Name: Tia Thompson

Class Year: Junior

Hometown: Honolulu, HI

Internship: The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa

Location: Pretoria

Lions, Giraffes, and Caves Oh My 

  It is week 4 of my internship, which means there is only 6 weeks left in South Africa. The idea of going home is bittersweet because of all the great memories, experiences, people, and animals i've encountered here. The hustle and bustle of Pretoria, and the wake-up calls of the animals will be missed, but I will cherish all the time I have left!

  This past weekend was spent at Mokopane, the zoo's breeding center. We weren't there for business but for pleasure. Michelle, who is another resident vet at the zoo invited us along with her family to enjoy the small vacation. We left Pretoria around 3pm and arrived at the facility just as the sun was giving way to the brilliant moon. The accommodation rests near the perimeter of the fence. Pulling up into the driveway there was a nice fire pit and stone house waiting for us. Mark, the manager at Mokopane let us in and showed us the house. That night, and every night following our stay, the lions could be heard in the distance. Their deep moans and groans were my lullaby as I drifted off to sleep. 

Morning had come quicker than I would have liked, but nevertheless I got up and made some coffee. That morning the gibbons were howling. Their enclosure is a few feet away from the accommodation. They were the songs of the morning just as the lions were the songs of the night. 

  This Saturday had been full of adventures and experiences. We had met Mark after breakfast because he had planned a drive around the zoo during feeding. We sat on raised benches on the back of a truck. It felt like we were going out on a real safari. Our first stop had been to the African Buffalo. They are one of the Big Five here in Africa. The male was easily distinguishable by the thicker, larger horns that glistened in the sunlight. The average adult weighs approximately 1,300lbs. He seemed much heavier.

  The drive continued passed the pygmy hippos, and into the reserve area. In the reserve we were lucky enough to catch sight of two male impalas sparring. The only problem was they both didn't seem to realize there was a large fence separating them. So, in reality they were just sparring the fence. We also saw a newly born roan antelope hidden in the bush. It chirped, like a bird for its mother, who was a few yards away. She was watching us, watching her baby. For its safety and our own we did not disturb the newborn.

  The hot African sun bore down as we managed to spot a few other animals. The most impressive being a herd of giraffes. We managed to catch a heard of eleven individuals. Their heads just visible above the trees. We watched as these giants crossed in front of the truck. The most exciting crossing was a male whose coloring was 5 shades darker than the rest. His spots shone black in the sun. It was beautiful. Mark said that darker fur comes with age, and this particular giraffe was born darker than the others. We waited patiently as the herd passed before we continued on our way. We came across a herd of zebra as well. One of the zebras had a broken leg and could not walk properly. The leg was extremely swollen. Before we knew it, we were at their post-mortem facility and the female zebra was on the table. It is always sad to see life taken away but the animal's quality of life was more important. We did get to see the broken bone in her leg. The break was a few weeks old, and there was already necrotic tissue around it. Michelle had said "She must have been in a lot of pain." I learned a lot about zebra anatomy that day. I even got to hold her heart. It was heavy and smooth. I was in awe with it. 

  That night, we went on a night drive through the reserve. It was very peaceful, and the sky was lit up by the moon and stars. There is no light pollution in the area so the stars were so visible. The Milky Way shimmered in the heavens, and the constellation of Scorpio was so prominent against the dark background of night. Those few minutes we stopped to stargaze will be one of my favorite memories on this trip. That night I fell asleep to the lions and the constellations dancing in my head.

  Sunday morning we had planned a trip to the Makapan's Caves. There, we walked through various caves where bones of animals, and Australopithecus Africanus were found. It was a pretty amazing experience to see the bones encased by years of sedimentary rock. The bones were discovered while mining for limestone in the 1900s. Now it is a World Heritage Site. There are many caves dotting the valleys but we only saw three. 

Overall this weekend was great. Now it's back to work! 

Savannah Kerns
Class of 2021
Lakeview, OH
Elephant and Andean Bear Intern
Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, AZ



Tomorrow will mark two weeks of me being in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson, Arizona! I'm still trying to wrap my mind around being here. Tucson is so much more beautiful and inviting than I would have thought. It is the complete opposite of Ohio. Though I will definitely miss the lush greenery of Ohio, the mountains and national parks of Tucson and Arizona excite me.

Catalina Foothills,
checking wildlife cameras my second day in Tucson
with Sam, grizzly bear keeper

I arrived in Tucson on Friday, May 31st, 2019. My housemate Mara, a former Otterbein grad and elephant caretaker, was so welcoming. I started my internship at the Reid Park Zoo two days later. My first day I got up bright and early at 5am. I was with the elephant care team which starts at 6am. At this point,  I was still pretty unsure of how my weekly schedule was going to be laid out, but I am good at going with the flow. By the time we took our morning break (around 9), I couldn't wait to write down all that I had learned so far. I had already gotten know so much about or five elephants, Mabu, Lungile, Semba, Sundzu, and Nandi. We started out our morning with a short meeting, and instead of being partnered with Mara, I was partnered with another awesome elephant keeper named Michelle. After the meeting, we started cleaning, washing drinkers, scooping up hay/poop, and picking up stripped branches. I also learned about the elephants diets, which consists mostly of 3 different types of hay; alfalfa, timothy, and bermuda. They also get pellets, cucumbers, carrots, and sometimes fruit during trainings. Reid Park Zoo uses positive reinforcement training, and I been lucky to see it in action. The positive reinforcement training uses a primary and secondary reinforcer. I also learned about LRS which a 3 second, neutral pause if an animal does not do the action asked of them. The elephant keepers use positive reinforcement training mainly to prepare the elephants for medical procedures. I got to see a training session with our largest male elephant, Mabu. They were running through commands which involved him putting his feet, side, ears, mouth, and trunk to the barrier so the keepers could do assessments. I enjoy watching these trainings, and when they give the elephants meds or clean wounds.

My first day, I also did a browse run. This is when we collect foliage for the elephants to eat. We go out and saw and lop browse from trees such as pistache, mulberry, mesquite, and sumac. Browse runs are definitely a workout, but it is a nice way to pass the time. This particular day, we wanted to get more mulberry because it is easy to digest and Nandi, our youngest female elephants, was have some stomach issues.

Research Materials
Operational definitions, ethogram, and notebook

My second day was very similar, except no browse run! Everyone was so excited about that. On my third day, I left the elephant care team and went with Rebecca and Stephanie to learn about the zoo's welfare policies and assessment procedures. I was then taken down to the andean bears, Oja and Worf. I watched them for four hours and got to interact with guests.  I also got to feed an anteater some avocado, which was very interesting and odd. Their mouths are the size of a coin slot so he was having a bit of a challenge licking the avocado off my hand. I also realized that their saliva is sticky.

On my fourth day I created operational definitions, an ethogram, and a map of zones using my zoo notebook from freshman year as a reference. I will use these to study Oja and Worf's behaviors. Oja, our 5 year old female, only came onto the habitat in April so she is still trying to get used to it and also to Worf, our 26 year old male. They are starting to exhibit a lot of mating behaviors such as yelling and swatting at each other, and Worf is pacing and marking areas in the habitat. It is really funny to watch them interact, and we think they may mate soon. Hopefully I will be there study them when they do! I am using focal sampling and one-zero recording.

 Yesterday, I actually started using a program called Zoomonitor to record their behavior instead of my own homemade ethogram. It is an interesting technology, that I think is very helpful. I also got to see and help with the husbandry side of tapirs, anteaters, and the andean bears. Josh and I prepped  diets and then we started spot cleaning the tapirs' habitat. Josh called one of the tapirs named Tupi, a poop submarine, because they will poop in the water and then swim in it. I thought that term was hilarious. I have learned a lot about protective contact and also about the nighthouse procedures. I got to see some positive reinforcement training with Worf, he did so well! I also got to set up enrichment for the tapirs and the andean bears. I am hoping to also use my research to continue improving enrichment for the andean bears.

Laser technology for Worf's paw

My favorite thing so far was being able to watch a laser surgery on Worf's right paw that has a little cancer. Josh taught Worf to put his paw up on the barrier and Elaine, our vet tech, used laser surgery on it while Josh kept Worf busy with treats. We all had to wear these cool heavy duty glasses, because the light from the laser can blind you. I was so excited to see this procedure , and afterwards I got to feed Worf a piece of fig newton. He is so sweet and gentle.


While my internship at the Reid Park Zoo is going very well so far, I am also trying to get involved when I'm not interning. My coworkers, Michelle, Shelby, Megan, and I all went to Bath and Body Works semi annual sale, which they love and then we got ice cream at the Screamery. I am also going hiking with some coworkers!

Worf in his favorite pool chilling spot
The yellow floating is a piece
enrichment to put food on

I am excited for all that is to come.

Welcome to Texas Y'all!

Name: Keitha Lear
Class Year: Senior
Hometown: London, Ohio
Internship: Keeper Development Intern
Location: Dallas, Texas

It is hard to believe that I am already 3 weeks into my internship here at the Dallas Zoo! My mind was full of excitement and fear as I was driving past the “Welcome to Texas” sign. This is my first internship at an AZA accredited zoo (and my first time traveling west of the Mississippi River). I had a vague idea of what I was going to be doing in the Children’s Zoo for the next 12 weeks. My mind was racing with questions like, “what animals do you have?”, “what enrichment do you give the animals?”, and “how do you train the animals?”. Before I could start, I had to go through orientation and get a tour of the zoo. A few curators, keepers, and upper management came to speak to us about what it is like to be an intern and how many of them started off as an intern, then got a job soon after, and then worked their way up to where they are now. It was very inspiring and made me realize how small the zoo community really is! We also got to eat lunch with a person in our section, which was really nice, because I got to ask all of my questions that I came up with when driving for 2 days to get to Dallas!

My first day started on Saturday May 25^th. The section I am interning with is called Keeper Development Section, which consists of the Children’s Zoo animals and small primates for a total of 45 different species. This section of the zoo is a great way for people who want to care for a variety of animals and also for those who do not know what type of animal they want to care for (like myself). Because there are so many animals, the Keeper Development Section has about 7 different routes that the keepers can go on and I get the amazing chance to experience all of them! This is a way for me to get a general knowledge of how that route functions and to get comfortable doing things such as, cleaning, making diets, and giving out enrichment.

In my 3 weeks so far, I have worked alongside the keepers caring for a Mini Longhorn, Kune Kune Pigs, Sheep, a Flemish Giant Rabbit, a California Rabbit, an Armadillo, Chickens, Koi Fish, a Call Duck, African Pygmy Goats, Aldabra Giant Tortoises, Ring-Tailed Lemurs, Black and White Ruffed Lemurs, and Collared Lemurs. I have gotten to clean their habitat, prepare diets, and give out enrichment. It is really entertaining seeing the enrichment being used by an animal. It is also super important to make sure that all animals get some sort of enrichment, whether it is a walk around the Children’s Zoo, a puzzle feeder, or a kiddie pool, to encourage those natural behaviors they would have in the wild and to keep them guessing on how the day goes on! One of the things that I have thoroughly enjoyed doing is squeegeeing the floor after you have hosed. I cannot describe the feeling, but it is so relaxing to see all the dirt being washed away and looking to see how clean the habitat is! One of the things I get to experience is training! I don’t get to train but the keepers highly encourage me to see what they do. It is so heartwarming to see each keeper train their animals and witness their deep relationship with that animal. Seeing the animal enjoy training and the keepers having a good time makes me want to train animals too! It is so important to train all zoo animals so that way any vet examinations and daily tasks go by with a breeze!

I am so excited to see all of the other animals I get to help take care of during my time here at the Dallas Zoo! I have many more things to tell you throughout the summer about my research project, the other activities the interns are working on, and some fun trips I am planning to take while in Texas! Stay tuned! Bye Y’all!

May 24th 2019

 

 

Never A Dull Moment

 

 

     So I have officially survived my first week at the zoo and let me tell you every minute of it was exciting and educational. Monday was our first official day as interns. We woke up at 7 and left the house at 8. That morning we met with the head researcher who gave us our research projects that we would be accomplishing during the duration of our stay. My project is on barcoding of South African antelope. That covers many species and the applications of the research could assist law enforcement agencies to identify species in wildlife offense cases. Most of my research time will be spent in the forensics lab here at the zoo. 

Me pictured with one of the Leopard Tortoise hatchlings

     Later that day after we met all the researchers we would be working with, we were pleasantly introduced to the two veterinarians, Rob, and Kresen. They were both very kind, and showed us around the health center and introduced us to the staff. Rob mentioned that if we want to join them for rounds in the mornings we would need to be there at 8 o'clock sharp.

     Well, 8 o'clock came on that Tuesday and we were at the clinic. The staff trickled in and we went over things that needed to be accomplished for the day. We then checked on all the animals at the hospital. They have 70 Leopard Tortoises at the hospital, over 50 of which are hatchlings. The hatchlings are kept on the same side as the females but in a smaller enclosure to prevent losing them. Ashley and I were delegated to check each hatchling for shell softness. Shell softness, specifically the belly is a good indicator that they were not receiving enough calcium in their diet and sunlight. We found a couple that fit this criteria and they were taken inside the hospital to be observed and receive a bit more TLC. This same day we observed our very first darting. Kresen, got notified that one of the Scimitar-horned Oryx females was badly limping. They had done a procedure on her regarding the same leg before so he was concerned. We drove to the enclosure where the Oryx were housed and she was very easy to spot with her limp. We drove to the back where the keepers had access. Ashley and I were the scribes for the procedure, Kresen: "...Mg of Ketamine" Us: "Can you spell that?" We were thrown right in and it was very nerve racking and exciting. Kresen darted her with a dart gun in her hindquarter and within 15 min she was down. They loaded her into the truck and we were on our way back to the hospital. At the hospital the female headed straight to radiology to get a an x-ray of her hoof. Ashley and I remained the scribe but also we monitored her health stats to record on the immobilization chart. Kresen cleaned her hoof, sanded it down, and wrapped it. She was then placed in one of the hospital's outdoor facilities to recover.

Female Oryx getting x-rayed

 

    Wednesday was an early early morning. We were heading to Mokopani for the day with Rob. Mokopani is another zoo facility about 2hrs away so we were heading there to check on a few animals the staff was concerned about and do an overall checkup. The bus left at 5:30am that morning so it was still very dark out. There was six people in total heading to Mokopani. The drive over was exciting Rob asked us a lot of questions concerning the animal that we would need to consider if a procedure needed to take place. On the schedule we were supposed to be darting, a roan antelope, a lion, and potentially a baboon. When we arrived to the facility we checked on a few of the animals before we took a quick trip to a store for breakfast. We got fruit salad bowls. It was some of the best kiwi I had ever tasted.
      Back at Mokopani with our bellies full and happy we drove into the reserve area to check on the antelope. The female Rob was concerned about kept to herself and was standing in an abnormal way. Rob, myself and Sabeth were dropped at the green hunting hut to wait for the animals as they were lured in with food. The other herd members were the first to come, then the warthogs, and last the monkeys. But the female again stayed behind. To get a good shot, because we would only have one, she needed to be in closer range. As she started to near the food Sabeth sneezed and all the animals scattered. Rob was mad because those animals wouldn't return again that day, and Sabeth now will never live it down. We got picked up and we headed to the lions. There's one female and one male in the enclosure. The female absolutely despises Rob because he darted her once and she remembers. As we approached the enclosure both lions were calm. Once Rob spoke up the female immediately got aggressive. "Hello Lisa", "GRRRRRR!!." It's their breeding season so Rob decided to save her procedure until another day because the male would not leave her side. The baboon didn't need any medical attention and he should be released later this week. Mokopani also has pygmy hippos. As Rob was trying to assist the calf back into the enclosure the mother turned around and flung her poop all over him. If you haven't seen a hippo poop google it. The drive home wasn't too bad we listened to music and enjoyed the views. That night when we got home Marion another student from France had baked us cookies. It was a great end to a good exhausting day.

One of the x-rays I took of the marmoset

     Thursday we did full health exams and x-rays on 7 black-eared marmosets. My job was carrying the animal to and from the exam and x-ray room and helping to take the x-rays. After the first two marmosets I could set the x-rays alone. They all seemed pretty healthy and they were taken back to their enclosure.
     Today we darted a red kangaroo male. He went down very quickly and we x-rayed his skull because he has surgery on his jaw a few weeks ago. The wound seemed infected so they wanted to make sure it didn't spread. Kresen cleaned the wound and sewed it back up, while I was the scribe and checked the animals temperature. All in all it's been a very long and amazing week. Can't wait to share my next exciting adventure!




Kresen showing us where the vein is in a kangaroo tail. The male is still asleep but he had just been given the antidote to wake up.

May 19th
2019

Welcome to the Zoo!

   Aloha from Pretoria, South Africa! Yes I made it safely and it is currently day 3 at the
zoo while I am writing this. My flight started from Columbus with a layover in Atlanta and then a painful 16hr flight to Johannesburg. From my window seat I could see South Africa below just as the sun was setting.Even from over 20,000 feet I still strained my tired eyes in hopes of seeing an animal below. The orange glow from the sun cast some beautiful light on the Namib Desert as we flew overhead. Namib means “Vast Place” and that wasn’t an exaggeration the desert seemed like it would
never end. When I arrived in Johannesburg I exited the plane and went to customs. The line
was long but it was moving quickly so it wasn’t too bad. I made some friends with a Canadian
couple who were there for a safari trip, they were heading to Namibia. We parted ways as we
headed to baggage claim where I received both my check ins. I followed the crowd out to the
arrival area where I would meet Ashley (Internship partner) and our drivers. It took me a
minute but I found everyone and we headed to the car. By the time we actually left the airport
the day had given way to night. The city shared a familiarity to those back in the states, except
the highways because in South Africa they drive on the left side, and the driver sits in the right
seat. Tall skyscrapers illuminated the night and the honking of cars echoed in the distance. We
stopped at a fast food place called “Wimpy’s” grabbed food to go and then headed to the zoo.
The drive was short just under 30 minutes. We pulled up to the main entrance where the
guards let us in. They then handed us our room and house keys and we continued on our way.
The drive to our accommodation was longer than I expected. The road twisted and turned. The
only light was that from the headlights of our car. As we made a quick right turn Ashley shouts
“Is that an elephant!?” in the dark there was a faint outline of what seemed to be a big African
elephant. The drivers laughed didn’t confirm or deny her claim and we pulled up to the house.
At night it was difficult to make out the structure but it was made of stone and there was a long
patio area that led to the door. Inside we were greeted by two men, one from Austria who is a
researcher here, and the other a university student from Belgium. They were both very kind.
They helped us with our bags and showed us to our room. The interior of the house was very
clean and well maintained. The floors, and many of the walls were wood which gave off a nice
scent throughout the house. The kitchen was beautiful with marble countertops, white tiled
floor, and dark mahogany shelving. Our room is steps away from the kitchen and living area.
Ashley and I share a room furnished with two beds, a desk and a nice view of the back deck and
greenery. That night we went to bed around 8:30pm. I ended up waking up at 2:45am the next
day unable to go back to bed. So I watched as the sun rose its light filtering through the blinds
of our window. As the morning went on and the sun rose higher the animals woke up as well. It
started with the song of birds and then the call of the peacocks and right around 7 you could
hear the lions groaning. We left the house around 9 that morning and explored the zoo. Outside the weather was a nice 74 degrees. Our house is actually situated feet from one of the Rhino enclosures.
These were the Southern white rhinos. One male and one female. The male, named Goliath
was hand-reared so he enjoys the company of people and considers cars as his competition.
That morning we witnessed one of the zoo employees racing Goliath in his van. He would rev
the engine and Goliath would paw the ground to show he was ready. As the van took off tank-
like Goliath would trot after him kicking up dust as he went. We continued on our little tour around the zoo checking out the many different species in its collection. We finally made our journey to the research center where we met our contact Lufuno. She introduced us to DD who would be taking us grocery shopping that day. Another staff member named, Jamie also tagged along for the trip. They helped us get what we needed and dropped us back off at the house. We made plans for the next week to all watch Game of Thrones together.
  This morning I woke up at 5:30 which is much better than 2:45, left my bed at 7:30 and
cooked myself some eggs and toast. It was nice to be the first one up. I sat there with a book for
a couple hours until the rest of the house joined. When we had all had our breakfast we got
dressed and walked around the zoo. Stefan and Nikolas, the two men we met the first night
gave us the grand tour. The zoo is one of the largest in the world housing around 700 species.
We didn’t get to all the animals, but we have weeks to see them. We hiked to the top of the hill where, situated in the cliff side were lookouts so we could see over the zoo and into the city.
Below the lookout were the lion and tiger enclosures. We then went back to the house where,
Nikolas made us some pesto pasta for lunch. We chatted for a bit then I went to read and write
this blog! Tonight we are planning on seeing the bush babies. They jump around in the treed in
the backyard of the house every night. Apparently BBC did a special on them here not too long
ago. We have officially started working with the veterinarians. This post is a bit late and I promise to get up a current one asap. Cheers from South Africa!

GOLIATH (pictured left)

Southern white rhinos are one of two subspecies of white rhino and are the most common. They are listed on IUCN as near threatened. Rhino horn is made primarily of keratin, a protein that is found in fingernails or hair. Sadly many people believe their horns can be used for medicinal purposes, and therefor they are killed for it. Let’s raise awareness and protect these amazing animals!

All the Other Animals at the Dallas Zoo

All the Other Animals at the Dallas Zoo

Hannah Simmons

2020                                                                                                               

Portsmouth, Ohio     

LWOA Great Apes Intern

The Dallas Zoo

Although I spent the majority of my time at Dallas working with the gorillas, I also gained experience working with a troupe of chimps and three mandrills.  Both of these primates have very distinct social structures, so getting to see how each species interacted was very interesting and really cool.  The chimps and mandrills also had a lot of energy, and were constantly jumping around and playing with each other and their enrichment.  Each group had a baby: 4 year old Mshindi the chimp, and 4 year old Obi the mandrill.  For these other species, most of the day is still spent cleaning and preparing the diet for the next day, but these animals can also have some pieces of enrichment that the gorillas cannot (either they are too big or they will eat it).  Therefore, enrichment is something that must have some more time devoted to it with the chimps and mandrills.  One of the favorite enrichment items of the chimps is boxes.  Mshindi liked to jump into the box from a high platform and scoot himself around on the floor.  And the mandrills loved ice treats.  I made a lot of ice treats this summer due to how hot it was, and I like to think the mandrills appreciated it. 

One of the great things about being an intern at the Dallas Zoo is their professional development classes and their ability to let interns shadow different departments for a day.  While at Dallas, I took advantage of these opportunities, especially shadowing different departments and making professional connections.  I had the opportunity to spend a day with the reptiles department, the Wings of Wonder bird show, and the wilds of Africa bird department.  While at reptiles, I got to see some really interesting veterinary procedures on one of the green mambas, and got to help take care of some of the frogs and tortoises.  I also got to help get some weights on some Haitian Galliwasps (skink-like lizards), and watch the staff get weights on some of the other “hot snakes” (venomous snakes). 

Even though the bird show and the WOA birds had some of the same animals, each department was run very differently.  At the bird show, I was able to observe what goes on behind the scenes for two performances, and to see what happens when an animal does not want to cooperate.  I helped clean and prepare diets, and set up and tear down the shows, and got to see some of the enrichment and training used for these animals (including a hadeda ibis and a capybara).  At the Wilds of Africa bird department, I helped out with daily cleaning and husbandry and helped put up a new perch for some ibis, helped take care of some baby spur-winged lapwings, and helped chase a blue crane back to where it was supposed to be.  These shadow days were an amazing opportunity and I wholeheartedly believe that if you intern at Dallas in the future, you should take full advantage of this.

Working at the Dallas Zoo was incredible, but there are also so many things to do on a day off around Dallas.  Delaney (the records/nutrition intern, check out her blog too!) and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo, the Alamo movie theater, and got lots of IN-N-OUT!  We also went to the Bowling for Rhinos fundraiser for the Dallas Zoo with some other interns.  There is a lot of very good Mexican food in Dallas, and some really great farmers markets.  Even though I am sad to have left and come back to Ohio, this was an amazing opportunity where I learned so much and made professional connections in the zoo world.  Hopefully I’ll get to go back someday and see how much baby Saambili, Mshindi, and Obi have grown!

Mandrills, Chimps, and (baby) Gorillas!

Mandrills, Chimps, and (baby) Gorillas! 

Hannah Simmons
2020
Portsmouth, Ohio     
LWOA Great Apes Intern
The Dallas Zoo

Hi guys! My name is Hannah Simmons and I spent my summer in Dallas, Texas.  I am back in Ohio now, but I can’t wait to tell you about my summer.  Spending 12 weeks in at the Dallas Zoo was an incredible opportunity for networking and making professional connections as well as learning about work as a keeper. 

I was an Intern in the Lower Wilds of Africa with the Primates/Great Apes department.  This department takes care of the chimpanzees, gorillas, and mandrills (which are actually monkeys and not apes, but were close enough geographically to the chimps and gorillas to be part of the department).  The keepers take care of three mandrills, two gorilla troupes (9 gorillas total), and a troupe of 9 chimps.  I spent most of my time with the gorillas, but got experience with day to day tasks in all the areas.  Most of a typical day is spent cleaning and prepping the diets for the next day, but the keepers take time every morning to train with all the animals and make sure everyone gets any vitamins or medication they might need.  All the animals (gorillas, chimps, and mandrills) work on body presentation behaviors.  This way, if an animal would ever have something that needed the vet’s attention, they know how to show the keeper and vet, and they know they will get a special treat.  Teenage boy gorillas like to roughhouse and play a lot, so these behaviors are extra important for them.  Spending time with the animals every morning builds a very strong relationship between the keeper and the animal.  Apes are dangerous, and as an intern, there was a lot that I could not do because of the safety risks and necessary training.  But to be able to see the relationship between the gorillas and the keepers up close every day was probably the most powerful thing about the internship.
It wasn’t just me that got to see the keeper’s relationship with the animals.  Every day there would be a keeper talk at the gorillas and at the chimps, with training demonstrations on the weekends.   As an intern, I would switch off between tossing the gorillas their mid-day fruit and actually giving the keeper talks!  Answering questions that the public might have and being able to interpret the gorilla’s behavior was an incredible experience, and it also allowed me to watch the animals and just have fun with the guests and the gorillas. 


Out of all the things that happened this summer, there was one thing that stood out above everything else; there was a baby gorilla born in June!!  Her name is Saambili, and she is the first gorilla born at the Dallas Zoo in over 20 years!  Being the intern, I was able to observe keeper tasks both during and after pregnancy, such as ultrasounds and monitoring the baby right after birth.  By the end of her pregnancy, Hope the gorilla was so good at ultrasounds, she probably could have done them herself!
                             
That’s all for this entry!  Check out my other entry to hear about some of the other animals I got to work with this summer!