Zookeeper Regeneration

Working with Amaranta, the
Safari Park's newest baby Okapi.
Amaranta was born January 2015.

Guess what? I'm a zookeeper again! As of Monday, July 20, 2015, I became the newest keeper at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. I am working full-time on the HOA run: I care for lions, cheetahs, Sumatran tigers, ocelots, dholes, okapis, and red river hogs (coming soon)! I am absolutely loving my new job and am thrilled to finally be a keeper for San Diego Zoo Global.

As a keeper, my day starts at 6:00am and ends at 2:30pm. The HOA run is divided into four sections, and I work in one section per day: tigers/ocelots, lions/cheetahs, dholes, or okapis/red river hogs. Eventually I will specialize in one section, but for now I am learning a little bit of everything. My daily routine is very similar to my routine at the Binghamton Zoo. I clean the exhibits and bedrooms. I provide enrichment for all of the species to encourage natural behaviors. I feed the animals specialized diets determined by SDZG nutritionists; the okapis get alfalfa, browse, pellets, and chopped vegetables, while the carnivores get a ground meat diet, plus ribs, cow femurs, shank bones, or rabbits a few times per week. This past week, I have been hand-feeding the carnivores in protected contact situations to bond with them. As I gain experience and build relationships with these animals, I will start operant conditioning training sessions to maintain established behaviors and introduce new ones. Eventually I will even get to do keeper talks! That was one of my favorite aspects of zookeeping at the Binghamton Zoo and I'm excited to put my tour-guide training to good use.

Izu meeting his four cubs for the first time. The cubs,

born June 2014, are Ernest, Evelyn, Marion, and Miss Ellen.

They each have very different personalities!

(Photo courtesy of SDZG).

Learning to drive heavy equipment
during Roar Corps.

I believe that the Safari Park Roar Corps program helped me get this job. In the Roar Corps program, I met a lot of keepers and managers, and got a first-hand look at the management of the large field exhibits that the Safari Park is famous for. I enjoyed my taste of "cowboy" zookeeping; riding a four-wheel-drive truck across unpaved hills to track down a new baby oryx felt like cattle-driving in the Wild West. But I am very happy to be working with "kitties" again. Hearing the lions roar when I enter the lion house in the morning is one of the best parts of my day. They are so loud, the bones in my chest vibrate! And I am ecstatic to work as a keeper at the Safari Park, where Species Survival Plan breeding and conservation action plans are priorities.

That's all for now, because I have to get back to doing a happy dance around my living room!

Patricia Newman wins 2015 Green Earth Book Award!

Today is Earth Day 2015! Today my mother, Patricia Newman, and photographer Annie Crawley won the Green Earth Book Award in the children's nonfiction category. This is a NATIONAL award that honors the books that "best inspire young readers to appreciate and care for the environment." To learn more about Patricia Newman and to order her award-winning book, visit her blog or her feature on this blog. To learn more about Annie Crawley, visit her website.

In addition to receiving this award, Plastic, Ahoy! is taught in schools across the world. Fifth-grade students in San Diego now refuse to use single-use plastic. Plastic, Ahoy! has become a call to action for sixth-graders focusing on sustainability. Plastic, Ahoy! is even used to model environmental problem-solving for students in Saudi Arabia.

Congratulations Patricia Newman and Annie Crawley! We are so proud of your accomplishments and all you are doing to save the world!!!

Help Elephants! Donate to ELP

Elephants have been an important part of my life for many years. I have always loved animals, but I first fell in love with elephants when I was studying abroad in Kenya and Tanzania in 2010. After returning to the United States, I worked for the Elephant Listening Project. At ELP, I cataloged the infrasonic sounds of African forest elephants and founded an on-campus club at Cornell University to garner funds and support for ELP. ELP is an incredible group of people that monitors infrasonic elephant communication in Central Africa to better understand elephant social structures. ELP researchers also teach local people about elephant monitoring to get them invested in the plight of African forest elephants and deter poaching. By donating to ELP, you are sending researchers to Africa, paying for new audio equipment, and paying the salaries of students who analyze the infrasonic calls. As a former zookeeper, current Safari Park tour guide, and life-long elephant lover, this cause is incredibly important to me. Please help!

Help African forest elephants by donating to the Elephant Listening Project via GiveGab: https://www.givegab.com/p2p/finding-forest-elephants/elise-newman

Photos courtesy of the Elephant Listening Project.
Cornell University.

SDZG Blog: An Insider's Look at the Horticulture Department--Part 2

Coatimundis using the plants in their habitat.
Photo courtesy of SDZG.

I wanted to work with the horticulture department because I love teaching the public about animals and am inspired by San Diego Zoo Global’s conservation work. In a nutshell (or seedpod), I wanted to discover how the flora and fauna departments work together at the Park...

To continue reading, check out "An Insider's Look at the Horticulture Department: Part 2."

SDZG Blog: Horticulture Department Part 1

Safari Park Botanical Collection.
Courtesy of SDZG.

Not only is the San Diego Zoo Safari Park one of the top wildlife breeding and conservation facilities in the world, it is also a world-renowned botanical garden. The Safari Park’s horticulture department cares for 1,750,000 plant specimens spanning 1,800 acres. For the last few months, I have been working with the Park’s horticulture department on a job-share a few days each week. My goodness, these are hard-working people! 

To continue reading, follow this link to "An Insider's Look at the Horticulture Department: Part 1."

SDZG Blog: Wild Romance

Synchronized flamingo courtship. Photo courtesy of SDZG.

Are you getting ready for Valentine's Day? So are many of the animals at the Safari Park! Check out my latest blog post about wild romance.

"Lightning" Strikes the San Diego Zoo

Photo courtesy of SDZG.

This is Adhira, San Diego Zoo's two-year old rare monocled white cobra. This venomous snake was originally found and made the news in Thousand Oaks, California, although these snakes are normally found in South East Asia, in countries like China, Vietnam, India, and Cambodia. Therefore authorities believe that Adhira was probably an illegal escaped pet. These cobras are terrestrial and well-adapted to diverse habitats, typically living in rice paddies, grasslands, or forests where they prey mostly on amphibians, small mammals, fish, and other snakes. Monocled cobras are a species of "least concern" according to the IUCN due to their tolerance of anthropogenically altered habitats.

The San Diego Zoo rescued this snake in September 2014, because we are one of only two zoos in the country with the proper anti-venom for this species. Adhira is leucistic, which means she has reduced pigmentation, so she is white instead of brown like most of her species. The public voted on her name, which means "lightning" in Hindi. In February, I will be traveling to Sri Lanka and Thailand where this species is normally found; as much as I would like to see one in the wild, I really hope it's from a safe distance! 

Re-Accreditation: What Does That Mean?

Both San Diego Zoo Global and the
Binghamton Zoo are AZA-accredited
and therefore trade animals and research
back and forth.

The AZA inspection of San Diego Zoo Global is scheduled for January 12-15, 2015. AZA is the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a national non-profit organization founded in 1924. To be “accredited” or officially recognized by AZA, a group of experts reviews the facility’s application and conducts thorough on-site inspections of the facility. Over 2,800 facilities in the United States exhibit animals, and fewer than 10% of these facilities are accredited.

                                                                 

To become AZA-accredited, facilities must meet high standards in animal care, exhibit design, staff training, safety protocols, facility management, guest services, security, and education programs. AZA accreditation commissions evaluate everything from proper animal enrichment, to veterinary protocols, to clutter in offices. Facilities are evaluated and re-accredited every five years to ensure that they are keeping up to date with new developments in the zoological world.

Being an AZA-accredited facility has innumerable benefits. For example, San Diego Zoo Global participates in Species Survival Plans (SSPs), which manage the breeding, transfer, and conservation of at-risk species on a national level. Some of SDZG’s SSPs manage Sumatran tigers, California condors, giant pandas, and lowland gorillas. Currently, AZA institutions are committed to 319 SSPs that manage 590 species. To facilitate these SSPs, AZA organizations participate in animal exchange programs with one another. For example, earlier this summer the Safari Park received a female Bactrian camel from the St. Louis Zoo for a breeding program. Furthermore, having an AZA-accreditation fosters staff continuing education and pride in a global cause. In 2012, AZA-accredited organizations raised $160 million for 2,700 conservation projects in 115 countries. AZA institutions care for over 750,000 animals and provide jobs for 142,000 people (including yours truly).

Not only have San Diego Zoo Global’s facilities been AZA-accredited since their inception, but they are also accredited by the American Association of Museums, and the Zoological Association of America. Additionally, San Diego Zoo Global has won countless awards: 2014 Edward H. Bean Award for African bush elephant conservation, 2013 Sustainable Environmental Enhancement Program of the Year for mountain yellow-legged frog conservation, and the City of San Diego’s 2013 award for Recycler of the Year.

San Diego Zoo Global often sets the standard for animal care in the United States. For example, the Zoo’s and Safari Park’s elephant management programs are emulated world-wide. However, serving as a role-model institution is no reason to slack off for re-accreditation in January. Both the Zoo and Safari Park are in over-drive to make sure everything is in tip-top shape for the accreditation commission. For instance at the Safari Park, managers are ensuring that electrical outlets have covers and offices are free of clutter that could become a fire hazard. Employees in every department are routinely quizzed on animal escape procedures, enrichment policies, and any other information pertinent to the inspection. Keepers are fine-tuning safety protocols and sprucing up barns. On a loan with the Park’s horticulture department, I spent hours clearing fence-lines, weeding, and replanting gardens. Even though the facilities are normally spotless and surpass the AZA standards, San Diego Zoo Global is grooming almost as much as Izu, our African lion!

For more information about the AZA accreditation process and to see the standards for 2015, visit: www.aza.org. Both San Diego Zoo Global and the Binghamton Zoo are AZA-accredited and I'm very lucky to have worked at such prestigious facilities!