Animal Observation Internship at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

 

  

 Hello, I am Mackenzie Cashman! I am a Zoo and Conservation Science and Biology double major. I have always loved animals ever since I was a little girl, and I have such fond memories of going to the zoo with my family and friends. I decided that during my senior year at Otterbein, I was going to do an internship at the Columbus Zoo. The Animal Care Observation intern position was focused on recording animal behaviors in order to assess their welfare.

My first day in the internship, I was assigned a specific giraffe that we would be observing for 20 minutes each day. I was assigned a male giraffe named Logan, who was easily recognizable from a scar on the left side of his chest. During my internship, it was the off season for Heart of Africa, so the giraffes were all in their back barn. The barn stalls were then assigned names and numbers, such as community zone 1, stall 3, and yard A. Each observation session, I would monitor Logan’s movements, interactions, and bodily functions. This data is then used to see how much the giraffes are utilizing their enclosures.

During this internship, I was not observing every single species at the zoo. There are specific species that are known to perform stereotypic behaviors that we focused on. The animals were all over the zoo, not just in one area. In North America and the Polar Frontier, I observed the polar bears, brown bears, black bears, moose, cougars, wolverines, lynx, and the Mexican Wolves. My favorites from this area to observe were the brown bears, polar bears, and moose. The 2 polar bears at the zoo are named Aurora and Lee. Both of them love to swim and play with their enrichment, so I was watching to see which items they preferred. They have also both been known to pace, so we needed to keep track of when, where and how often they were pacing. The zoo is also hoping for some cubs, so we were on the watch for any mating behaviors. Brutus and Buckeye, the brother brown bears, tended to be asleep in their cave at the beginning of my internship, but by the end they were out in their yard playing and swimming. They like to swim, but don’t fish as often as the polar bears because they don’t like to get their ears wet. There are 4 moose at the zoo, Bert, Strawberry, Scarlet, and Violet. They had all been introduced to each other at the end of my internship, so we had been observing how they individually got along and how they reacted to the enclosures before they met. The moose are just so fun and it is entertaining watching them wade in the water and run around their enclosure.

In Asia Quest, I observed the elephants, sloth bears, tigers, red pandas, rhino, and tufted deer. My favorite species to observe were the elephants, rhino, and red pandas. There are currently 7 elephants at the zoo. Their names are Sabu, Hank, Sunny, Rudy, Connie, Phoebe, and Frankie. Frankie is still just a baby, so it is very fun observing him interacting with his mom, Phoebe, and the others. The red pandas were being observed pacing around the time of the Red Panda Experience. They were a special project, so I observed them for around 2 hours at a time.

In Australia and the Islands and the shores, I observed the manatees, tree kangaroos, binturongs, wombat, koalas, and weedy sea dragons. The weedy sea dragons are new to the zoo, so we were watching for any signs of stress. There were 16 weedy sea dragons, 4 adults and 12 juveniles. I also observed the leopards in the Congo section. The leopards are brothers and their names are Jaimie and Tyrion.  It was fun watching them because they are always climbing and interacting with each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed this internship and observing the many different species. I learned a lot about each animal and how the keepers work to improve their welfare. The staff I worked with was very helpful and made the process much easier.