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 Jill! This is a great question. I think the first step is definitely establishing realistic expectations for each particular animal. (A domestic camel, for example, is going to initially be much more apt for enthusiastic interactions than a mountain goat.) You can research other zoo's behavioral plans to see what worked and what didn't work for them, and you can also do your homework and take a look at each animal's natural history to get a clue how it will respond to your presence.
Once you have established a basic plan for your interactions with your new animal, your next step will be to be consistent--and patient! Successful interactions, connections, and relationships vary widely between species and individual animals, and there is no magic number for how quickly or slowly these relationships will develop.
To make things even more complicated, sometimes an animal will NEVER respond to you the way you think it should. In my experience, individual animals have demonstrated preferences for certain keepers versus others in ways that defied logic. Maybe it's your smell, maybe it's the sound of your voice... No matter what you do, some animals just aren't going to connect with you. That's why it's so important to keep an open mind--and to pay strict attention to what your animal is actually telling you, not just what you think it should be telling you.
At the end of the day, it's exciting to witness which ones you connect with versus which ones you really don't. Sometimes, they surprise you!
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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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Great question, CAT! Primate enrichment programs—like any other animal enrichment programs—are designed to enhance a particular animal’s behavioral, physical, social, cognitive and psychological well being. Enrichment is of particular importance to very complex animals like primates, because they require a great deal of physical, mental and social stimulation.
The first step in designing an enrichment program for a primate is to research that species’ natural behaviors and physiology. Once you have a handle on what the animal “likes to do,” the next step is to design a goal-oriented plan that identifies the species-specific behaviors are desired from that animal (digging, nesting, etc.).
In the case of large primates, structural enrichment and object enrichment are used quite often in enrichment plans. Artificial trees, platforms, hammocks, hoses and rope provide opportunities for decision making—and so do novel items like crates, balls, food items, barrels, burlap sacks, boxes, etc.
It is important to provide enrichment items at variable intervals to prevent animal boredom. It is also important to provide social enrichment in the form of companionship with other animals, training sessions and bonding time with trainers.
Enrichment plans must include how the enrichment will be developed, how it will ensure the animal’s safety, and how it will be monitored to document the animal’s response to it. (Interns and/or volunteers usually do the majority of monitoring.)
Understanding that many animals often require a “breaking in period” where they size up new additions to their environment, trainers should make sure to keep detailed records to ensure the animal eventually utilizes and is stimulated by the enrichment provided.
Hope this helps!
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Hi Alexa! I have never worked at Animal Kingdom before, but I can certainly do my best to answer your questions. Please send them to lisaannokane(at)outlook(dot)com, and I will get them back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!
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This obviously varies quite a bit from animal to animal, but our typical tools of the trade are treats, kennels, hand nets of various sizes, animal control nets, mesh nets, poles, squeeze cages, fog horns, fire extinguishers, tranquilizer darts, and even firearms for the most serious circumstances.
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Hi Chris! Wolves are interesting mammals, as they are relatively monogamous within their pack structure. Females only go into heat once a year, and this typically lasts a few weeks. During this time, the female and her chosen male will often mate several times, and they will also spend most of their non-mating time together. Once mating season is over, the female wolf will turn much of her attention to her pregnancy--and to preparing a den for her litter's arrival.
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Although this sounds like the classic Catch-22, it is actually quite possible to fulfill this requirement if you begin your zoo career by working as an intern. Almost every zoo offers an internship program--most during the summer, some during other seasons--and these internships are often a critical first step in paving your way into a zoo career.
The bad news: most internships are unpaid, and they are almost always full-time, so you may have to work a night job or rely on student loans or your savings for awhile. The good news: your possibilities will expand exponentially once you have completed an internship or two. (Although zoos LOVE to see vet experience, many of them won't even consider you until you have seen what happens "behind the curtain" at their facilities.)
I HIGHLY recommend the Job Listings page provided by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (http://www.aza.org/joblistings/). You can search specifically for internships, and the page is updated almost every day. A goldmine for future zookeepers!
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