Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Safari Park's African elephant herd. Courtesy of the SDZG.

When I last updated all of you about my life at the Safari Park, I was being trained to conduct behind-the-scenes tours and I was on loan to the horticulture department. I am still working with the horticulture department a few days a week, weeding, planting, mulching, and pruning. I'm learning a lot and working muscles I didn't even know I had.

I am officially checked off to guide behind-the-scenes tiger, lion, and cheetah tours. Additionally, I am approved to guide cart safaris: one hour tours around Asia or Africa. The guests get a good overview of the field exhibits at the Park and get an opportunity to feed an ungulate species, like Przewalski's horses or Somali wild asses. Guiding these two types of tours in addition to caravan safaris keeps my job interesting and keeps me on my toes. So far the tours have been lots of fun--I learn from the guests and keepers on every tour!

Best of all, I was just selected to participate in San Diego Zoo Global's Roar Corps program. This two-year program assists current employees from the Park or Zoo who are interested in becoming keepers eventually. From the pool of the nearly 2,000 SDZG employees, I am one of Park's eight Roar Corps members for 2015; seven members were selected at the Zoo. I am so lucky to have been chosen, and so thankful that I was. Through this program, I will have the opportunity to work with keepers and behaviorists on loans. The loans might be one day per week or six months at a time in the large mammal field exhibits, with the bird department, or with the elephant department (yay!). I could also work in the nutrition department preparing diets or with the behaviorists training and presenting educational animals to the public. This will be an amazing opportunity to take my Binghamton Zoo experience and apply it in an incredibly large zoo setting. I'm excited to work directly with animals again. I'm also really excited not to be working with animals under mountains of snow--being a keeper in San Diego will be a lovely change! Ideally, this opportunity will be like one prolonged job interview. If I mesh well with the keepers and they like my work ethic and ideas, I will be one of the first people in line for future job opportunities.

I'm so excited/relieved/grateful about all of these new changes at the Safari Park!

SDZG Blog: Indian Gaur

Courtesy of SDZG.

This week's post about Indian gaur conservation was published in two places on the SDZG website:
http://blog.sandiegozooglobal.org/2014/11/20/gaur-game-plan/ and http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/2014/11/20/gaur-game-plan/.

Enjoy!

Zoooom! Fastest Babies on Land

My job is awesome...I get to see these little monsters every day. On July 13, 2014, Addison the African cheetah gave birth to four cubs at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The cubs weighed one to two pounds each at birth, but now at four months old, they each weigh 16-18 pounds. A full-grown female cheetah will weigh 84 pounds, and an adult male will weigh up to 143 pounds, so these youngsters still have a lot of growing to do.

Addison is a first-time mom. In the wild, female cheetahs are solitary and only interact with other cheetahs during mating. Female cheetahs are attracted to males by the male's stutter-bark. At the Safari Park Cheetah Breeding Center Coalition, one of the males has a particularly sexy bark. His bark was recorded and is played to all the female cheetahs in estrus to induce breeding. It worked on Addison!

Ruuxa (cheetah) and Raina (Rhodesian ridgeback).
Photo and video courtesy of SDZG.

In the wild, cheetahs give birth to a litter of one to six cubs after a three-month gestation. Cheetah cubs have a 70% mortality rate in the first year, due to predation, disease, and starvation. So if a female cheetah has a small litter, she will often reject the cubs and try again next year. At the Park, these rejected cubs are hand-raised by behaviorists to become cheetah ambassadors for Cheetah Run. The hand-raised cubs are paired with dog companions to decrease their stress levels around humans. The dogs become their litter mates: they eat, sleep, and play with the dog, and most importantly, take behavioral cues from the dog.

As a result of this high rejection rate, Addison is the first cheetah to raise her own cubs at the Safari Park in 14 years. She is an excellent mom to her two male cubs, Wgasa and Refu, and her two female cubs, Pumzika and Mahala. All four cubs were named after former Safari Park attractions. The cubs are still nursing but are also starting to eat a raw-meat diet. In the wild, Addison would begin teaching her cubs to hunt around this age. The cubs will stay with Mom for one to two years.

Cheetahs are classified as a "vulnerable" species by the IUCN Red List. In 1900, there were about 100,000 cheetahs living in Africa and Iran; now there are only 10,000. Ten percent of the world's remaining cheetahs live in zoos. Cheetahs' major threats are habitat loss and conflict with farmers. Due to over-hunting, cheetah prey is disappearing, so they eat livestock, and are then shot by farmers as agricultural pests.

San Diego Zoo Global has been breeding cheetahs for over 40 years, and has produced over 130 cubs. SDZG and eight other organizations participating in the breeding program are creating a sustainable captive population so that this incredible species does not go extinct.

Today, the Safari Park's four cubs spent the early morning chasing each other around their exhibit. This is no small feat. As the fastest land animal in the world, these cheetahs will eventually run 70 miles per hour, accelerating from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3 seconds. An adult cheetah can cover 20 feet of ground in one stride. The cubs aren't quite there yet, but Addison chirps and nickers to them when they stray too far. The nickering sounds foreign--almost like one of the aliens chattering in Star Wars. Today the cubs were also playing king of the mountain, climbing on logs and rocks. Two cubs even climbed high into trees! Don't these cubs know they are cheetahs, not leopards? Looks like Addison still has a lot of teaching to do!

SDZG Blog: It's Alive!

Gao Gao, the male giant panda at the San Diego Zoo, chows down on some bamboo.
Photo courtesy of SDZG.

Check out my latest post for the San Diego Zoo Global Blog about giant pandas' favorite food.

SDZG Blog: Northern White Rhinos in Peril

Nola, one of two northern white rhinos at the Safari Park, and one of six left in the world.
Photo courtesy of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

My latest post for the San Diego Zoo Blog is up! This week's edition is about the world's critically endangered northern white rhinos. 

New Media Appearance!

When I worked as a keeper at the Binghamton Zoo, I was interviewed by PBS for their homework hotline. My interview about August, Binghamton Zoo's arctic fox, has aired. Enjoy!

Elise's Safari Park Life Update

In the last few weeks at the Safari Park, a couple things have changed for the better for me. I am still conducting caravan tours into the large field exhibits multiple times per week, but now I am also being trained to lead Behind-the-Scenes tours. On these tours, guests can take a two-hour behind-the-scenes look at various exhibits. The tours are centered around one carnivore exhibit: lions, tigers, or cheetahs. In addition to seeing a carnivore behind-the-scenes, guests also get to feed an animal (normally okapis or a rhino), they get an overview of the large field exhibits, and they get an animal ambassador presentation at the Wildlife Workshop. On the tiger tour, I will even get to take the guests behind-the-scenes to the elephant exhibit! I've taken both the lion and tiger behind-the-scenes tours as a guest, so I am excited to start guiding these tours.

I am also currently doing a Horticulture department loan. The Horticulture department at the Park cares for the Park's collection of 1,750,000 plant specimens spanning 1,800 acres. Not only is the Safari Park one of the top wildlife breeding and conservation facilities in the world, it is also a world-renowned botanical garden. And man, the Horticulture department works extremely hard to maintain that reputation! I've gotten to meet an extremely friendly staff, full of welcoming, encouraging people. I've gotten to shadow arborists and the pest control staff. I've even gotten to drive a dump truck all by myself! I had to lie down to reach the pedals and could barely see over the dashboard, but hey...I did it. The horticulture team arrives at the Park at 6am every day, and leaves by 2:30pm, so that has been a big adjustment to my schedule. Furthermore, the horticulturists face risks every day. In addition to working outdoors in 100+ degree temperatures most days, they operate heavy machinery and have to watch out for rattlesnakes. Two weeks ago, the horticulturist I was working with actually stepped on a rattlesnake! Luckily it was early in the morning and the snake was still cold, so it didn't strike. We called the Park Rangers to come move it for us using a snake hook. It gave us all the heebie-jeebies  and I've been extremely cautious and noisy while weeding from then on.

So far these two extra jobs have been a great way for me to network with keepers, meet staff in other departments, see additional aspects of the Park, and gain more hours of experience.

SDZG Blog: Lions Cubs Meet Dad

"I'm not a jungle gym!"
(Photo courtesy of Focusing on the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park)

My latest blog post has been published on the San Diego Zoo Global site. This time it focuses on the four newest lion cubs and their first introduction to dad, Izu. Spoiler alert: hilarious antics ensued.

SDZG Blog Post: Rain

Read my latest post for the San Diego Zoo Global Blog, about rain (or lack thereof) at the Safari Park!

SDZG Rhino Blog Post

Read my latest post on the San Diego Zoo Global Blog about Petunia, the newest greater one-horned rhino calf. Enjoy!

SDZG Blog Post

San Diego Zoo Global has posted another blog of mine, called "Luke, A Leucistic Waterbuck." Enjoy!

Another Blog Post

Read my latest blog post for San Diego Zoo Global about Parvesh, a greater one-horned rhino calf.

New Blog Post!

Read my latest blog post about Leroy, a Ugandan giraffe, on the San Diego Zoo Global Blog. Enjoy!

Plastic and Our Oceans

No matter where you live in the world, the ocean is your backyard. As conservationists and environmentalists, we should focus not only on protecting polar bear or Panamanian golden frog habitats thousands of miles away, but also on protecting habitats closer to home. Think globally, act locally. Additionally, the oceans connect every country in the world. If someone dumps oil or plastic in the ocean in China, it will probably show up on the California coastline.

Results from 2013 International
Coastal Clean-Up Day.
Courtesy of Ocean Conservancy.

International Coastal Clean-Up Day is September 20, 2014. In 2013, 648,015 volunteers picked up 12.3 million pounds of trash in over 92 countries. 2014 is trying to beat that record. But why is International Coastal Clean-Up Day so important?

Patricia Newman wrote Plastic, Ahoy!, a children's book investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In 2009, the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) sailed from San Diego for three weeks to research the plastic collected in the Pacific Ocean. The plastic gathers in the North Pacific Central Gyre, an area of ocean three times bigger than the continental U.S. Four ocean currents meet in this area and are pushed clockwise by wind currents. The center of the gyre is a calm area where trash from all over the Pacific Ocean accumulates.

The Garbage Patch isn't really a floating island of trash. Most of the pieces of plastic are so small, that they are barely visible from the deck of a ship. Barnacles, crabs, fish eggs, and other organisms hitch rides through the ocean on the plastic pieces. If ocean rafters like these are having population booms due to the plethora of plastic homes, what will that do to the Gyre food chain? Will there be enough food to go around?

Furthermore, the connection between plastic and phytoplankton is unclear. Phytoplankton produces two thirds of the Earth's oxygen, removes carbon from the atmosphere, and acts as the basis for oceanic food chains, including humans. Without phytoplankton, fishing industries would collapse. Some studies show a sharp decrease in phytoplankton numbers since the 1940s, but scientists aren't sure if that decrease is linked to plastic.

A dead albatross on Midway Atoll,
an island in the North Pacific Central Gyre.
Its stomach is filled with plastic trash,
leaving no room for nutrients.
Photographed by Chris Jordan.

Additionally, oil (an unsustainable natural resource) is used to make plastic. Chemicals seep out of the plastic trash pieces floating in the ocean. Plastic also absorbs other pollutants in seawater. Marine life then eats the plastic pieces and absorbs the toxic chemicals and pollutants leaching out of the plastic. Plastic fills the stomachs of marine animals, leaving no room for real nutrients. Fish in the middle depths of the North Pacific eat 12,000-24,000 tons of plastic each year. Plastic is in the stomachs of one of out ten fish in the Pacific Ocean.

The build-up of plastic and chemicals in digestive systems affects not only oceanic micro-fauna, but macro-fauna like birds, whales, and humans. Through a process called bioaccumulation, animals higher up in the food chain accumulate more chemicals because they eat many smaller animals exposed to chemicals. Some of the chemicals leaching out of plastics are toxic enough to cause tumors in humans through bioaccumulation.

The SEAPLEX research team discovered plastic in 1,700 miles of open ocean in 2009 (the same distance from New York to Colorado).  Although the voyage answered many questions, there are still so many to be asked about plastic in the world's oceans. Many research teams worldwide are currently studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, as well as the other four major gyres around the world.

Patricia Newman, author of Plastic, Ahoy!

There are many ways you can help. Patricia Newman suggests:

1. Instead of asking for a to-go box in restaurants, bring your own washable storage container.
2. Bring reusable bags to the grocery store. Instead of using plastic bags for produce, use recycled paper bags.
3. Don't throw plastic utensils out after one use...wash them! Or use compostable utensils.
4. Use a reusable water bottle instead of buying plastic water bottles.
5. Use a reusable coffee mug.
6. Buy products from companies that use recycled plastic or glass.
7. Write to companies to encourage them to use recycled packing.
8. Collect empty bottles and plastic and take it to a recycling center.
9. Create a plastic-free day at work or school.
10. Carry the plastic you use around for a week to raise awareness of how much you use during that time.
11. Educate others about plastic use.

Or participate in International Coastal Clean-Up Day on September 20th! For more information, read Patricia Newman's blog about oceanic plastic.

Mister, You Don't Want to Make My Momma Mad

Alta, an adult greater one-horned rhino, and her 9-week old calf, Parvesh.
Photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

When my caravan tours drive into a large African field exhibit at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and the guests see a crash of rhinos five feet away, they immediately turn to me with fear in their eyes wondering if the rhinos will charge the truck.

Nope. Rhinos are actually extremely gentle animals that have a bad reputation for no reason. The southern white rhinos and greater one-horned rhinos actually brush up against the caravan trucks on tours; they are inquisitive and are not bothered by the trucks or the guests. The keepers even work on foot in the exhibits around the rhinos. By the end of every tour, my guests are converts--they love rhinos as much as I do.

But that's not to say that rhinos are pushovers. Rhinos moms are probably the toughest mothers in the world (besides my mom). If her calf is threatened by a predator, a mother rhino will charge the predator at 30 miles per hour! If you are a lion and a 5,000 pound rhino is coming at you like a tank, that would be a good time to turn tail and run in the other direction. Adult rhinos don't have any natural predators because they are so large and intimidating. No lion will try to take down a healthy, fully grown rhino if there is a tasty snack-size gazelle five feet away. But baby rhinos have to worry about prides of lions and cackles of hyenas. One mother rhino doesn't stand much of a chance defending her calf from an entire pride of lions, so female rhinos band together into social herds, called crashes. Six or seven female rhinos defending two or three calves stand a much better chance. Female rhinos actually won't breed unless they are with other females for protection.

Zoos didn't discover this fact until 1971, when 20 southern white rhinos were brought to the Safari Park to start a breeding program. There wasn't an adult male in the crash, so the Park borrowed the adult male from the San Diego Zoo. The male had never had babies before: maybe he was infertile, too old, or just not interested in the female he was with. But he and the female were brought to the Park and he did a great job. And the female gave birth to eight calves, because she had other females watching her back to help protect those calves.

Female rhinos defend their calves because they put so much parental investment into raising a calf. Rhinos are pregnant for 16 months (yes, you read that correctly) and they nurse for up to two years. So mom has a lot of incentive to ensure that her baby survives into adulthood.

Southern white rhinos Kacy and 10-month old Kayode.
Photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Kayode, the 93rd southern white rhino calf born at the Safari Park, was born on exhibit on February 25, 2013. Now he is over a year and a half old, and still nursing from his mom, Kacy. When he was born, he had to stand on tip-toes to nurse, and now he is so big (over 2,000 pounds!) that he has to lie down to nurse. Kacy is still incredibly protective of him, and I got to witness that first-hand on August 18th. Maoto, Kayode's dad, sniffed Kacy and started to make a move to mate with her. Kacy turned on a dime and growled at him. Kayode jumped between them, clearly thinking, "I'll save you, Momma!" Maoto picked Kayode up on his horn and threw Kayode. Maoto then proceeded to chase Kayode around the exhibit, while Kayode squealed and called for help. Kacy swerved between Maoto and Kayode, growling and roaring at Maoto. Kacy and Maoto sparred with their horns, shoved each other, and growled, but neither would back down. Then the rest of the crash, the five other female rhinos, came charging down the hill to defend Kacy. They formed a perfectly straight line at Kacy's back; now it was seven against one. The girls allowed Kacy to fight her own battle against Maoto for almost 20 minutes, but finally stepped in and advanced like a line of knights in shining armor. Maoto ran away squealing, streaked across the exhibit at 30 miles per hour, and flopped in a mud wallow as far from the girls as possible. Kacy: 1, Maoto: 0. Kayode is nearing puberty now so Maoto is starting to see him as a competing male, instead of a baby. Kacy let Maoto know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this behavior is unacceptable, no matter how mature Kayode seems. Girl power.

Unfortunately, no rhino mother can protect her baby against the ultimate threat. Even if a baby rhino survives to adulthood in the wild, it is not safe. All six species of rhinos are threatened by poachers. Poachers kill rhinos because rhino horn is worth more per ounce than gold. Some cultures believe that rhino horn has medicinal properties: that it can lower a fever or act as an aphrodisiac. Rhino horn is actually made of keratin (the same stuff as your hair and fingernails). So you could bite your nails and get the same benefits that you would get from ingesting rhino horn. Plus there are much more sustainable alternatives, like aspirin and Viagra, that are cheap, over-the-counter, and don't result in the death of thousands of rhinos each year. In 2012, in South Africa alone, two rhinos were killed per day. The poachers are mainly organized crime syndicates and terrorist groups, who use the proceeds to fund their illicit activities. It's tough to tell terrorists what to do, so the solution is to NEVER buy rhino horn products.

Rhinos are disappearing at an alarming rate. Just by appreciating them as much as I do, you can help save them. Who wouldn't want to save an animal that can simultaneously be incredibly impressive and so stinkin' cute?

Permanent Safari Park Position

I found out today that I am being kept on permanently as a caravan tour guide at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. This means that my seasonal job won't end in September, but will continue part-time through the off-season, which is exactly what I had hoped for. I am now a permanent employee of SDZG!

New Blog Post!

My second post appeared in the San Diego Zoo Global blog. Enjoy!

Happy National Zookeeper Week!

July 20-26, 2014

"Our passion sustains us in providing the best care for our animals, connecting people to wildlife, and saving species from extinction...We believe in challenging our current knowledge-base and we strive to communicate effectively with others in our field in order to perfect our skills. What we learn, what we share, and how we engage are powered by the passion that we have for the animals we care for. We also believe that the passion we have for animals exceeds all borders. This passion enables us to make a profound impact on conservation; it drives the collective effort that enables us to send hundreds of thousands of dollars to support worthy conservation efforts each year. We do all this because we care for animals."

--Bob Cisneros, President

American Association of Zoo Keepers

Behind-the-Scenes Tiger Tour at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Petting a sugar glider at the
Wildlife Workshop

Well, this tour was awesome. One of the perks of working at the Safari Park is that I get to go on tours of the rest of the Park! This week I went into work on my day off to take a behind-the-scenes tour.

Delta, the eldest female Sumatran tiger at the Park,
in her Tiger Trail bedroom

On the tour, guests ride on a golf cart with a guide to different off-exhibit areas. Our first stop was the brand new Tiger Trail bedrooms. Five Sumatran tigers were on exhibit and we were able to get up close and personal with the oldest female, Delta, in a bedroom. She was enjoying clove and cinnamon enrichment scents when we saw her. What a change from the tigers I worked with at the Binghamton Zoo! The Safari Park houses Sumatran tigers, the smallest subspecies, whereas the Binghamton Zoo cares for Amur tigers, the largest subspecies. Delta, weighing in at 172 pounds, was a mere kitten compared to Koosaka's 382 pounds! I can't imagine feeding a tiger only four pounds of meat each day instead of 12--so much easier to carry. And the Park's tiger keepers don't even have to carry the meat uphill in the snow...

Stealing a drink!

Next, we went to a behind-the-scenes viewing area of the elephant exhibit. All of the elephants were roaming through their six-acre exhibit, so one of the keepers called some of the elephants over and gave them a shower from a hose. One of the older elephants was sucking up water from the hose using his trunk like a straw. But every time he tried to squirt the water into his mouth to take a drink, a younger elephant would insert her trunk into his mouth and steal his water! I absolutely loved getting to experience the Park's dynamic elephant herd from a few feet away.

Listen to what the little kid on my tour says when he notices that an elephant drinks using its nose...

The fun didn't stop there! I also got to see Lembe, a female black rhino, and her four-day old baby. The baby was born on July 12, 2014, and doesn't yet have a name. Afterwards, our group continued to the okapi barn, where we saw the newest baby and fed some female okapi. After feeding giraffes every day on my caravan tours, it is remarkable to be able to feed their only living relatives!

Unfortunately our tour had to end at some point. We finished at the Wildlife Workshop--the area where all of the ambassador and education animals are housed. A keeper introduced us to an echidna (the closest relative of a duck-billed platypus) and a sugar glider.

Meeting the echidna

I really enjoyed the entire tour! It was especially interesting to hear another guide's style and perspective. As a former zookeeper (or a "zookeeper on hiatus" as I think of myself), it was interesting to compare the bedroom layouts, food brands, safety mechanisms, and husbandry tools between the Binghamton Zoo and the Safari Park. For example, using a crate as part of the tigers' shifting hallway so they become desensitized to going in the crate? Brilliant. I noticed lots of minor differences between small and large zoo management styles. And who can complain about meeting new animals?

New Blog!

I have been selected to write posts for the San Diego Zoo Global Blog! My first post appeared today.
Enjoy!

What is Protected versus Free Contact?

ELEPHANT MANAGEMENT AT THE SAN DIEGO ZOO SAFARI PARK

African elephant in Tanzania (photo taken Spring 2010)

Why are the elephants at the Safari Park in their own exhibit instead of in the large field exhibits?

This is one of the most common questions I'm asked on tours by fellow elephant-lovers. The answer is simple: if the elephants were with all of the other herbivores in the large field exhibits, keepers would not be able to drive into and walk through the exhibits. I would also not be able to lead tours through the exhibits.

The elephants at San Diego Zoo Global are managed using protected contact, which means that there is always a barrier between the keepers and the elephants. If you read my previous "Training 101" post, the video of me training Tala, the North American river otter, depicts protected contact. There is a barrier between Tala and me at all times. The photos of me training Xiao Li, the red panda, in the same blog post portray free contact. Free contact means there is no barrier between the trainer and the animal.

Free contact used to be the accepted management style, not just for elephants, but for all animals. However, free contact is inherently more dangerous for the trainers and the animals. In free contact with elephants, the trainer enters the elephants' enclosure and uses positive and negative reinforcement to become a dominant member of the herd. Using free contact, the keeper has to punish the elephant for misbehaving or risk losing dominant status. For the keeper's own safety, the elephant (a 12-foot, 7-ton animal) can never be dominant, so the keeper must insist on 100% compliance at all times. Elephants are punished with a bull hook or ankus for misbehaving. Keepers are capable of having loving, meaningful relationships with their elephants using free contact, but more often than not the elephants are afraid of or resentful of the keepers. Free contact with elephants resulted in many keeper injuries and fatalities over the years. Between 1976 and 1999, 17 keepers in the United States were killed by elephants using free contact. Free contact can be a very useful management tool for other animals, but with an animal as big and powerful as an elephant, it is unsafe. So many zoos and sanctuaries have switched to protected contact in recent years.

Brian Greco checks Umngani's mouth using protected contact
(photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo Global via Union Tribune San Diego)

San Diego Zoo Global began transitioning to protected contact with elephants in 1992. Using protected contact, the keeper does not enter the elephants' enclosure or societal hierarchy. Protected contact is still "hands-on" because the keepers touch the elephants, but they do not share physical space with the elephants. The keeper only uses positive reinforcement, never negative reinforcement, punishment, or physical discipline. This fosters a positive, cooperative relationship between the elephant and the trainer. The elephant trains because it wants to train to receive treats and rewards from a keeper. If an elephant is ever bored or uninterested, it simply walks away. This is acceptable because the keeper is not in danger from the elephant disobeying. Even though protected contact is not foolproof, it is safer for the keepers and the elephants than free contact. Protected contact training is also teachable: there is a consistent formula for new, inexperienced keepers to follow. Finally, operant conditioning using positive reinforcement and protected contact is actually enrichment! Training sessions get the elephants out of their normal routines and discourage stereotypic behaviors. These sessions reward the elephant for thinking through problems and forming cooperative bonds with other herd members and trainers.

Keepers at the Safari Park give a pedicure to Ranchipur,
an Asian bull elephant before he was moved to the San Diego Zoo
(photo courtesy of Los Angeles Times)

Protected versus free contact management styles are still hotly debated. Yes, it's true that using protected contact, keepers can't ride an elephant, jump into a watering hole to give an elephant a bath, or bring an elephant to a TV studio. But using protected contact, keepers can give the elephants pedicures, baths, vaccines, blood-draws, play-time, and install tracking devices...voluntarily! Protected contact is a much safer, more positive management style for both elephants and the keepers who care for and love them.

Safari Park Life Update

My new job at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park is going wonderfully! As a photo safari tour guide, I lead two or three tours a day for guests. These are the only tours in the Park that actually go into the animals' exhibits. It's like being on a shark dive: the animals are free-roaming and the people are in a cage (or truck). The tours are 1.5-3.5 hours, depending on the group. The Park has five giant field exhibits that we go into on any given tour: three in Africa and two in Asia. And I'm talking giant field exhibits. The largest is over 60 acres...Disneyland is only 80 acres! The entire Park is 1800 acres. This means I never get bored. There is always something new to see or talk about.

I have three favorite parts of my job (it's hard to pick just three!). One: feeding the greater one-horned rhinos. Rhinos are incredibly gentle, unless they are directly threatened. I love bonding with Bhopu or Tanaya while I give them apples, and seeing baby Parvesh hang out under his mom's legs while she eats. Two: seeing all the brand-new babies! This is baby season at the Park, so I've gotten to see babies take their first steps. Three: watching a guest's face light up when I give them some suggestions about how to save animals. I love being able to tell that a guest is going to go home and actually use reusable bags or save water. It feels so good to be making a difference!

One of the most challenging parts of my job is learning up-to-date information from the Park to tell guests (the Zoo and Park are huge so it can be hard to keep up)! It's also difficult to keep teenagers motivated and off of their cell phones. And it's tough to stay hydrated and keep my voice in 100 degree weather!

I also get asked some pretty funky questions as a tour guide. Some of my favorites:

• Why are the rhinos in the field with all the other animals? Won't they eat the gazelles?
• Nope! Rhinos are vegetarians. They eat grass, and some will eat leaves, aquatic plants, and fruit too.
• Do the animals ever try to escape?
• The animals in the Park are incredibly happy. We know this because they are having babies! Upset animals don't breed. The Safari Park is like Club Med for animals: they get free food, free health care, and they are safe from predators. In fact, tons of native Californian wildlife species choose to make their homes in the Safari Park exhibits for the same reasons!
• Ewww!! Why are the giraffes so slobbery?
• That viscous saliva actually helps protect their tongues from the thorny acacia trees they eat out of in the wild.
• What do you do with all of the babies born at the Safari Park?
• There is actually a database online for animals, like Match.com or OkCupid. The curator and keepers enter each animal's genetic information, parents, age, and weight into the database. This allows zoos all over North America to trade animals to make efficient use of exhibit space and create new breeding herds.
• How do the keepers clean up all the poop in a 60-acre exhibit?
• They use shovels, bulldozers, and a golf-ball picker-upper that's been specially adapted to pick up poop!

The Safari Park is a ton of fun and unlike any other zoo in the world. If you are ever in San Diego, come visit!

Training 101

Courtesy of SeaWorld

What is operant conditioning? It is the reinforcement of conscious behavior deliberately offered by the learner. Huh? A person or animal demonstrates a behavior he or she has learned to get a reward or avoid punishment. Telling your dog "good boy" and patting him on the head when he sits is an example of operant conditioning. So is the training SeaWorld keepers use to get marine mammals to perform complicated maneuvers. So is Sheldon training Penny on "The Big Bang Theory."

 

Zoos, aquariums, and companion animal trainers use operant conditioning techniques to teach animals behaviors and shape those behaviors for husbandry, veterinary, service, or entertainment purposes. When teaching a new behavior, trainers try to remember each animal's biological constraints. For example, solitary animals might not perceive praise and attention as a reward. So a reward that will work for a dog might not work for a tiger. And many animals have physical constraints. It would be nearly impossible to train a tortoise to jump through a flaming hoop!

Training Xiao-Li, the male red panda
at the Binghamton Zoo. Photo courtesy of Saasha Caldera.

Through repetition and successive incremental steps, animals learn to perform various behaviors on cue. A cue could be a verbal command, hand signal, sound, or object....basically any stimulus that the animal has associated with a particular behavior. Once the animal performs the desired step or behavior correctly, the trainer reinforces the behavior. There are two types of reinforcement: positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is something the animal wants: food, praise, petting, etc. Negative reinforcement is something the animal wants to avoid: a squirt of water, a swat, an annoying sound. Positive reinforcement has proven to be the most effective type of training for both people and animals, and is normally used in zoos and aquariums. Have you ever heard the saying, "you can train a donkey using a carrot or a stick"? Zoos and aquariums use the carrot.

What if the trainer can't give the positive reinforcement to the animal right away? Trainers want the animal to know which exact behavior is being reinforced, and they don't want the animal to become frustrated if there is a delay between the behavior and the reinforcement. Timing is everything! So trainers use a "bridge" to fill the period of time between the behavior and the reward. A bridge can be verbal (saying "good"), or it can be a clicker, or a whistle. The bridge means, "You're done, good job! A reward will be coming any second." After the animal becomes habituated to the bridge, the bridge actually becomes a secondary reinforcement. In this way, trainers can string together multiple behaviors, rewarding each behavior with a bridge, and give some type of positive reinforcement at the end of the series.

The photographer was more interesting
than I was! Courtesy of Saasha Caldera.

What if the animal ignores the trainer or doesn't want to train? A trainer never chases after an animal, forces it to train, or bribes it to behave. If the animal gets distracted in the middle of the session, the trainer will ignore the animal until the animal decides it wants to train again. The trainer's attention is positive reinforcement for wanting to train. If an animal does a behavior exceptionally well, that animal will get a "jackpot." A jackpot is an extra-big reward to make the animal think, "Wow! That was awesome! How can I get that much fish again??" So a jackpot is a very memorable positive reinforcement that increases the likelihood that the animal will perform the behavior again. At the end of each session, every trainer tries to end on a good note to reinforce his or her bond with the animal.

I've been lucky enough to train a variety of animals in my career so far. I've trained raptors at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, and at the Binghamton Zoo, I trained Xiao-Li, the male red panda, and Leroy and Tala, male and female North American river otters. The VINS raptors were trained to fly from handler to handler or from perch to perch. The Harris's hawk was even trained to catch a fake rabbit lure on command! I didn't train any new behaviors with these birds; instead, I reinforced behaviors that were previously trained. At the Binghamton Zoo, I trained Xiao to touch his nose to a target stick, which is an easy way to move an animal voluntarily from point A to point B. I also trained him to stand on a log station so a vet could give him a physical while he was awake. I even trained him to voluntarily accept vaccinations and go into a crate on command!

In this video, I am training Tala, the female river otter at the Binghamton Zoo. Both otters are now trained to touch their noses to a target stick and hold in place, squeeze themselves into a PVC pipe attached to the door for voluntary injections, open their mouths on command, shift into different holding boxes, and stand on a scale. I trained the otters for two years, and they were very fast learners!

Elise Newman trains "Tala," the Binghamton Zoo's female North American river otter, to perform behaviors on command, which simplifies husbandry and veterinary procedures. You can hear the clicker "bridge" after each behavior before she gets rewarded with tasty fish pieces! In recent news, Tala (aka "Elaine") just had triplets at the Binghamton Zoo!

One of my favorite parts of training is the "lightbulb moment" each animal gets when it figures out a new behavior. I also love the bond that I've formed with each of the animals I've trained. I can't wait to increase my experience and train more animals!

Keeper Migration

Feeding a giraffe at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Animals aren't the only ones who migrate...keepers do too! I have left my keeper position at the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park to take a seasonal position with the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

The Binghamton Zoo was an excellent place to begin my career: I learned about animal husbandry, operant conditioning (training), enrichment, safety protocols, and teamwork. I learned how to build a hay feeder, cut down a tree, shovel snow, and cement a termite mound. Most importantly, because the Binghamton Zoo is such a small facility, I received many opportunities I would not have had at a larger zoo. I was able to pick up new animals (like an Amur leopard and cinereous vulture) from airports and other zoos. I got to develop my own enrichment program using boat bumpers and then write an article about it for Animal Keepers' Forum. I got daily face-time with the director and curator of the zoo. I had input in new exhibit designs and new animals for the zoo's collection. I got to be the primary trainer for a red panda and two river otters. I got to lead tours, behind-the-scenes events, and keeper talks with the education department. And I even got to work with all of the animals and keepers in the zoo, which helped me focus my career path.

Leaving the Binghamton Zoo was hard, but I am very excited to start my new career at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. San Diego Zoo Global is made up of three facilities: the Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research. The San Diego Zoo was founded in 1916 and the Safari Park was founded in 1969 as a breeding facility. I will be a photo safari tour guide for caravan safaris. These safaris go into the field exhibits and guests will have an opportunity to feed giraffes and rhinos while I give a tour. I'm so excited to be with large African mammals at this incredible park. For those of you who know how much I love elephants, I now get to see elephants every day! I can't wait to spend the summer in the sunshine teaching the public about the Park and conservation.

Let It Snow!

"Where it's snowing

All winter through

That's where I want to be

Snowball throwing

That's what I'll do

How I'm longing to ski

Through the snow-oh-oh-oh-oh"

--Bing Crosby, White Christmas

Binghamton Zoo's North American river otters, Leroy and Tala, enjoy the fresh snowfall! They slide into their pool, roll in the snow, and wrestle on the ice. Animal cuteness at its finest!

I'll Huff, and I'll Puff, and I'll Blow Your House Down!

Photo courtesy of the Binghamton Zoo

The Binghamton Zoo has three new red wolves! As of January 6, 2014, the mother and two daughter wolves came to Binghamton from Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. Two keepers and the curator drove all day to Connecticut to pick them up in a U-Haul and they arrived later that evening. All of the keepers and staff were at the zoo to welcome them (and to make sure the wolves didn't scale our newly renovated fences; red wolves are known to be excellent climbers). Red wolves Momma, Piglet, and Miku have moved into one side of the Wolf Woods exhibit while Remus, Binghamton Zoo's gray wolf, will stay on the other side. Remus is enjoying his chance to interact with the three girls through the fence.

Red wolves are indigenous to the eastern United States and are considered one of the rarest canids in the world. Listed as "Extinct in the Wild" in 1980, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service caught 14 of the remaining wild population to be housed in a captive breeding facility. In 1987, the USFWS reintroduced them into eastern North Carolina. With only approximately 175 wolves left, they are now considered "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN. The main threat to wild red wolf populations is hybridization with coyotes.

Momma, Piglet, and Miku are settling in nicely so far!

Michelangelo, da Vinci, and...a Cougar?

Keepers Stephanie, Ashley, and Yours Truly painting
with red panda Xiao-Li. (All photos courtesy of the
Binghamton Zoo)

Zippy the Cougar

A list of famous artists in Binghamton would have to include many animals at the Binghamton Zoo. Keepers use non-toxic paints and canvases to make footprint paintings on a regular basis with many of the animals in the zoo's collection. Some of the animals are given the paint and canvas and run through them on their own, while other animals' get their feet painted by a keeper and are stamped on the canvas. Painting is enrichment: it is different from the animal's basic routine and it presents the animal with different scents, colors, and textures. These paintings are sold to benefit the zoo and proceeds go directly to caring for the animals who made the paintings. And the animals really seem to like it!

Pepe the skunk

Fennec Fox

Farewell, Xiao-Li

Photo courtesy of M.J. Grippin Photography and Binghamton Zoo

Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park

Liked · 6 hours ago 

With heavy hearts, we regretfully announce the passing of our adult male red panda, Xiao-Li. Please read the full media release below.

"Red Panda Xiao-Li Passes Unexpectedly at Binghamton Zoo

The Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park is deeply saddened to announce the sudden loss of our adult red panda, Xiao-Li. He was born in June 2008 at the Nashville Zoo and came to Binghamton in December 2011 to pair up with our female, Mei-Li. The cause of death is unknown at this time, and a necropsy is being performed at Cornell University where the animal was transported yesterday. Xiao-Li had displayed symptoms of lymphoma in 2012 and appeared to have made a full recovery. Xiao’s passing is not related to the recent temperature drop, as our red panda facility is temperature controlled.

The Red Panda exhibit is one of the most popular stops at the Binghamton Zoo, and we appreciate the thoughts and support of the community. Our keepers are a dedicated group who have committed their time and effort into giving exceptional care to all the animals at the Binghamton Zoo.

Xiao-Li was a popular individual among the community, staff, and visitors to the zoo. He was even quite the painter. At our table at the Oakdale Mall in December, Xiao-Li’s paintings were one of the most popular. His easy to work with attitude and exuberating adorableness will surely be missed.

Today’s announcement regarding our red pandas was originally planned to be one of a much lighter note. Xiao-Li’s son, born this summer, was expected to be leaving us this week for the Erie Zoo. Due to this unfortunate circumstance, the transportation of Zhin-Li will be put on hold for the time being.

Zhin-Li was born on June 18, 2013 as part of the Species Survival Plan set up by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). His birth was a huge success for the zoo and gave the community a little “treasure” of our own.

The cub, now six and a half months old and a solid 4 kilograms, is almost full grown and is ready to leave his mother. In Erie, Zhin-Li will be matched with another red panda to enhance the gene pool in the Species Survival Plan.

The Species Survival Plan was created by the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) to ensure the long-term survival of captive species. Since Zhin-Li is a part of this program, he will be paired with a mate that is also recommended to breed. There are roughly 175 red pandas located in zoos throughout the United States and Canada, but only about 60 individuals fall under the subspecies Ailurus fulgens refulgens (styani). These red pandas are distributed among 23 institutions, including the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park.

The plan is still to move Zhin-Li to Erie, but possibly at a later date in time. We will continue to update the public on future recommendations from SSP regarding our red panda population here at the Binghamton Zoo. Thank you to the community for your support during this difficult time."

On a personal note: I was Xiao's trainer for the past two years, so this loss was especially hard on me. Xiao would do just about anything for a grape, and we bonded as I taught him target, station, touch, and crate behaviors. He always ran to the door to greet me when he saw me coming down the hill, and was an enthusiastic student. 

According to the preliminary necropsy results from Cornell University, Xiao-Li suffered heart failure as a result of a thickened right ventricle. We are unsure why the right ventricle thickened and hope to get more results from the ongoing histopathology tests. We are currently unsure if the heart condition is genetic or if his son, Zhin-Li, is at risk.

Post-Christmas Fun

Photos courtesy of M.J. Grippin Photography

Amur tigers Terney and Koosaka enjoyed a recycled Christmas tree this week as enrichment. There was only one tree, so they pounced on each other and played tug-of-war to get the tree. The sap and needles must have tasted terrible, but the girls systematically shredded the tree, making disgusted faces between every mouthful!

Eww, gross! Terney spits out pine sap while Koosaka
contemplates stealing the tree from her sister.