Time Away From the Giants

Time away from the giants

Amanda Sibert
Class of 2019
Harrisburg, PA
Elephant care team intern ( at the Conservation Learning Center)
Reid Park Zoo, Tucson, Arizona

While the majority of my internship at Reid Park Zoo was spent with the elephant care team, there were a couple of days that I was able to work alongside some other staff members within the education department and their ambassador animals. 

During these days, I was able to help prepare diets, clean enclosures, observe and help with training; all while learning about a variety of species in Reid Park’s collection. Some of these include macaws, tamandua, ferrets, fennec fox, armadillo, a variety of reptiles, and three 7 month old alligators. A couple of times, I was able to observe animal encounters with the zoo’s summer camp and hear how the educators present various animals and tie conservation and facts together to create a great presentation to a wide age range of kids. One of the talks that I got to observe a few times was the alligator. Because the zoo recently received the three babies and a 9 foot alligator on exhibit, handling and talking about these apex predators is new for the staff. I had the opportunity to watch a staff member be trained on handling and using the gators for programs as well as learning how to handle them myself. This experience was very beneficial because I got to learn how a facility creates protocol for new animals in their collection. I also had the chance to help target train the tamandua and get them used to different people training them. These few days in education were very different than my time with the elephant team, but gave me the opportunity to see how different parts of the zoo are run and managed. 

Outside of my scheduled 5 days a week, I was able to help with Summer Safari Nights. These special evening events are themed throughout the summer and allow guests to experience the zoo as the sun is setting. One of the times that I volunteered, I helped zoo guests create enrichment items for some of the birds on and off habitat. Every guest I encountered was so excited to be able to create something for the animals that they see every time they visit. The other time that I volunteered, I was able to assist some keepers with goat encounters. The goat herd at the zoo is one of the newer editions and this was the first time that the encounters were happening. These few evenings of volunteering were so enjoyable and allowed me to interact with some of the guests and see how excited they were to be at the zoo.