Africa Plains Zookeeper Interview

Name:

Lou

Working Job Title:

General Duties:

"We feed, observe, and clean the enclosures of 57 individual Animals: 9 mammal species, 2 bird species. Our responsibilities include the administration of medications and supplements. Within our 37 acre enclosure, we use observations to interpret and report behavior of the animals. In the past, we have had as many as 166 animals."

First thing in the morning, I have to:

"Unlock the door, turn on the lights, and make coffee. The most important thing, however, is to make a check on the animals and observe the general condition of each animal."

Before I leave each day, I have to make sure:

"That all record keeping, reports, and paperwork are complete, and have been submitted."

My daily schedule generally looks like:

"There really is no such thing as a general daily schedule. First, we have to do our morning checks, and then begin feeding. Other exhibit areas feed their animals in the exhibit, but ours is a 37 acre pasture. This requires loading food into a truck, and actually driving into the exhibit. We load all of our own grain and hay bales, which are delivered to several feeding stations inside the exhibit. We have to go out into the exhibit to observe the animals, and to check the condition of the exhibit area. Our pasture has about 1.5 miles of perimeter fencing, which includes several observation decks. We have to assure that there are no breaks in the fencing, and have to tour the observation decks and make sure that no litter, trash, or outside items have been dropped into the exhibit. Most of our animals stay out in the pasture throughout the year, but in certain conditions we will have to get the animals into the barn area. Each day we deal with whatever is needed to keep the animals healthy." The one duty that must be done each day is: "Checking the animals and making sure that they are fed."

The most unusual thing I have had to do as a part of my job is:

"Our responsibility includes transportation of animals to and from the Zoo. Some are newly acquired animals. We have not had the opportunity to observe how these new animals will react to the transportation stress, so we have to be careful that nothing happens which may injure an animal or a keeper. In situations like this, we have less control over animals and situations than we do here in the Zoo." "I have been here quite a while, and have seen the Zoo grow. We did not always have all of the modern equipment that we do now, and have had to transport animals to the vet, when a situation required it."

I began working at the Zoo in:

1976

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