Defend (the wildlife of) The Land

Name: Holly Rundle

Class Year: 2020

Hometown: Medina, OH

Internship: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Location: Cleveland, OH

Greetings from the land of Cleveland, Ohio! My name is Holly Rundle, and I am currently spending my days this summer at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. My interning position is with the Conservation and Science and also Conservation Education departments. It has been a month since I first started here, and my weeks have been full of great experiences, relationships, connections, and also a ton of new information. I work under the Curator of Conservation, Kym Gopp and also Conservation Engagement Specialist, Emily Baber. Most of my time I spend working in the Conservation and Science department working on various conservation-oriented projects.

Outside of the new Mandel Pavilion

Bo the Southern Crested Cockatoo helping
 out with the tokens!

The zoo has recently rebranded to help the public become more aware of their conservation efforts here. Their new project called Make a Difference, entails 6 key Future for Wildlife Programs which focus on the conservation organizations the zoo supports. These include lion and cheetah, gorilla, giraffe, Andean bear, Asian turtle, and the illegal wildlife trade. Last week there was the grand opening for the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Welcome Pavilion. $0.50 of every ticket sold at the zoo goes towards conservation, and the guests have the chance to use a token and chose which conservation project they would like their money to go towards. I am currently developing an independent project that will be evaluating the use and effectiveness of this new exhibit to the zoo, so I will keep you updated as it progresses! In conservation education we are trying to implement a new way to measure how we are reaching out to the guests at the zoo with our conservation education programs. I helped develop a new survey to measure "inspiration" within individuals and it's my job to help out with conservation programs and survey the guests afterwards to measure how we are doing. 

The Cle Metro Zoo has been bursting with surprises this summer. The zoo recently had a birth of a new baby rhino named Lulu, so I got to hang out with her the first day I arrived. They also just brought in an 8-month-old clouded leopard (one of my favorites), named Ryker, and I had to sit and watch him for the first few weeks while he was in quarantine before he could go out in his new exhibit. I am now currently collecting behavioral observations on Ryker in his new exhibit and he seems to be transitioning pretty well, other than always running up to the mesh to greet me. At the moment, I am also helping out with a giraffe space use study on how the 4 giraffes use their exhibit. The zoo is also getting ready for their grand opening of their new Asian Highlands exhibit this week! This new area will entail snow leopards (currently there are 3 cubs!), 2 red pandas, 1 amur leopard, and 3 takins (goat-antelopes). I am super excited to see how the opening to the public goes next week.

The other week I sat in on a zoo biology and management course at the zoo and I got to meet a lot of different individuals who run the zoo. I am also currently taking part in the seasonal keeper sessions at the zoo, where I am learning more and more about the zoo and what it entails. So far, I am absolutely loving my time here at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and I cannot wait to see what the next two months have in store for me!