This week at the Zoo I switched things up and worked with Greg in Asia. Since I haven't been in Asia in a while, I was excited to be back there and work with the hornbills, red pandas, squirrels, siamings, leopards, and orangutans!
There was some big news that has happened since I last was at the zoo, and that is the fact that Oscar and Ella, the siaming gibbons have welcomed a baby siaming into the zoo family! It's still too early to tell whether it is a boy or a girl, but the baby seems to be healthy and I was lucky enough to get a glimpse! He/she was hanging onto Ella's stomach and looked up at Greg and I as we fed the siamings. This is the first birth I have experienced since working at the zoo, and it was so exciting to share in such wonderful news with the zoo family and Greenville community. I'm excited to see the baby grow and learn what his/her name will be and what role they will play in the family dynamic of the siamings.
For the rest of the day in Asia, we cleaned and fed all of the animals. It wasn't too busy of a day, so Greg and I did a lot of talking about animals, conservation, and travel. I recently just got back from a Spring Break trip in India studying biodiversity and conservation, so I shared with him and the other keepers a lot of details of my trip and even showed them the picture of the wild tiger I saw!
All in all it was a pretty good day at the zoo. I had a lot of great conversations, got to meet a new baby, and obviously worked hard and enjoyed myself. I only have a few weeks left until the end of the semester, so I'm hoping to make the most of them and enjoy the time I have left working at the Greenville Zoo. See you next time for more "tails!"
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Visitors to the Zoo!
Today was probably one of the highlights of my time at the zoo. I finally got to show my family and friends what it is I do at the zoo and tell them all about the animals that I love to work with.
I started working in Africa in the morning with Ben. We had a normal morning where I cleaned the giraffe barn, helped with training, checked on tortoises, you know, all that fun usual stuff. However, once it hit lunchtime, the day was far from ordinary!
I met my mom and my three friends, Allie, Alli, and Kaitlyn, at the zoo entrance around 12:00. I then gave them a tour of the zoo and told them about all of the animals! I showed them primate row and pointed out my favorites (the spider monkeys) and then we walked through Africa and said hello to Chuma and Saied, watched Kiko drink Kesi's pee (ew), and saw Bubba being his typical tortoise self. We then went up through Asia and saw the siamings and the red pandas as well as Jade and Clover, the leopards. At 1:00, Ben said that we could meet him in the keeper room and we could have a giraffe feeding session!
I loved being able to have my friends and my mom get to spend some quality time with the giraffes. They are the animals I get to spend the most time with and work with the most, and I'm so happy that others could see how truly awesome they are. My friends and mom all said that it was one of the coolest things they've done in their lives. Hodari was being extra obnoxious and trying to steal all the food, and Kesi and Kiko spent a lot of time trying to win over our attention. I took a lot of pictures of my friends and mom feeding the giraffes, and Ben even took some time to talk to us about giraffes and conservation issues in general. We spent over an hour up with the giraffes, and it was so much fun!
After our giraffe feeding, we did a quick walkthrough of the rest of the zoo and I showed them South America, including the lagoon, and the Farmyard. I left with them around 2:30 because I had to drive my friends back to the airport since they were visiting from other states.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to share what I love with some people that I love. I know that the keepers trust me and like me, which is why they have given me so many incredible opportunities. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks have in store at the Greenville Zoo!
I started working in Africa in the morning with Ben. We had a normal morning where I cleaned the giraffe barn, helped with training, checked on tortoises, you know, all that fun usual stuff. However, once it hit lunchtime, the day was far from ordinary!
I met my mom and my three friends, Allie, Alli, and Kaitlyn, at the zoo entrance around 12:00. I then gave them a tour of the zoo and told them about all of the animals! I showed them primate row and pointed out my favorites (the spider monkeys) and then we walked through Africa and said hello to Chuma and Saied, watched Kiko drink Kesi's pee (ew), and saw Bubba being his typical tortoise self. We then went up through Asia and saw the siamings and the red pandas as well as Jade and Clover, the leopards. At 1:00, Ben said that we could meet him in the keeper room and we could have a giraffe feeding session!
I loved being able to have my friends and my mom get to spend some quality time with the giraffes. They are the animals I get to spend the most time with and work with the most, and I'm so happy that others could see how truly awesome they are. My friends and mom all said that it was one of the coolest things they've done in their lives. Hodari was being extra obnoxious and trying to steal all the food, and Kesi and Kiko spent a lot of time trying to win over our attention. I took a lot of pictures of my friends and mom feeding the giraffes, and Ben even took some time to talk to us about giraffes and conservation issues in general. We spent over an hour up with the giraffes, and it was so much fun!
After our giraffe feeding, we did a quick walkthrough of the rest of the zoo and I showed them South America, including the lagoon, and the Farmyard. I left with them around 2:30 because I had to drive my friends back to the airport since they were visiting from other states.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to share what I love with some people that I love. I know that the keepers trust me and like me, which is why they have given me so many incredible opportunities. I can't wait to see what the next few weeks have in store at the Greenville Zoo!
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