During my Master's degree overseas, I went home for the holidays and had the chance to see my tiger, Sweetie, one last time. I actually saw her the day before she was euthanized. The moment I saw her I knew she wasn't doing well. Keepers always know how their animals are feeling just by looking at them because we spend so much time watching over them during our shifts. Sweetie lived to be 18 years old which is way up there even for captive cats. She was also living with a life long hiatal hernia so it was amazing for her to survive for one year let alone 18.

Work it girl.

Sweetie was the kind of cat that didn't like a lot of fuss. She preferred to either be away from the public or terrorizing them. She was strikingly beautiful - and she knew it. Sweetie was only friendly to keepers when she was in heat or when it suited her. Even though she put up front I think she enjoyed being acknowledged and told she was beautiful. I would always say good morning to her and she would stare back at me like she preferred it if I would roll over and die. But I said it anyway because it would have annoyed her even more to be ignored.


I should know better than to look at the comments on online articles by now but once again there were people claiming that she was better off dead than in a zoo. These people have mostly likely never even met Sweetie and yet the feel like they can speak about her life. She wasn't unhappy. She rarely ever displayed any stereotypical behaviour and her keepers never forced her to do anything she didn't want to – except vet check ups. She was a great cat and I can say that because I knew her personally.

RIP Sweetie. You were the definition of fierce.

 Honor Sweetie by educating yourself on the plight of Siberian Tigers and take action towards conserving this beautiful cat.

Tiger cub born at London Zoo!

If you ever find yourself in Denmark I highly recommend vising Odense zoo. Their zoo is amazing! There are so many unique enclosure designs. The animals have lots of space and they've used crates, burlap bags and other objects for make their enclosures both look cool for the public and dynamic for the animals that live in them.

Wake up because I adore you!

 Their animals seem to be well taken care of. They tiger they have may be very old - or at least he or she was acting old when I was there. I didn't get a chance to ask the keepers about its age, but he or she was so cute!

Their giraffes have lots of space and a great yard to stroll around in.

They also have their share of funny signs. Seriously, don't stick you fingers in there.

Chomp chomp goes your fingers.

Their educational talks were great. The keeper did the seal presentation in Danish and English, with opportunities to ask the keeper questions afterward. I was super impressed with the entire zoo. My only compliant is that I didn't get to see the red panda. Those bugger are always so elusive!

Dinner time!

When you're walking around the zoo you may hear an array of sounds. It's hard to know what they all mean but today I'll share with you what I've learned while working with animals.

When tigers are in heat they make a calling noise that sounds like a deep groan. A lot of people ask me if tigers roar and the answer is no. Tigers chuff - sounds sort of like an puffy exhale. Sometimes tigers will chuff back if you chuff at them. Lions also making a calling noise that sounds slightly similar to a tiger's call, but a lion's call isn't meant to call for mates. It's for communication in general. Male and female lions call to one another. It sounds very cool to hear a pride all talking to one another. We have three lions and the sound of all of them calling to one another is amazing. It gets you right in the chest. Lions also roar. Their roar is very loud, it can be heard up to 8 km away and is used to warn any outsiders against attempting to enter or take over the pride and round up any lost family members.

A lot of people are surprised to hear our cheetah purr. Cougars purr as well. They are the largest cat that can purr. They also growl and chirp. When I come to feed my cougars in the morning they run along the fence, chirping away. It sounds kind of like a “meow” which is very weird coming from such a big cat.

Another common sound around zoo is alarm calls. You'll hear these mostly from primates or prey animals. I often hear the lemur alarm calling it there's a heron or mink in the area. My baboons alarm call when they they sense a disturbance as well, it's especially common when the vet is driving by.

Interpreting sounds is very important. I've been told that a costumer once informed her daughter that our tiger's mating call was actually the sounds of her crying because she was so sad to be in captivity. This is incorrect, the tiger is calling because she is looking for a mate. If you're unsure what a sounds means and you're worried about the animal, then ask a keeper. We'd be more than happy to explain any strange noises you might hear!

I think the sounds you'll hear most often at zoos is the sound of keepers talking to our animals. Zoo Story explains it best. There are keepers that are “bunny huggers” and those that are not. Bunny huggers name their animals and talk to them constantly. You'll likely hear keepers chatting away as if they're talking to a friend. Animals respond to our voices and I think talking to your animals helps you establish a good working relationship with them. Once our guests learn the names of our animals, they'll often try calling them over. You'll probably notice that calling an animal by name doesn't guarantee a response, since the animals don't associate you voice with food – like they do with their keepers - but it never hurts to try and say hi!

Today is Internation Tiger day. Check out this website to read more about the issues tigers face and what you can do to help them!

Hani, Hana and even Sweetie will be happy you did!