I often get costumer complaints along the lines of “I didn't come all this way to see the animals lay around and sleep.” I find this very entertaining. There's a huge possibility that people have been watching nature shows – where it's all action all the time – and then they come to a zoo only to be disappointed not to see the same thing. Actually, animals spend a lot of their time resting.


Cats sleep 13-14 hours a day. They do most of their moving about and hunting during the night.

I'm pretty sure she snores

 Canines sleep for 16 hours a day.

Zzzzz

Bear hibernate in the winter. If you come to the zoo in December, you will not see them. Grizzly bears even give birth during their winter nap. No big deal, right?

Shadow prepares for her winter nap

Ironically enough, it was hard for me to find pictures of my animals sleeping. That's because I'm their keeper and when I'm around, it's food time and that's worth being awake for. If you want to make the most out of your zoo experience, attend shows and talks to see the animals in action!

Say good night to the hippo bums!

In November 2011 our zoo lost two giraffes. Their deaths would mark my introduction to the media frenzy that follows the death of a charismatic animal. Amryn's death hit us all very hard, but before we were given even a second to process his passing it was time to answer to the media. His mother, Eliah, died only five days later and once again the shock had hardly even begun settle before people wanted answers. When a keeper is faced with an animal death, we aren't given very long to process our feelings before it is time to get back to work. Everyone wants to know the who, what, where, when and why of the “incident” before the tears on our face have dried. I reacted very strongly to Amryn's death for a number of reasons. He was an amazing animal. He had such a strong presence at the zoo and I knew it would take a long time before it dissipated. Even months later I'd still catch myself look for him out in the field. Another reason I reacted so strongly to Amryn's death was because, as a keeper, it was the firs time in my career that I had experienced the flood of news clips and public comments that followed a big event like this. I felt I was being attacked by both corporate and public communities. I felt a lot of anger as a result and though it's impossible to change what's been published on the event, I can at least offer up my take on the situation.

Oh Amryn. You were such a muffin.

 It seems to me that there is an assumption floating around that animals that live in captivity are immortal and this is simply not true. All living things have the potential to die before their maximum life span for a number of reasons. They can be killed by conspecifics or predators, or contract a disease. Giraffes are especially tricky to treat in captivity because their anatomy doesn't allow us to treat them in the same way as other animals. For example, it is very dangerous and usually fatal to sedate a giraffe because their circulatory system doesn't do so well if they aren't standing. This means we can't operate on them to treat health problems like we're able to with other animals.
 

With Amryn, he was only five, so of course his death would be considered premature. What bothered me was the contradiction between the interviews about Amyrn and those regarding Eliah. The Humane Society said Giraffes can live to 20 years of age in captivity in an interview regarding Amryn, however, in the interview about Eliah the same guy said that Giraffes can live to 26 years of age so Eliah's death was also premature. Eliah was 23 years old when she passed away. I think it's a little unfair to, first of all, to be allowed to change your facts during an interview to suit your agenda of making the zoo look bad and second to suggest that the death of a 23 year old giraffe was premature. It's like saying that the death of a 117 year old man was premature because the world record for the oldest human is 122. I suppose the news is the news, I have issues with it even without all the coverage of the zoo, but I think it's ridiculous that people who aren't authorities on exotic animals (like the representative from the humane society) are allowed to make their claims without being held accountable when they change their facts.

There were also some questions as to why we didn't notice that our animals were sick. I believe comments like this come from a lack of knowledge. Most animals don't show their weaknesses. A lion with a tumor the size of a basketball will only develop a slight limp near the end of of its life because if they displayed their vulnerability in the wild they would be the target of predation. This goes for animals in captivity too – the instinct for self preservation never leaves them. We do our best to monitor the health of our animals, but we can't fix a problem that their instincts refuse to show us. As far as we knew, both Amyrn and Eliah were happy and healthy.

One of the most frustrating comments for me were the ones suggesting that our zoo should be shut down. I think comments like these also come from a place of ignorance. If you are a person that wants animals to be treated in a humane manner then why wouldn't you consider how much stress it causes an animal to be transported to and live at another facility? It's not just as easy as closing the doors of the zoo to the public and calling it a day. There would be a lot of animals that could die during transport. They would be stressed in their new home until they grew accustomed to it. Plus, there would animals that would be euthanize simply because other zoos don't have the space to house them.

There is a lot of public misconception about why zoos exist. Perhaps back in the 70s, zoos were responsible for taking animals out of the wild solely for display purposes but that's no longer the case. I feel that most zoos work really hard to fight this image and reestablish themselves as conversation centers. For example, all the animals in my care are either

1. wild disable. Meaning they were injured in the wild and wouldn't be able to survive on their own.
   
2. former pets. Meaning they were kept in someone's home until authorities confiscated the animal or the owner donated the animal too the zoo.
   
3. born in captivity. Meaning that whether they were raised by their parents or by Keepers, these animals have only ever known a life with human interaction.
   

None of my animals were plucked from the wild, and they live at the zoo because of the circumstances that brought them there. I work really hard to educate people on the issues that each species faces, but I find myself spending more time combating people's outdated misconceptions.
I could go on for days, but I think I'll wrap it up. I know that people are entitled to think what they want but all I am asking is that public considers two things when reading and interpreting news about a zoo animal's death. Firstly, the sadness that the keepers are feeling over the loss of an animal that they loved like their own child and secondly the potential that you are being hypocritical. Make sure you are buying free range chicken, donating to wildlife rehabilitation centers or supporting the conservation of exotic animals before you get on your high horse about the practices of zoos.

I like where this is going - Discovery news. Zoos are an integral part of animal health and conservation and it's great that many of them are continuing to be innovative with their animal care.

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!

Something I hear quiet often when I'm going about my day is the notion that animals look sad or depressed in captivity. I read an interesting article about it recently and I thought I would share my thoughts.

As a keeper, I have the privilege of feeding my animals every day and seeing their reaction when I drive up. They aren't happy to see me, they're happy to see food. When keepers are around, animals behave very differently than when we're not. While walking around a zoo you might notice a lot of animals laying down, sleeping, or looking “bored.” This behavior is in fact normal. Most animals, especially cats, sleep several hours a day. In the wild, they try to save energy for hunting and those instincts are still in them even when they're in captivity. This misconception that animals run around doing fun and exciting things all the time is fueled by documentaries about wildlife. I love documentaries, they're great educational resources, but they do tend to show lions hunting or fighting constantly by string together lots of footage that they're gathered other several days or months into an hour of action packed cat behavior. They rarely make a documentary about an 8 hour cat nap.

Brutus is resting after running around like a goof ball. It's hard being such a handsome wolf.

People have a tendency to anthropomorphizing as well. We see our own emotions in the eyes of animals. To us, cages symbolize being trapped and suppressed where as animals don't view them the same way. Animals only know the life they live. They don't long for the open field their ancestors enjoyed because they have no concept of previous existence or “what could have been.” That being said, it's important as a keeper to make sure the lives your animals are living are the best ones possible. Animals in captivity need lots of enrichment and stimulation and if you don't give it to them they can develop stereotypical behaviors. Stereotypical behaviors are behaviors that are repetitive, such as pacing. These behaviors need to be addressed and changed.

Feeling sad Hani? Nah, her face always looks like that.

As a guest at a zoo, the best thing you can do if you're concerned about an animal is ask a keeper. We know our animals very well because we spend so much time with them. My female lions pace the fence after the cat show because they were waiting to be fed inside. I have lots of guests ask me about it and I tell them why the behavior is happening. If the girls paced at other times of the day I would be concerned, but this type of pacing is acceptable. I also know, when I arrive in the morning, how my animals are doing. Their excitement for food is a great way to determine if they're feeling tired or disconnected on any particular day. I take care of a very old jaguar and I know instantly if he's feeling his age that day. On those days I would expect him to stay inside and sleep most of the day and while that's not what guests want to see, it's what he wants to do and I'm not going bother him just so you can take a picture.

Remember to always look at animals objectively. Ask a keeper about behaviors you don't understand or might be misinterpreting. If you see any negative behaviors let us know so we can work together to make the lives of animals in captivity better!