Interning at the Tembo Trail in Toledo

Name: Amber Pitsenberger

Class Year: 2019

Hometown: Danville, OH

Internship: Behavior and Large Mammal

Location: Toledo, OH

Hello everyone! My name is Amber Pitsenberger and I will be a junior in the fall. This summer I have the amazing opportunity to intern at the Toledo Zoo in two separate departments. In the mornings, I spend my day in the large mammal department and in the afternoons I am with the behavior department. For this blog, I will be only discussing what I do in the mornings with the large mammal department.

Standing in front of the hippos statues near the Tembo Trail

Throughout the week I work with two separate keepers who work in the large mammal area known as the Tembo Trail. This is where many of the large African mammals are located. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I spend the morning with Trudy the keeper responsible for the brown bear-snow leopard-tiger-dingo-and sloth bear sections of the Tembo Trail. I meet Trudy over at brown bears where Montana and Kodi, the two brown bears, and Dodge, the Kodiak bear, live. I help make their enrichment and place it in their outdoor enclosure. Enrichment is any item or activity used to enhance the quality of life of the animals living at the Toledo Zoo. It is used to help encourage natural behaviors. Recently, the bears were given a new pool and they can often be found swimming in it while enjoying their enrichment. They are a lot of fun to watch and seem to attract a lot of visitors especially when they play around in the pool.

Dodge playing in the pool located in the brown bear enclosure.

After the brown bears are on exhibit, Trudy and I head over to the tigers and then to the snow leopards. First, we drain and clean the tigers' pool and wash the windows. After that, we place their enrichment in their enclosure. I enjoy hiding their enrichment in the barrels they have in their enclosure or in one of their trees because it takes the tigers a little longer to find their enrichment. Once we let the tigers out, we go over to the snow leopards and clean their enclosure and hide their enrichment as well.

When we have finish with the big cats, we head over to the sloth bear enclosure. We say hello to the dingoes Indigo and Tawny as we pass since they are usually outside already when I arrive. Kara is currently the sloth bear that lives at the Toledo Zoo. I love hanging out with Kara because she is really cool to watch. Trudy and I clean her outdoor enclosure and then we hide her enrichment in the hollow logs and on her climbing structures. In the wild, Sloth bears eat a lot of termites and ants which requires the sloth bears to use their claws and tongue in order to get their food. A lot of times Kara's enrichment will come in special feeders that encourage Kara to use her claws and tongue. There are also hollow longs inside her enclosure that we can hide her enrichment in as well. After her enrichment is eaten, you can often find Kara sitting by the windows where the public can interact with her or sleeping under the shade of one of the bushes in her enclosure. After all of the animals are outside, Trudy and I get to work cleaning the animals' indoor homes. There is a lot to clean but with two people it doesn't take too long.

Kara the sloth bear interacting with visitors.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, I work with Robin the hippo-meerkat- and rhino keeper. My mornings usually start off by meeting Robin at the "Hippoquarium" where the zoo's two hippos, Herbie and Emma, live. After preparing the hippos' diets, Robin and I go out into the outdoor enclosure and clean allowing Herbie and Emma some time to eat. Once they are done eating, Robin and I clean and inspect their teeth and then send them outside to their large outdoor pool. One of my favorite parts of working with the hippos is the rooftop feeds we do. We cut up fruit and veggies for the hippos and then make our way to the rooftop to toss the food into the outdoor pool. A lot of times Emma and Herbie will swim below us and wait for us to drop their favorite treats in. It's a neat experience and the guests always seem to enjoy watching Herbie smash a watermelon up. 

After we say goodbye to Herbie and Emma, Robin and I head over to rhino holding where Sam the white rhinoceros lives. We give Sam a shower every few days and then we help exfoliate Sam's skin by asking him to walk inside a training chute so that we can brush him. Robin also checks Sam's feet, ears and horn and then we apply fly repellent to him. Once we are finished, we send Sam out into the rhino yard for the rest of the day.

Sam the White Rhino

Our last stop is at meerkats. Currently, there are twelve meerkats that live at the Toledo Zoo. We have two males that live together in one enclosure and a family of ten meerkats that live in another. It is a lot of fun to watch the meerkats play around. They are expert diggers and enjoy making tunnels in the sand in their enclosure. At the meerkats, I help Robin prepare their diets and refresh their water. We also make and put out the enrichment for the meerkats. One of their favorite snacks is mealworms and it's fun watching the meerkats figure out how to manipulate their enrichment to get their favorite treat.

That is how I spend my mornings at the Toledo Zoo. I have a lot of fun doing it and I enjoy the amazing experience that I am getting. Robin and Trudy are really amazing and I can't thank them enough for the things that they are teaching me. It's really a great experience and I am enjoying every minute of it.