“I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses
I only like hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me too

Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then
Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian

There's lots of room for him in our two-car garage
I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage”

     Most of us have heard the novelty song “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas” by John Coctoasten. It's hilarious and young boy that preforms it is priceless – especially when he only likes hippopotamuses. I don't want to take a song that was made purely for fun too seriously but keeping wild animals as pets is actually a very real problem. It would be hypocritical to act appalled by this song since my zoo's hippo is feature in a Telus commercial with this song playing in the background.

     

    

    Side note: I like Telus because they give back to the environment and they support zoos financially for their contribution to their commercials – with the parameters that anything the zoos use the money on has to be a “green” project. Telus says: “Since 2000, we have collectively contributed $245 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.1 million hours of service to local communities.” Their volunteers have been out at our zoo to help us as well and their contribution is invaluable.

     The reality is that far too many wild animals are kept as pets. There are more tigers kept as house pets than there are tigers in the wild (whaaat?) At my zoo, my lynx, caracal, coyotes and male lion were rescued from people who had kept them as pets. People are often shocked to hear this, but it's true and very legal in several states and Canadian provinces. I can't even count the number of children who I speak to during the year that try to convince me that they should be allowed to have an exotic animal as a pet. I spoke to a boy in the 8^th grade that worked really hard to convince me that he should be allowed to have a pet tiger. He told me that he would keep it in his back yard and that would be plenty of space for it. I countered by explaining that tigers need much more space than that. I also told him that animals never loose their instincts and he said that he would raise it from a “baby” and that would make the tiger love him. I told him gently that even if you have the animal from day one, those wild instincts never leave them and they can turn on you at any time. Several keepers have been killed on the job, it's a risk that we are all aware of. It's a huge misconception that animals in captivity aren't wild. I don't trust any of my cats, I love them but I don't trust them.

     The part of the song that says “Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then Teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian,” is both comical and sad. Hippos are in fact vegetarians but they kill almost 3000 people a year in Africa. They are aggressive, unpredictable and have no fear of humans. This is true whether you attempt to raise them from infancy or not.

     I think children want exotic animals as pets because they want a connection with nature. They most likely get this fantasy from movies. I think it's good for children to foster a connection with nature and animals, but I try to teach all the children that I meet that the best thing they can do for animals is to respect them and leave them in the wild where they belong. It's a misconception that “there's lots of room for him in our two-car garage.” Animals need space and the freedom to change their location when ever they like, especially migratory animals. 

     Another thing to keep in mind is that it's common around the holiday season to see articles in the paper about animal shelters in your area being over run by homeless dogs, cats and bunnies. Don't forget about your local community. No animals should be given as a gift, but if you and your family gave decided to get a pet this season make sure you head to your local shelter and adopt one. You can also help them out by making a donation or volunteering!

I wish you all a safe and happy holidays. I'll be back from vacation after January 21^st. I'll post another entry then :D

       Every so often I'll post pictures like the one below. People are often astonished when I tell them that each animal I take care of has a different personality. Boomer (my male African lion) makes his injuries seem worse than they are to get attention, so does Tuzzi (my yellow baboon). Sweetie (my Siberian tiger) won't come to the cat show if she doesn't feel like it. OJ (my black jaguar) likes to play games with his keepers, but once he's had enough attention he just walks off whether we're done playing with him or not. Every animal has their quirks. What I'm hoping to illustrate through my celebrity comparisons, is that animals have unique personalities just like us and that we need to respect them as individuals and not disregard them as some ball of fur here for your enjoyment. I also get to poke fun at celebrities. Win, win.

      My black jaguar, OJ, is an old cat and he's still good looking, just like George Clooney . I imagine that George's smile could melt the hearts of many women, and OJ is no different. I've met so many people who've fallen in love with OJ moments after seeing him for the first time. OJ has an award winning personality and a handsome face. He's a playful and mischievous cat that does what he pleases. OJ and I play games during the day. I crouch down low and make a “pst” noise and he runs off into the cat house, tail flying up in the air. Then, he sneaks around the corner of the cat house and jumps out at me. I run along the fence while he chases me. OJ is wonderful. He's an old soul but he's got a young heart.

      We have seven yellow baboons at our zoo. Five of them came form Granby Zoo in Quebec and two of them were born at our zoo. The baboons provide me with hours of entertainment. They really are a lot like people, in a weird, hairy sort of way. 

       Every so often when I arrive at the cat house in the morning, I walk in to the sound of rocks scrapping across the concrete. When I look up at the baboon stalls, I can see at least four of them rubbing rocks along the cement. It's like they decided that today would be “rock day” and that they'll all spend half of the day finding rocks and rubbing them against hard surfaces. One time, on a “rock day,” I dropped a one of my locks on the ground and one of the younger baboons, Stevie, was able to reach out an grab it. He played with it as if it were a rock for a couple of hours before I was able to get it back. I was lucky that he lost interest in it so quickly, usually you loose things to animals for a lot longer than that. Perhaps the baboons had decided that “rock day” was over and Stevie had dropped it go play with something else. When I retrieved it, the green paint had been scrapped off on both sides, where Stevie had been rubbing it on the wall. I was happy to have my lock back and now I'm a lot more careful not to drop anything in front of the baboons - especially on “rock day.”

Watching the baboons learn is amazing too. When I give them coconuts, the two eldest males will take their treats and run up to the small portion of their enclosure that contains a cement wall. They'll throw the coconuts against the wall repeatedly until they break the coconuts open. However, Stevie, being the second youngest, doesn't quiet understand what to do. He'll take the coconut and run at the wall, but once he gets there he stops. It seems he doesn't know what to do next. He'll usually throw the coconut up in the air instead of at the wall. I think this is fascinating. Stevie knows that he needs to be near the cement wall in order to break the coconut open but he hasn't learned the next step yet. I wonder how long it will take him to figure it out.

Tuzzi - our youngest hand raised baboon

       One of our baboons, Tuzzi, is hand raised. As a result he likes to spend a lot of time with his keepers. When I'm hosing the baboon stalls, Tuzzi hangs out in the stall that I'm not working in. He usually brings toys with him, such as sticks, rocks, a length of fire hose or a ball. Sometimes when I'm asking Tuzzi to move from one stall to the next, he'll throw his toys through the gate. Often, they land on threshold and I can't close the gate properly. This became more of a problem when Tuzzi started to fall in love with the fire hose. He would pull it with him as he ran into the stall, but he would leave some of it laying in the doorway. The fire hose was thin enough that I could close the gate safely, but it hindered my ability to clean the stall properly. I worked with Tuzzi to teach him to “move his toy.” Now when I tell him to “move his toy” he picks up the fire hose and removes it from the door way so I can lock him in safely and clean the stall properly. It didn't take long for him to learn what to do. It's a very useful command and Tuzzi gets some delicious grapes as a reward!

      Working this primates can be challenging because of their intelligence. Orangutangs are the hardest animals to keep captive because they're such good escape artists. At my zoo, the baboons are the highest order of primate we keep, besides the humans that wander around. A lot of customers ask if we'll ever get any gorillas or chimps at our zoo. I say that we most likely won't, and I explain why I'm happy about that. The baboon amaze me with their intelligence and sometimes looking at them is like looking at a child with very sharp teeth. They are smart and I don't think it's fair to keep highly intelligent animals in captivity. I'm happy that we only have the baboons because gorillas and chimps require so much more care, enrichment, and enclosure stimuli than they usually receive in captivity. I think the same should apply for elephants and dolphins. Most zoos and aquariums have good training programs and enrichment to keep intelligent animals stimulated. However, if these animals were phased out of zoos and moved to larger sanctuaries I wouldn't be sad about that at all.

The lovely Ocean.

      Ocean is fast becoming my favorite word. I have had a love for and fascination with the ocean, ever since I was a little girl. I loved how the colours would change with every season. The ocean can go from blue to neon green or from a vibrant red to a mucky brown - sort of like nature's mood ring. I love what lives in the ocean, from dolphins to tiny invertebrates. My favorites animal is a nudibranch. As a species, they are all so vastly different in size, shape and colour that it's hard to believe they are all related to one another. I highly suggest you check them out.

       I found my love for the ocean unexpectedly at the zoo as well. I met a Eurasian lynx named Ocean, and with a name like that, I fell in love with her instantly. She's a little old lady and she's blind. Watching her provides me with countless hours of entertainment, and a sense of amazement. She can't see a thing yet she moves around with more grace than I can muster on a good day. Ocean has her enclosure memorized, which allows her to find her water bowl, the spot where I feed her everyday and her favorite place to sleep in. One night, it was stormy and a tree fell onto the fence of Ocean's enclosure. There was minimal damage to the fence and no damage to the animals, but part of the tree broke off and now lay inside the enclosure. When I discovered it the next morning, I wondered how Ocean would fair against this new obstacle. Would she bump her little nose on it when she encountered it for the first time?

       I watched as she trotted towards it and then slowed her pace as she approached the log. I could tell she knew something was different. Ocean batted the log with her paws a few times, but at last stepped over it with care and continued on her way as if nothing had changed. Impressive, I thought, but then again I always seem to underestimate animals.

Get him Osh!!

       Most of our guests don't know that Ocean is blind. They are usually surprised when I tell them. Ocean has only one tell: the way she walks. Papa, the male lynx that lives with her, walks with his head forward. His body is relaxed and he lets his nose stick out in front of his body. Ocean takes longer steps with her front paws. She has a slight hesitation to her step and her back end sticks up in the air a little due to her careful slinking. Ocean keeps her nose farther back than Papa, letting her feet lead. Even with all her careful movements, she does occasionally bump things – including Papa. Papa is a bit of a grump and altercations between the two of them do occur, but even without her sight Ocean holds her own. Both Papa and Ocean were privately owned pets and were declawed by their previous owners before they came t live at the zoo. Although it's sad, their lack of claws is for the best, it seems, when it comes to their fights. Even with her all her spirit and surprisingly good aim, I'm grateful that Papa can't do any real damage to Ocean. 

       Watching Ocean bat at the air with unfocused eyes is a bit comical. However, I can't help but think of a line from the movie Bolt when I watch her. There is a black cat in the movie that befriends Bolt – her name escapes me right now. When Bolt first meets the cat, it appears that she's vicious and rules the ally ways, but Bolt later discovers that she is actually very vulnerable. She was abandoned by her owners. In frustration she cries out “humans are great until the leave their declawed cat to fend for itself.” Zoos take a lot of heat for keeping animals in captivity, but I ask you this: would a blind, declawed lynx like Ocean stand a chance in the wild? I think you would have to agree that the odds would be stacked against her. In a perfect world there would be no need for zoos, but Ocean should serve as a reminder of why they have to exist.

       It's not hard to love Ocean because she truly is amazing, but it's hard to see the good side of her situation. Ocean reminds me everyday why I work in a place that cages animals. I make sure to tell anyone who is foolish enough to want a wild animal as a pet to think twice about the implications of their actions – because I'm reminded every day and it's the least I can do for Ocean's wild counter parts.

Me and my lion, Boomer

The other night I spoke at an event called Rain City Chronicles. The theme was animal instincts and I shared a story about one of my tigers from the zoo I worked at. I was absolutely terrified to speak in front of over two hundred people, but everyone was very supportive and they seemed to enjoy my tale of the not-so-sweet Sweetie. I spoke with a few people afterwards and they encouraged me to share more stories about my life as a zoo keeper. So, tada! A blog. I hope to update this often and  share stories about the animals I've met and the experiences I've had working in a garden of captives. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about zoos and one of my biggest frustrations as a keeper was listening to conversations fueled by ignorance. I understand that I work in a controversial industry, but I think there's a difference between having an informed opinion and just pain old making stuff up to suit your negative perceptions. Hopefully through sharing some of my experiences, I'll be able to change your next zoo experience and maybe shed a little light on why zoos run the way they do.

I'll need a little time to get myself organized so that's all for now. :D