My Journey Continues at the Dallas Zoo

Name: Abigail Smith
Class Year: 2018
Hometown: Troy, OH
Internship: North Savannah/Registrar Intern
Location: Dallas Zoo

It is the end of my fourth week here in Dallas and the time is flying! As the weeks go on I am getting more accustomed to my daily routine. One thing I am still not used to is the weather. For the past two weeks it has been in the upper nineties with heat indexes of over one hundred degrees in the afternoon and temperatures are expected to continue increasing. To combat these high temperatures it is important to drink lots of water to stay hydrated and always wear lots of sunscreen. Although, fortunately for me, I am usually inside during the hottest hours of the day.  The rain here is also intense. One minute it will be sunny and blue sky and the next it will be thunder storming out of nowhere.  Sometimes it causes problems because in the main savannah exhibit heavy rain causes trenches in the soil/sand that can be dangerous for the animals.

I have been working hard to learn to be able to identify individual animals and so far I can identify all giraffe and the two warthogs. Giraffe include: Katie, Chrystal, Jade, Ferrell, Tebogo, Five, Jesse, and Auggie. Warthogs include: Toby and Teddy. I am working on identifying individual ostriches but they are a little more difficult. Ostriches include: Paprika, Sage, Nutmeg, Saffron, and Cinnamon. We have one greater kudu whose name is Bo and five lechwe (which are a type of antelope) whose names I have not learned yet. By the end of my ten weeks here I will hopefully be able to identify all animals in my section by name. This is an important skill to have especially in case one of the animals is injured, it is important to know which one. It is also for the reasons of keeping track of behaviors of individual animals over time.

Warthog training

As I am getting more comfortable in my internship I am being trusted with more responsibilities. Last week I was able to help with warthog training one morning. The warthogs have training sessions at least once a day, preferably twice a day. The two brothers, Teddy and Toby, were born at the Dallas Zoo in the Savannah section, but were moved to a different section for an extended period of time. Just a few months ago they returned to the Savannah, but they have forgotten how to enter and exit the barn. We have been working to get them to enter the barn when they are given a “cue” by a keeper.  To do this we start getting them used to following commands. We ask them to “come” and reward them with fruits and veggies when they do so and then we ask them to “go” and another person on the other side of the exhibit rewards them for going to them. These are called “A to B’s” because they are being trained to go from point A to B. Last week they passed the milestone of entering the barn all on their own, hopefully soon they will be able to do this consistently and be comfortable with spending time there when we clean their exhibit.

On a normal day I am normally tasked with stationing giraffes when we shift them from the barn to the exhibit. It has been getting tougher to do so because we have ran out of the giraffe crackers we normally reward with and the company is no longer in production. As a substitute we have been using produce, but it is not nearly as effective and the giraffes loose interest very quickly. We have ordered a different brand of crackers and will hopefully be trying them out soon.

Four out of the five ostriches

Besides stationing giraffe, when we have enough people, I have been observing the stationing of the other animals such as greater kudu, zebra, and ostrich. So far I am allowed to station ostrich on my own. This includes calling the ostriches to me when they enter the exhibit and rewarding them with pieces of lettuce through the fence. This is keeps you on your toes because getting lettuce to five ostriches at once requires speed, while at the same time making sure they don’t get your fingers!

Distracting the Ostrich

Normally I spend most of my time working with the giraffe, but this past week I have been trained in the hoof stock barn and in “Donga”. The hoof stock barn is where the greater kudu, lechwe, ostrich, and guinea fowl are housed. We have two types of guinea fowl: vulturine and helmeted. The vulturine are a beautiful blue and black color and the helmeted are mostly black and white. Working in the hoof stock barn is nearly the same as the giraffe barn. It has been interesting learning about how to take all the different animals there. The lechwe are new to the barn and are still being trained to enter and exit, similar to the warthogs. This past week we set up what is called a “boma” which is essentially a temporary fence in the main exhibit. This serves the purpose of allowing the lechwe to be in the main exhibit, but not yet integrated with the rest of the species.  During the process of setting up the boma I got to help by distracting the ostriches with lettuce.

Setting Up the Boma

Back in the barn, I found an ostrich egg and two guinea fowl eggs when cleaning. This was my favorite part of the day! The ostrich egg is from Paprika, who I am told lays eggs “on the regular.” After many eggs are collected a small hole is drilled in the bottom to drain them and they are sold in the gift shop. Sometimes they are also used for art projects.

Guinea fowl egg (left) ostrich egg (right)

The other place I was trained in is the Donga which is where the warthogs are kept. I learned how to prepare produce, clean the exhibit, and take care of the barn upkeep. A part of working in the Donga is providing enrichment for the warthogs. On Friday we gave ice treats to the warthogs made out of orange Gatorade and various fruits and veggies. This serves to keep the warthogs entertained and hydrated because they do not sweat. It was fun watching the boys go at their treats. Teddy got into his the fastest by pushing it into the water so it melted faster.

Toby with ice treat

 

In the afternoons I normally go to observe the baby elephant on the cameras, work on my registrar project, or go browse collecting with an elephant keeper. One afternoon however, I got to go on a tour of the gorilla building. I really enjoyed getting a sneak peak into a different section. Gorillas are code red animals, which means that they are considered a serious threat if they were to ever escape. Because of this the keepers always have to have two doors between them and the gorillas.

After three afternoon browse collecting sessions I am starting to be able to consistently identify many of the plants we can feed to the elephants. I am also developing an eye for catching things we can feed. We can’t feed anything with vine growing on it or anything with the common parasite: mistletoe. Before I came to Texas I though mistletoe was an innocent plant that was used during Christmas celebrations. I now know that it is a parasite that grows on diseased trees and is toxic to elephants in large quantities.

Mistletoe growing on American elm

Mistletoe

 Besides all of the fun I am having at the zoo I have been on a few outings with Myra and Eliza. We went out to see Zootopia, which was really good! We also got free tickets from the Dallas Zoo to see The Beauty and the Beast, a musical. I had never seen the movie before, but now I want to! We also got to go to a screening of the BFG provided by the Dallas Zoo as well. One of the most exciting things we did was going to Chipotle and the Fort Worth Zoo for my 20^th birthday and Myra got me a cake with my name on it! Overall I would say it was a successful birthday.

Zootopia

Fort Worth giraffe

Dallas night

Screening the BFG

I’m having a great time here in Dallas and I apologize for the very lengthy blog post. Look for another in a few weeks!

Welcome to Texas: Dallas Zoo Vet Hospital Edition 1

Name: Eliza Hanes
Class Year: 2018
Hometown: Vestal, NY
Internship: Vet Hospital Intern
Location: Dallas Zoo

Hi Everyone! My name is Eliza Hanes and I am a senior Zoo and Conservation Science and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology double major at Otterbein University. This summer I am completing a ten week internship in the  vet hospital at the Dallas Zoo. I am staying about half an hour away from the zoo with North Savannah/Registrar intern Abigail Smith and Advancement department employee Myra Lummus. At the house, we are always surrounded by pets. The permanent residents are two puppies, Jetta and Whiskey, two rats, Ivy and Lexi, a cat, Savannah,  and a ball python, Leroy. When we were first here, there were eight puppies, but they have all since found loving homes. We also dog sat a Schnauzer poodle mix, Elmo. 

It is the end of my fourth week here in Dallas and I am really enjoying my internship. While it has been hot, with the heat index being above 100° daily, we have also seen a good amount of rain and thunderstorms.  When it rains in Texas, it really rains. The street that we live on has some problems in the rain. The end of the road, it begins to flood with most rains, especially the torrential down pour that is seen here in Dallas. One minute it is sunny, the next thing you know it is raining cats and dogs. Luckily this rain has been mostly on the days that I am not interning at the zoo so I am able to stay inside and wait out the rain.

Elmo and I 

Every day that I intern, there is something different going on. We always start the day with the ever entertaining morning meeting. This is pretty much the one time when the whole hospital staff is together during the day, so we see a lot of derailments. The intended agenda is how the animals are doing that day, what procedures there are, what treatments are scheduled, general schedule stuff, and then miscellaneous stuff. This is a very interesting part of the meeting because the hospital manager, Dianna, comes up with a list of things that have happened on 'this day in history.'

After the morning meeting, I go with one of the techs to either set up for the morning meeting, or to fill blue sheets (medication schedule sheets) for the animals that are on medications. The techs are really nice and do a really great job of getting me as involved as possible. The techs are Laurel, Deb, and Cass. They rotate by week whether they are in the lab or on procedures. This makes it so that I get to work with each of them. Normally, the hospital would have another tech, however they are currently in the interviewing to fill the empty position.

Some lunches I go out and walk around the zoo to see the animals

Then the morning is usually filled with one or more procedures. These procedures are scheduled so they aren't emergencies. Typically the procedures are either diagnostic, quarantine, or annual exams. Some mornings we have a dental work, or are moving an animal between two exhibits, and about once or twice a month, there will be a surgery performed. This procedure is typically done by one of the vets, Dr. Bonar, Dr. Raines, or Dr. Connolly, but if it is a code red or high profile animal, there are at least two vets present. There is one vet scheduled on procedures for a day, then the other vet is on emergency calls. If there are three vets present that day, then the third is scheduled for paperwork that day.

After the procedures I will help the techs clean up after the procedure. This can take anywhere from half an hour or a few hours depending on what the morning procedure was. Throughout this time, if the emergency vet gets a call to go look at an animal, or if an animal gets brought to the hospital for emergency treatment, the emergency vet will bring me with them to observe the treatment.

Through the past few weeks I have been able to see procedures on animals small through large and I have gotten to learn a lot about veterinary medicine. The vets are super knowledgeable about many species, even including species that are not housed at the zoo. One day, Dr. Bonar told me a lot of information about black rhinos, his favorite species to work with. Black rhinos are very susceptible to diseases, and as he put it, 'can be peeing blood one day, and dead the next.'

Depending on how busy the day was, it will typically end with setting up for the next day's procedure.

Fort Worth Zoo with Abigail

One of the big projects that I have gotten to work on with the techs has been monthly meds. This is done for the beginning of each month and it is filling prescriptions for animals that get meds just at the beginning of the month. These meds are pretty much all anti-parasitical medicine that prevent things such as fleas and ticks. While this is not too hard of a task, it is time consuming, as after the prescription is filled, they have to be sorted into sections and then further broken down into departments. This project can take anywhere from one day to one week depending on how many people are working on it.

The other big project that I am working on is one that I will be presenting to the vet department at the end of my internship and will have a side brown bag (a presentation for the whole zoo over the lunch hour) that relates to it. For this project, I am looking at the urinary tracts of cats, particularly Sumatran and Malayan tigers, with an emphasis on the kidneys. This is because I am looking at the keeper daily reports to note one particular occurrence in their urine.

I am really looking forward to the rest of my time here in Dallas and the future knowledge that I will gain. 

Abigail and I at the pre-screening of The BFG

In Dallas, I have gotten the opportunity to do many things with Myra and Abigail. We got the opportunity to go to the off-Broadway showing of Beauty and the Beast and  pre-screening of The BFG. We also went to see Zootopia together. All three were of no cost to us, with two opportunities being from the Dallas zoo. Abigail and I also decided to go to the Fort Worth Zoo to celebrate her 20th birthday. There is so much to do here in the Dallas area, and many adventures await this summer.

Don't Want This Trip to End!

Name: Taryn Chudo

Year: Junior, Class of 2018

Location: Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

Internship: Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding, Animal Research

Wow it is hard to believe that we are more than half way done with this trip! It has been a blast so far and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store. We have so much that we want to do, but so little time to do it all! Last Wednesday was a typical day of data collection, except for on the way up to the Moonlight Delivery House, we saw a peahen pacing around the drains and several people watching. Kelly and I went over to investigate and we found a baby peacock had fallen into the drain and couldn’t climb out! With the help of a couple of the visitors we were able reunite the chick with the mother and no one got hurt!

The next day was probably the roughest day for data collection that we have had so far! The cubs were all running through the exhibit and piling up on each other! We had to weave through all of the visitors that were there! The data that we got though is great for our study, but it certainly was exhausting running around the enclosure and through the crowd! That night we helped Ju rescue a baby rat that she had found on the sidewalk at the Panda Base. 

           On Friday we tried to take care of the paperwork in order to renew my visa. Unfortunately, we still needed some paperwork, so we will have to come back soon to take care of it again. We did a lot of running around and at the end of the day we ended up at a mall with Ju. It was the mid-autumn festival and the mall had animatronic dinosaurs and fossils of several dinosaurs. They were pretty awesome and it was a great way to end the day.

It was kind of rainy and gross on Saturday, so we went and saw Finding Dory and a documentary about the Jinsha Site Museum, which we were planning on going to the next day. Finding Dory was super cute! For dinner, we tried this new restaurant by Ju’s hotel. It was delicious and had amazing Kung Pao Chicken! We also had these delicious spicy noodles a spicy tofu dish.

Sunday was a beautiful day, so we went to the Jinsha Site Museum. It was an amazing experience. The Jinsha Site was discovered while doing road work and helped enlighten archaeologists to the Shu culture. They found all kinds of pottery, jade artifacts, elephant tusks and various gold objects. There were several artifacts that we saw that were key to the Shu people. The first were several sculptures of peoples that are believed to represent sacrifices. They were found with tiger sculptures. Another object was a sculpture of the Shu king who was made to be holding something, but no one is quite sure what. A third object was a large store of elephant tusks that were believed to be a part of the sacrifices made to the water gods and to the king. The last and possibly most important artifact was a gold mask that is believed to be worn by the king during religious ceremonies. It is also believed that when the king wore the gold mask, he became a god to his people. After walking through the museum, we went outside and got to walk through the actual Jinsha site. It was so cool to be able to see where these relics had come from and how an archaeological site is organized! The Jinsha Site museum is on a relatively large piece of land, so we walked around for a while. We walked through the Ebony Forest, which was made from large petrified wood pieces. Then we made our way to the deer park where we got to see lots of deer. All three of us were so glad that we went and we strongly recommend it to those that visit Chengdu!

Top left to bottom right: Deer antlers, grave sites, the Jinsha dig site, stone snake, God-king golden mask, sculpture of the God-king, decorated pottery and the roots of a giant tree that was believed to be worshipped by the Shu people.

The king's chariots were buried with him in his funeral site. The horseman and the horses were buried with it.

           















We went back to the Panda Base on Monday and had several great data sessions! After work we had a movie night with James and Ju. Kelly and I also got the chance to try durian. Durian is a fruit that is pretty large and covered in spikes. It smells pretty gross, but we were pretty adamant in trying it! Ju likes durian and insisted that she take pictures as we tried it. I tried it first and it does not taste all that great. Kelly tried it after me and we all had a ball watching her try it!

Wednesday marked the 1^st birthday of Ke Da and Ke Xiao, the first cubs born last year. We watched the keepers give them a birthday cake made from ice and topped with carrots, apples, and panda bread! It was so cute to watch them eat it!

We had a lot planned for this weekend! We planned on going to both Leshan and Mt. Emei with one of the other interns at the Panda Base, Sherry. We woke up early on Saturday to catch a high speed train to Leshan. We got to Leshan and hiked to see the Leshan giant Buddha. It was such an amazing thing to see! We waited in line and then climbed down the stairs to the bottom of the Buddha. The stairs were definitely an adventure. They are extremely steep and at points only one person could go through! After walking around some more, we took a bus to Mt. Emei. Once we got there we checked into the Teddy Bear hotel and went to dinner. Sherry took us to hot pot, but this was different from any hot pot that we had ad before. We got to pick exactly what we wanted. Almost everything was on a stick. We got so much food. We tried intestine and some sort of local vegetable. Kelly also tried a small local catfish. We all had some of our favorites. We had lotus root, potatoes, ox tripe, various mushrooms, squid tentacles, and so much more!

Top left to bottom right. An adorable dog that we passed leaving Leshan, golden buddha statue holding a snake, the stairs from above the giant buddha to the bottom of the giant buddha, and then Sherry, Ju, Kelly and I in front of the buddha.

We woke up extremely early on Sunday to catch one of the first buses to the half way point of Mt. Emei. When we got off the bus, we immediately saw wild Tibetan macaques which made everyone so happy. Last year Kelly and Macie spent a lot of time on the mountain and never got to see them, so that was the main thing that Kelly wanted to do this year. After the monkeys we hiked up to the cable car station and took a cable car to the very top to see the Golden Summit temples. It was pretty misty at the top, but it was absolutely gorgeous! After spending lots of time at the top and taking lots of pictures, we took the cable car and the bus back down to the bottom of the mountain. We caught the last bus back to Chengdu, putting an end to a very exhausting but completely amazing weekend!

Kelly's first monkey sighting on Mt. Emei!

The temple at the Golden Summit at the top of Mt. Emei.

Enjoying Otters in Chicago

Greetings!

My name is Hannah Musser and I am a rising junior in the Zoo and Conservation Science program at Otterbein University. I am from Cincinnati Ohio, and am living in Chicago, IL for ten weeks this summer doing a research internship in animal behavior under the direction of Dr. Lance Miller at the Brookfield Zoo! I am finishing up my third week there, and have enjoyed the experiences that I have gotten there so far!

A panoramic view of the Asia exhibit at Tropic World. Otters can access water, island, & land on the left & right.

For my project, I am observing and recording the frequency of the superstitious behaviors of four Asian small-clawed otters. They live in one of three large exhibits that make up the building called Tropic World, and share an exhibit with White-cheeked gibbons on one side (with whom they have occasional interaction- usually a gibbon coming down and grabbing at or chasing the otter on land) and Orangutans on a mountain above them. I got to go behind the scenes of this exhibit with one of the keepers the other day which was a really neat experience; I saw the feeding machines and learned how they work, saw the otters (that are smaller up close than they look from outside the exhibit!) in their holding/behind the scenes living area, and even got to wear waders and go out into the exhibit to help set up the feeding machines for that day!

The automatic feeder

Feeder in cooler on exhibit

The otters have two automatic feeding machines in their exhibit each day that drop out fish periodically- it could be every couple minutes or every twenty; it is random, depending on the placement of the fish on the conveyor belt inside the machine. The otters exhibit these behaviors such as head bobbing, begging, and intently staring at the feeders because in the past, when they have performed these behaviors, they have gotten a reward; therefore we believe that they continue to do them thinking that they will get fish (but there is actually no correlation since the feeders drop fish randomly, resulting in these “superstitious” behaviors.)

One of the begging behaviors under a feeder

One of the begging behaviors under a feeder

In the otters' exhibit!

I work Mondays through Fridays and observe the otters for two 1.5 hour sessions each day. So far I have seen the otters exhibiting the superstitious behaviors quite frequently and so I am excited to see how the project continues. After another week of observations, the keepers will introduce ice blocks that contain fish frozen in them, (about 75% of the otters’ diet, with the other 25% staying in the feeders), into the exhibit, and I will continue to observe to see how this addition may help decrease the amount of superstitious behavior that occurs while the otters wait for or try to make the fish fall out. In addition to observations/data collection, I am also working on literature review and beginning the writing of my project report. As a part of this zoo’s internship program, I have also gotten the opportunity to go behind the scenes in a few other exhibits (some highlights being feeding a zebra and petting an okapi!) and I am looking forward to the other opportunities ahead to learn more about the care and keeping of the Brookfield Zoo’s animals.

I have had to adjust to the public transportation way of life as I have to get up at 6am to take a train and two buses to get to the zoo (arriving around 8 when I start work), but I have learned to be flexible and keep my phone charged to use Google maps to track the buses when they are running late and it has worked out pretty well! I am living with about 95 other college students in a college loft-style dorm on the East side of Chicago downtown, so the commute has been long to get to work and back but totally worth it. Along with these other students I am participating in a summer mission project for these ten weeks through an international Christian campus ministry organization called Cru. Along with our day jobs throughout the city, we have weekly meetings, small group Bible studies, and do outreaches and service on local college campuses and around the city. I am really enjoying this part of my time here as well, and making some great friends as well as growing in my faith.

I have already gotten to explore some of Chicago, and am looking forward to seeing more sights and eating more bites in my remaining seven weeks here! Overall it has been a really great experience (besides the fact that I sprained my ankle on my lunch break at work yesterday...so we’ll see how quickly that heals and how that is feeling when I go back to work Monday) and I look forward to sharing again soon!

Thanks for reading!

My Cape Parrot Progress

Name: Jessica Stiles
Year: Junior
Hometown: Milford Ohio
Internship: Cape Parrot Project
Location: Hogsback South Africa

  We have been in Hogsback for about a month now and it is amazing. Each morning we wake up and watch the parrots as they fly down the mountain for the day. We were set back a week because of a dispute between the community and the local municipality but we were able to use the time to bird watch and explore some other areas of the country. Despite the setback we have been able to get some good data and vocalizations of the parrots. We got up extra early on June 9  to drive down to a town called Alice where there is a pecan orchard that the project knows the parrots go to. I was in charge of the vocal recordings for the day, so I went out and chose a spot in the orchard to wait for the arrival of the cape parrots. Within a few minutes they began to appear and chose a tree one over from where I sat to record. We ended up with some very nice recording before a jackal buzzard scared most of the parrots away. I noticed two had stayed and upon further investigation with the camera Cassie noticed that the female that had stayed has Psittacine Beak and Feather  Disease Virus (PBFDV), but the male that stayed with her did not. We suspect the male was either a mate or a friend that stayed when the others left. About 15 minutes after the jackal buzzard had scared most of the parrots away, a flock of about 23 came in together and we managed to get some more audio of all the parrots before we packed up to head back to Hogsback.

On the left is the female with the Psittacine Beak and Feather Virus. You can tell she is a female by the patch of red on her head just a over beak. The yellow discoloration on her wings are the indications of the virus. On the right is the healthy male that stayed with her. Makes do not have the red just above there beaks, which is really the only way to tell the difference. (Pictures  courtesy of Cassie Carsten. I am actually standing right below them when he took the pictures.)

  After we took lunch we basically hiked down to The Big Tree and did some phenology along the way. We have been going around finding all of the nest boxes on the gps and updating our data on them. What we do is collect data such as the circumference of the tree, calculate the diameter at breast height, the species of tree, whether the nest box is for birds or bees, it's material, it's hight above ground, the nests aspect, the trees height, the trees latitude, longitude, and altitude, and the state of the tree ( alive, snag, canopy cover, and the stage it is in). We were only able to do three trees with nest boxes along the way because we did not have enough tags left. On the way to The Big Tree we acquired a little companion who stayed with us for about three hours or so, a little Jack Russell mix.
When we left the tree we went to the View Point at the Away With The Fairies back packers lodge to watch the parrots return for the night. We ended up getting new data to add because the parrots landed down at The Big Tree and stayed down in the valley below which is not like the usual behavior of the parrots. I can not wait to see what else this internship has in store for me.

Welcome to the Dallas Zoo

Name: Abigail Smith
Class Year: 2018
Hometown: Troy, OH
Internship: North Savannah/Registrar Intern
Location: Dallas Zoo

Dallas Bound

Hello all! I am a Zoo and Conservation Science major at Otterbein University and I am pre-vet as well. This summer I will complete a 10 week internship at the Dallas Zoo as a North Savannah/Registrar Intern! I am accompanied by another Otterbein student, Eliza Hanes, who is completing an internship in the Hospital at the Dallas Zoo. We are also very fortunate to be housed by Miss Myra who works in the Advancement Department at the Zoo. 

Dallas

Eliza (left), Myra (middle), Myself (right)

It is the end of my second week here in Dallas and I am finally getting accustomed to the swing of things.  I work Monday-Friday 7 A.M to 4 P.M. Every day I wake up at 5 A.M. to get ready and eat a huge breakfast because I need the energy. The day starts out with a morning meeting in the North Savannah section. This is when the keepers decide what animals are going out on exhibit and what the goals of the day are. Then I normally accompany a keeper or two out to the various exhibits to clean up from the animals the day before and prep them for today. This includes scooping poop, checking the automatic water dispensers, pulling weeds, filling in huge hoof prints, and putting fresh food out. We also set up the feeding platform where guests can feed giraffes lettuce, carrots, etc. This includes bringing up the food to be dispensed and affixing browse to the platform as a reward for the giraffes when they come out on exhibit. After all is prepped, we shift the designated animals out onto exhibit. 

First Day

Cleaning the Holding Yards

Shifting animals can be a complicated process involving many people with specific roles. Someone to open the doors/gates in the barn, another to open the gate to the exhibit, and many others to station animals at their posts. Stationing an animal is calling an animal(s) to a designated location in the exhibit and giving them a reward for doing so. This is important because we do not want the animals to attempt to go back inside before the gates get closed. The North Savannah has giraffe, zebra, ostrich, lechwe, greater kudu, and guinea fowl. Many of these are featured on any given day in a mixed species exhibit. So far I have been trained to station giraffes. I stand on a platform above the exhibit and my job is to call them over and reward them with giraffe crackers until all animals are on exhibit and the gates have closed. I have also observed the stationing of the zebra, ostrich, and greater kudu. This whole process can take anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour.

"Augie"

"Five"

After the animals have been shifted we go to cleaning the holding yards and the barns. We have two barns: "hoofstock" and "giraffe." So far I have been trained in the giraffe barn. We spend about two hours each day cleaning, feeding, and putting up enrichment. A lot of the enrichment we have are logs and browse attached to the walls for chewing. We also hang various items up for them to investigate such as tubes filled with lettuce, a pipe with dangling spoons, a christmas tree, etc.

Browse Collection

That concludes the morning activities. After lunch is the registrar portion of the internship. I was trained on how to operate ZIMS (Zoological Information Management System) and input information into the system. My supervisor has assigned me a project where I sort through necropsy files dating back all the way from 1995 to the early 60's. My job is to input the diagnosis from the final histopathology report for all the records so it is easily accessible from the database. Unfortunately my supervisor had to take leave almost as soon as I arrived, but fortunately there were a lot of other sections needing my help! Two days a week I monitor the cameras on the new baby elephant and record observations on him for their department. This is one of the best ways I could imagine spending an afternoon! For another two days a week I work on my records project at the hospital where I have a stand-in supervisor to answer any questions I may have. And for one day a week I help the elephant department again, but not monitoring baby cams. With all the new elephants they recently rescued from Swaziland, the demand for browse is larger than ever. So every Friday I go out with a keeper to collect browse from the surrounding neighborhoods. Each week the city collects brush/trees/large items from different sections of the city, depending on the schedule. We go out in a large truck and pick up browse-able items for the many elephants. It has been really fun learning all the different types of browse they have in Texas and how to identify them all!


 One of my favorite things about this summer is that I am doing something different every day. At the end of my first week I was fortunate enough to watch and be of help in a veterinary procedure where we shifted an animal from one section of the zoo to another. I was responsible for helping carry the animal to the van and then into its new home. I was also able to observe the routine checkup!



Myself and Chris

I am very fortunate to be trained by, in my opinion, some of the best keepers in the world. Everyone I have met has been very helpful in showing me the ropes and answering my many questions. We all work together to give the best care we can for all the species in the North Savannah and have a great time doing it! One keeper specifically, Chris (pictured right) has given me great advice on all things from my poop scooping technique to tips on achieving my greatest goals.

Overall I am having a wonderful time in Dallas and I cannot wait to see what else it has in store for me! Look for more posts from me in a few weeks!

More China Fun!

Name: Kelly Jackson

Year: Senior, Class of 2017

Location: Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

Internship: Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding- Animal Behavior Research

            Taryn and I have been enjoying our time in China and have had new adventures each day! Last week Sunday we went out for breakfast, drank boba tea and went to the panda post to send postcards back to our friends and families at the Panda Post. Eldora had taken Macie and I there last year, and all of the workers had spoken English very well while we were there. Afterwards we came back to the school to do laundry. It was very nice out so I decided to read one of the books I brought outside while my laundry dried in the sun. Our neighbors saw me and talked to me for a bit! They are very nice people. :)

            We started off last week by watching the pandas (of course). They had brought the pandas in because it was too hot for them outside. Once they brought them in, one of the keepers, Mei Mei, asked us if we would like some watermelon. So we took a break from the pandas and ate the delicious fruit with them! In the afternoon we also had the opportunity to see them put the pandas back outside from the back area (it had cooled off a bit). It definitely helped a lot when trying to figure out who was who!

            The following days at the panda base were some of the most exciting ones thus far. On Tuesday, Ju and I decided to walk around the panda base during lunch while Taryn watched Game of Thrones. While this is my second time being at the panda base, I still haven’t explored the whole area because it is very huge. As Ju and I were wandering around the panda base, we ran into an enclosure that had a familiar sign…it was the cubs from last year! Finally found them! All five of them were inside and SO BIG! It is crazy to me just how big they get in such a little time. Unfortunately, I could not tell who all of them were, except Shuang Hao. :P Ju and I also walked to Bird Lake, and took lots of pictures of all the beautiful birds.

            On Wednesday, Taryn and I had the chance to help out with some enrichment! A lady had donated enrichment items to the panda base and James had asked if we could give it to the cubs. The husbandry department gave us the okay and off we went! Pandapia, the official photographing company of the panda base, decided they wanted some video footage of the pandas playing with the handy dandy enrichment item, otherwise known as “the amazing graze” (it is for horses!). Taryn recorded video and I used my camera to take some great pictures! The cubs absolutely loved it. :P

            The rest of the week we actually had off due to the Dragon Boat Festival Holiday. On Thursday I decided to go ahead and explore the east side of the campus. I ended up walking to a place called the Jiulidi Site. According to the writing (it was in English), the area was built in order to protect Chengdu from floods. However, most of the area had been destroyed and now it is much smaller. I also found a pet store too that had puppies and kittens for sale! Later on in the day Taryn and I went to the art market. My favorite part of the market is the beautiful paintings artists create. The extensive detail that is put into each piece is so precise; you can tell they put so much effort into it. We then met Ju later for dinner at the Shangri-La. :)

            The next day we spent the whole day with Ju. We went to a sandwich place (recommended by James) for lunch which was SO GOOD and got boba (yum!). We headed on over to the Sichuan Art Museum for a good majority of the day. Almost all of the signage at the art museum was translated into English, so we could read a lot of the descriptions of the pieces. I really enjoyed reading the signs, and learned a lot about the history of the sculpture, painting, or object being displayed. One of the several I personally enjoyed was the Tea contrast. When designing certain pottery items, the sculptors took into account the tea that would be poured into them. The color and the uniformity of the tea, as well as whether or not the foam disappeared, determined who would win “the game.” I’m not sure what “the game” is, but it sounds mysterious! :P After the museum, we went swing dancing with Ju again! I had the chance to dance with several people this time, and felt a whole lot more confident in my swing skills!

            On Saturday Taryn and I hung out with our new friends Andrew and Melody! We had met Andrew on the campus one day and she wanted to spend the day playing with us. :) And what better place to go on your day off then the panda base? ;P Andrew had never been there before and we wanted to show her around, and give her the full panda experience! She was so happy watching the pandas, even though most of them were sleeping by the time we got there. Melody and Andrew even got us selfie sticks so we could take pictures of the pandas later on! We went to lunch next and ate delicious hot pot! The two of them had to go and so we said farewell. I decided to go to the track and dance Zumba with the ladies there! They were so much fun, but it was definitely a workout! :P

            Sunday we went back to the panda base, where we were thrown for a loop. The keepers had put some of the cubs with the moms! While it was exciting we were not sure what to do, and whether or not this would affect our data. After discussing it, we determined that it would still be okay to watch the cubs with the moms. It will be exciting to not only be able to watch the cubs, but to also watch the adult pandas a bit too, and see how the cubs interact with their moms. :)

Taryn and I have started collecting our actual data this week, which is also awesome! :) We’ve talked with James about entering data into excel and what in theory our results should look like to support our hypothesis. Each day we still continue to watch the cubs, and each day they do something crazy and/or cute! :) Hopefully, they will continue to be highly active so we can get a ton of social interactions between them!

Even with watching the pandas every single day, one of the highlights of the trip would have to be when I walked to the mall the other day. I decided to explore the road on the opposite side of the mall, and see if there were any cool new food places there Taryn and I could try. There was not a lot of restaurants, and mainly clothing stores so I ventured back to the mall. I was curious to see the roof of the mall, and made my way up to the top. There was a quaint little tea shop surrounded by a garden of greens and various crops. I continued to walk till I found myself alone, sitting on a marble ledge just looking out into the horizon watching the sun. It was getting dark, and I figured I might as well stay and watch the sunset. It was absolutely breathtaking. I had never seen a sunset in the city before, let alone in China. You could barely hear the cars and the busy street down below; the only sounds were the planes flying overhead and above you. Yes, I love so many things about Chengdu. From the food to the people, China will always have a place in my heart. But in reality, it’s the little moments like this that make me realize why I really truly enjoy being here. It makes me sad that almost half of our time is gone here. :( I am looking forward to what the rest of the trips brings for Taryn and I! :)

P.S. James also surprised me by bringing the best mangos in the world to lunch yesterday. Needless to say, Kelly’s Belly was VERY happy. :)