Giraffe EarthCam

Something I have neglected to mention until now is that the Greenville Zoo has a unique feature in which people can watch the giraffes online through Giraffe webcams they have set up in the paddock and in their barn! It's a live stream, so you're seeing things as they're happening with the giraffes! It's a really cool feature, and a lot of fun to watch the giraffes interact with one another and go about their lives. The specific reason I want to point this out to all of you is that I came across myself on the giraffe cam! It seems that someone took a snapshot of me while I was feeding Kiko yesterday afternoon, and now it's posted online!

These are photos from the Giraffe Cam of me feeding Kiko yesterday!

If you want to check out the webcam (or watch me the next time I'm working), just follow this link: EarthCam. Enjoy keeping up with the giraffes (and maybe me)!

Last Day Before the Holidays

Today was the official end of my "internship" at the zoo, as the semester is coming to a close and I will be heading back to Pennsylvania after finals this week. However, as I previously mentioned, I'm staying on with the Greenville zoo team when I return in January, and will continue to volunteer with the animal department, and I could not be more excited about the opportunity to return.

For my last day of the semester, I worked in Africa (how fitting, my favorite). My day consisted of the typical duties, cleaning, feeding, and helping care for the animals. However, as with each week, I gained even more independence this week. I cleaned the entire giraffe barn by myself and prepared the afternoon diet for them, which is something I've never done completely by myself before. It's nice being in Africa and working with Jackie, because she completely trusts me to get all the work done. So basically, today I did most of the typical cleaning and feeding activities, while she worked on some special projects, like raking leaves out of the vulture exhibit.

I said goodbye to everyone until January. I spent some time with the lions, got to feed Autumn a special snack in the morning, and wished the keepers a happy holiday! I'm going to miss all the animals and the wonderful people who work at the zoo over break, but it's nice to know that I'll be back soon enough.

For those of you following along on this journey, thank you so much for taking time to follow my adventures as a zoo intern. This has by far been one of the biggest adventures of my life, and the amount of knowledge and experience I have gained is truly invaluable. I'm so looking forward to continue to grow as an intern with the zoo and to learn more about the animals there and the future of the zoo. I want to point out some special links to check out if you want more information on the Greenville Zoo or zoos in general. I also took some pictures of the animals I've been working with from online so you can "put a face to the name!"

Greenville Zoo --> The Greenville Zoo's Official Website
Association of Zoos & Aquarium --> Check out the AZA website for more information about zoos and aquariums and the requirements to become AZA certified
Information for People Interested in Zookeeping --> I've found this document helpful in exploring zookeeping as a career

Thanks for following along with my "tails," and stay tuned for more coming soon! I hope everyone has a happy holiday season and a wonderful start to the new year!

Chuma:

http://www.greenvillezoo.com/assets/img/Lion-Hunt.png

Bubba:

http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/images/greenville/greenville.jpg

Autumn & Kiko:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicuprqtO7ljCI_7ap3i7xtRbAi3DE0Fz7Adh4RFdr0CF7ty2wQG0eqDgQamch_MQa5xYO3pnFozJWN2ymnKVa1rdKlwgnKmCsAog18VCveWih4cD0RlG7qkmi9rzNDt887_Ks_ASBovO9R/s1600/5-27-10+(3).JPG

Bob:

https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/t31.0-8/s960x960/1780004_10152824458045295_6765161730496381834_o.jpg

Hope:

https://scontent-a-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10429378_10152763944275295_6669478360266824078_n.jpg?oh=329fa2b5706bbe4c9492b4e7257947bb&oe=55031B89

Selma:

http://www.greenvillesc.gov/gis/images/Zoo/spider-monkey.jpg

Saying Goodbye to Bob

When I came into the zoo Sunday morning, I was informed right away that Greg, the keeper for Asia, had already called me to work with him that morning. I quickly learned that on Saturday, the day before, the zoo had hosted a going away party for Bob, the Sumatran orangutan who is leaving for the Oregon Zoo in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday morning. As I mentioned in my last post, we had been working on creating a cardboard airplane for him to sit in/play with during the party, but I was shocked when I saw the exhibit in the morning and saw not only the (destroyed) airplane, but many painted cardboard boxes, dozens of rolls of streamers, and a huge blanket with a message painted for Bob on it. The keepers all chuckled at me and wished me "good luck" cleaning the exhibit up before the zoo officially opened in the morning. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad to get all the cleaning done! I ended up filling two huge trash-bags full of party materials, but it only took me over an hour to get the whole exhibit clean and ready for the orangutans for the day. And, I really didn't mind doing it, especially since I know that Bob enjoyed his party the day before. It was also a plus that I got to work in Asia, since I had the opportunity to say goodbye to Bob before he leaves on his plane Wednesday morning and meets his new girlfriend in Oregon. 

After finishing the tedious task of cleaning the orangutan exhibit, I helped out with cleaning their den, feeding the hornbills, and doing the dishes and laundry for the entire Asia area. After cleaning up after Bob's party, it was actually a pretty slow day. I carried a lot of timber and bamboo to the stock pile, helped out a little bit in the kitchen, and got to talk to a lot of the keepers and have some "down-time" during the afternoon. 

At the end of the day, I had the opportunity to speak to Keith, the General Curator of the Greenville Zoo about my future with the zoo and about my midterm evaluation. I had previously spoken to him about this, but I wanted to follow up with him, especially since next Sunday is the official last day of my "internship." However, I asked him if he and the zookeepers would allow me to stay on and continue volunteering at the zoo again in the spring semester, and he agreed enthusiastically! I was excited that he was so eager to have me back, because I consider that to be a compliment to my work ethic and ability to get along with the keepers. He also gave me my midterm evaluation, in which he had nothing but nice things to say! It was both a relief and reassurance to know that I am valued and appreciated at the zoo, and that they look forward to continuing to work with me in the future!

I wanted to take this time to comment on how much I am learning through this internship experience. Not only have I gained an understanding of the field of zookeeping, but I've learned a lot about specific species and their behaviors both in captivity and the wild, I've learned about conservation issues the zoo community is facing, and I've learned about the "politics" of zookeeping including working with the Association for Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to obtain certification (or recertification) and working with species breeding programs to trade animals with other zoos. Zookeeping is a lot more than just feeding and cleaning up after the animals, and I'm thankful to have the opportunity to continue learning about this ever-changing and growing field!