to actually deal with it. Even still, I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry.)
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Hi Bethanne, I actually haven't ever experienced this. I'm sure it still happens, but I think the public is much more educated about the role of zoos and aquariums in the United States than they ever have been before. Gone are the days when people associate accredited zoos with crumbling, road-side circus attractions, and I think that's because the public finally understands the importance of zoos as educational, research and conservation entities.
The public is also way more aware that accredited zoos don't actually go out in the wild and harvest perfectly healthy animals; we simply serve as a home for animals that have been deemed "unreleasable." This means our animals have either been orphaned, injured or raised in human care, and it has been determined that these animals most likely won't survive in the wild without us.
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Hi Rissa! I have never personally worked with elephants, but a few of my good friends have. Shoot me an email at lisaannokane(at)outlook(dot)com, and I will hook you up with one for your report!
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Hi Kidbear! I have interacted with orphaned brown bear cubs without barriers or sedatives, but I have never interacted with adult bears or big cats without these safety precautions. All of my facilities have always had strict procedures in place to minimize accidents and injuries, so these types of interactions were never allowed.
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