I worked in Africa with Jackie, one of the keepers at the zoo. Our day began by paying the tortoises a visit. We cleaned their enclosure, made sure they had plenty of water for the day, and even pet the male tortoise on the head for a while (he's very friendly and likes attention!). Then, we headed over to the lions' enclosure. I actually had a tingle run down my spine when I walked up and realized I was right next to an actual lion! I've never been that close to a big cat in my entire life. I cleaned the glass in their exhibit and then learned how to refill their water pool. Then, it was time to pay the giraffes a visit and clean their exhibit. Fun fact: giraffes poop a lot! I cleaned up the whole area (which took a decent amount of time) and made sure it was ready for the giraffes for the day.
Finally, it was time to actually let the animals into their exhibits for the day! Watching the lions enter their exhibit was so exciting. Chuma, one of the lion brothers was a little reluctant to enter the exhibit at first, so we had to coax him out. During our "coaxing" Chuma had apparently had enough of us as he looked right at me and let out a huge "ROAR" literally inches away from my face. I actually jumped when he roared, it scared the living daylights out of me! It just goes to show that these animals all have unique personalities and characteristics that make them just as individual as you and me!
It was then time to let the giraffes out into their exhibit. The giraffes are a family, Walter and Autumn are the parents to two year old Kiko. Right now, the giraffes are being displayed separately, so Walter and Kiko go out together in the morning and Autumn goes out in the afternoon. Kiko is so precious because he's so full of energy and excited about the littlest things. I could actually see him light up when we walked inside in the morning!
Next, we headed over to the vulture exhibit. The vultures are three girls who are very energetic and playful. We cleaned their exhibit while they were in there and gave them their food for the day, which was entertaining because they kept hopping away from us!
The rest of the day consisted of a lot of cleaning. I cleaned the entire lions enclosure by myself and one of the giraffe stalls! I was really nervous about doing this because Jackie explained to me that a lot of keepers are really particular about the way their cleaning is done, so I wanted to make sure I did a really good job and it was something she would not only approve of, but be impressed by! I also was lucky enough to observe a training session in the afternoon with Kiko, the baby giraffe. He is getting trained to stay still so that veterinarians can draw blood from him. It's definitely a long and at times frustrating process, but I could already see Kiko improving by the end of his session!
Jackie was also nice enough to give me a brief tour of the zoo during the day. I got to see orangutans, lemurs, the reptile building, leopards, red pandas, ocelots, and so many more beautiful and amazing animals.
Finally, at the end of the day I got to help prepare the diets for the animals at night. It's interesting to see what the different animals get fed, and which animal gets what kind of food. Even the diets are so unique to every individual - it's refreshing to see the amount of care and attention that goes into making sure every animal has what it needs, and more! I even got to feed Walter a post-dinner snack of kale right from my hands!
My first day at the zoo was beyond incredible. It was 8 hours of hard, manual labor (I came out with scratches, bug bites, and pouring sweat), but the fact that I was exposed to so much animal interaction in just one day was completely amazing. I am already so thankful to the Greenville Zoo for such an awesome experience, and I can't wait to see what the future holds with this internship. I'm excited to get to know the other animals of the zoo, to learn the ins and outs of animal care and training, and to grow as both a person and a conservation biology major.
Please continue to follow me on my journey through my zoo internship! This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so excited to share all my "tails" with you!
Finally, it was time to actually let the animals into their exhibits for the day! Watching the lions enter their exhibit was so exciting. Chuma, one of the lion brothers was a little reluctant to enter the exhibit at first, so we had to coax him out. During our "coaxing" Chuma had apparently had enough of us as he looked right at me and let out a huge "ROAR" literally inches away from my face. I actually jumped when he roared, it scared the living daylights out of me! It just goes to show that these animals all have unique personalities and characteristics that make them just as individual as you and me!
It was then time to let the giraffes out into their exhibit. The giraffes are a family, Walter and Autumn are the parents to two year old Kiko. Right now, the giraffes are being displayed separately, so Walter and Kiko go out together in the morning and Autumn goes out in the afternoon. Kiko is so precious because he's so full of energy and excited about the littlest things. I could actually see him light up when we walked inside in the morning!
Next, we headed over to the vulture exhibit. The vultures are three girls who are very energetic and playful. We cleaned their exhibit while they were in there and gave them their food for the day, which was entertaining because they kept hopping away from us!
The rest of the day consisted of a lot of cleaning. I cleaned the entire lions enclosure by myself and one of the giraffe stalls! I was really nervous about doing this because Jackie explained to me that a lot of keepers are really particular about the way their cleaning is done, so I wanted to make sure I did a really good job and it was something she would not only approve of, but be impressed by! I also was lucky enough to observe a training session in the afternoon with Kiko, the baby giraffe. He is getting trained to stay still so that veterinarians can draw blood from him. It's definitely a long and at times frustrating process, but I could already see Kiko improving by the end of his session!
Jackie was also nice enough to give me a brief tour of the zoo during the day. I got to see orangutans, lemurs, the reptile building, leopards, red pandas, ocelots, and so many more beautiful and amazing animals.
Finally, at the end of the day I got to help prepare the diets for the animals at night. It's interesting to see what the different animals get fed, and which animal gets what kind of food. Even the diets are so unique to every individual - it's refreshing to see the amount of care and attention that goes into making sure every animal has what it needs, and more! I even got to feed Walter a post-dinner snack of kale right from my hands!
My first day at the zoo was beyond incredible. It was 8 hours of hard, manual labor (I came out with scratches, bug bites, and pouring sweat), but the fact that I was exposed to so much animal interaction in just one day was completely amazing. I am already so thankful to the Greenville Zoo for such an awesome experience, and I can't wait to see what the future holds with this internship. I'm excited to get to know the other animals of the zoo, to learn the ins and outs of animal care and training, and to grow as both a person and a conservation biology major.
Please continue to follow me on my journey through my zoo internship! This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so excited to share all my "tails" with you!
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