Missing Those Striped Butts

Name: Taryn Chudo
Class Year: Class of 2018
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Internship: Upper Wilds of Africa Intern
Location: Dallas, Texas

It seems hard to believe that this summer is already over and I am no longer in Dallas. It was quite possibly the best summer I have had and I wish I could have made it last a little longer. 

The ever so handsome Niko. Probably my favorite okapi, don't tell the others though!

Quite a lot happened since I last posted. I started giving the hippo keeper chats and I feel that I got pretty good at them. It definitely was a hard thing to start, but it got easier the more I did them. I was most nervous about the questions visitors would ask after, but they were not bad at all. Many people asked very similar questions, so I started to include those in my chat. My favorite question though was asked by a little girl and she wanted to know how to tell if the hippos were married.

Keeper chats may have even become fun!

I also started to venture outside of the okapi barn and follow keepers on the other routes in our section. I really enjoyed helping with the hippo route. Cleaning was fun especially because male hippos, and Adhama was no exception, fling their feces with their tails to mark their territory. I have never had to scrape the walls of a stall before and it was quite an interesting task. Aside from cleaning, I got to watch the keepers train both hippos. Since they are new animals they focus mostly on target training and building confidence.  Adhama is very comfortable with the keepers and likes to show off. Boipelo, on the other hand, is more reserved and takes a little longer to learn things. I even got to help target train the hippos during the afternoon keeper chat/training demo during the last week of my internship.

When a California girl nose boops a California hippo.

Since the Dallas Zoo has not had hippos in the last 16 years it is important that the keepers know how the hippos are spending their time and using the habitat. Toward the end of my internship I helped the behavioral science department collect observations on the hippos. I focused on watching overnight footage before Adhama and Boipelo were introduced. Since hippos are considered nocturnal, they were extremely active during the sessions that I watched.
The last route in our section that I helped with is the most diverse route. This includes bongo, yellow-backed duiker, caracal, spur-winged geese, and dik-dik. I have thought for a while that I only wanted to work with hoofstock, but working with our two caracals made me realize that I really enjoy working with carnivores.
Another exciting thing that happened during the last part of my time in Dallas, was that I was able to get a new car since mine was totaled after week one. This meant that I could explore on my weekends! I made sure to go to other zoos in the area; Cameron Park Zoo and Fort Worth Zoo. I also visited a friend and Otterbein alumna, Eliza Hanes, at her internship at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center. It was so great to see her and to see the animals she works with! She even took Abbey and I for a tour around the pastures! Fossil Rim is located in Glen Rose, Texas which is also known for its fossils and dinosaurs! Most people that know me know that I love dinosaurs. Eliza took me to Dinosaur Valley State Park where I got to see fossilized dinosaur tracks!

Bet you never would have guessed that I was excited, right? 

Coming home from Dallas was bitter sweet. I was ready to be home with my friends, but I also loved my time in Dallas, the keepers and the animals I worked with. I do wish that I could stay forever, but my internship was over. I usually miss the animals more when I leave, but I will miss the keepers at Dallas so much more. They taught me so much and I hope that I get the chance to work with a group just as awesome and amazing sometime in my career. They are a group that truly care about not only the animals under their care, but also about the interns that they take. As the curator of our section told me, it is their job to train the next generation of keepers. In my opinion the Upper Wilds keepers went above and beyond to make sure that we learned and saw as much as possible. I can not thank them enough for all that they did for my during my time there.
I would also like to thank everyone at Otterbein who helped make this summer happen for me. It truly showed me that I want to become a zoo keeper.