Continuing with National Zoo Keeper Week, we're highlighting another great keeper at the Binghamton Zoo, Elise!
What inspired you to become a zookeeper? I have loved animals for as long as I can remember, and I attended the zoo once a week growing up in California. In high school, I worked at a small animal vet clinic for 4 summers as a technician and I subsequently interned as a keeper’s assistant at the Sacramento Zoo. I majored in wildlife management and environmental conservation at Cornell University and fell in love with field research while studying in Kenya and Tanzania. Upon graduation, I worked at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science rehabilitating birds and educating the public. I then got offered a keeper position at the Binghamton Zoo and I can’t wait to see where this career path takes me!
How long have you been with the Binghamton Zoo? Since January 2012 (1 ½ years and counting!)
What do you like most about your job? I love training the animals and seeing their faces light up as they puzzle out a new behavior. I also enjoy providing the animals with enrichment and watching their reactions. The otters romp all over the raft I built them, and Kalinika, the Amur leopard, struggled so hard to get a boat bumper out of her pool that she almost fell in!
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you at the zoo? Fellow keeper Ashley and I had to catch the two golden lion tamarins for their annual physicals. Stuck in a tiny exhibit with 2 screaming tamarins and perches stabbing us in the face and back, we struggled the catch them. We ended up shouting incoherent syllables instead of actually communicating, so needless to say it did not go well. Ashley ended up with a tamarin down her pants!
What are your typical daily activities? On a typical day, I spend 90% of my day feeding animals, cleaning their exhibits, cleaning the holding areas where they sleep at night, and preparing diets. Free time is spent refurbishing exhibits with news plants and perches, designing enrichment, training the otters and the male red panda, and conducting keeper talks for the public. I also assist with vet rounds, administer medications, weigh animals, mentor interns, and discuss future zoo exhibits and conservation plans! Every day is exhausting and fulfilling!
What inspired you to become a zookeeper? I have loved animals for as long as I can remember, and I attended the zoo once a week growing up in California. In high school, I worked at a small animal vet clinic for 4 summers as a technician and I subsequently interned as a keeper’s assistant at the Sacramento Zoo. I majored in wildlife management and environmental conservation at Cornell University and fell in love with field research while studying in Kenya and Tanzania. Upon graduation, I worked at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science rehabilitating birds and educating the public. I then got offered a keeper position at the Binghamton Zoo and I can’t wait to see where this career path takes me!
How long have you been with the Binghamton Zoo? Since January 2012 (1 ½ years and counting!)
What do you like most about your job? I love training the animals and seeing their faces light up as they puzzle out a new behavior. I also enjoy providing the animals with enrichment and watching their reactions. The otters romp all over the raft I built them, and Kalinika, the Amur leopard, struggled so hard to get a boat bumper out of her pool that she almost fell in!
What’s the funniest thing that’s happened to you at the zoo? Fellow keeper Ashley and I had to catch the two golden lion tamarins for their annual physicals. Stuck in a tiny exhibit with 2 screaming tamarins and perches stabbing us in the face and back, we struggled the catch them. We ended up shouting incoherent syllables instead of actually communicating, so needless to say it did not go well. Ashley ended up with a tamarin down her pants!
What are your typical daily activities? On a typical day, I spend 90% of my day feeding animals, cleaning their exhibits, cleaning the holding areas where they sleep at night, and preparing diets. Free time is spent refurbishing exhibits with news plants and perches, designing enrichment, training the otters and the male red panda, and conducting keeper talks for the public. I also assist with vet rounds, administer medications, weigh animals, mentor interns, and discuss future zoo exhibits and conservation plans! Every day is exhausting and fulfilling!
what day is your birthday?
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