Phoenix Zoo Days

missing the marine life

2008-08-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

...my one true escape from the desert, while in the desert.

Only a few more months until the rays come back. This year I have set a goal to work specifically (maybe exclusively) with them while Living Exhibits keeps them at the zoo. I'd still have to visit my lemurs though.

Long Day

2008-07-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

Humid and hot but it was still a great day. I accomplished a lot and managed to capture some pretty decent photos and videos.

This one is of our baby orangutan, Kasih. She is 2 and a half years old and really starting turn in to quite the "little orangutan" - swinging around in her exhibit and all around being a rambuctious kid. Denise decided to do some interaction with the orangutans and the public via the bubble machine. It was great to watch Kasih's reactions.

No day at the zoo is ever complete without paying a visit to at least one species of lemur. Luckily today, I got to spend time with both ☺

The ringtails...

and of course, my favorites, the red-ruffs ☺

And here is Biko, big papa otter.

it's really hot outside

2008-07-16T23:52:00.001-07:00

I got my annual review last week and for being relatively new to the zookeeping field, I'd say I did pretty good.

Posting late

2008-07-02T20:24:00.001-07:00

I was at the zoo sunday, June 30th, didn't post until now.

I need to go back and add up all my volunteer hours so that in case someone (potential employer) wants to know how many hours I have logged I can give them an accurate answer.

I helped Denise with Orangutans last Sunday. Nothing major happened it was just hot as hell again. I briefly helped Heather clean baboon/mandrill night houses.

Life has pretty much sucked ass this week, I'm starting to not care. I mean, of course I still care about the important things ya know? But as for most things - who gives a shit.

Good Lord it was hot today.

2008-06-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the animal updates, unfortunately I didn't bring my camera.

Red Ruffed Lemurs:
We fed their a.m. diet early - around 6:30am, before it got too hot. They enjoyed this and Comet ate his biscuits and banannas like a champ. He's back up to his target weight now.

Mandrils:
I hand fed Wucaria this morning and she ate all her greens and most of a bananna. Spock was pleasant enough over in the next stall, he refrained from beating his fist on the metal door while I fed Wucaria which was nice. We threw ice pops out for them at the 12:00 encounter - the guests always love that. Makes for some great photo opps.

Baboons:
We have two new Hamadryas girls in quaranteen that came from the St. Louis Zoo - they are mother and daughter, Bernice and Claribell. There is going to be a lot of preparation that goes into introducing the new girls to our Baboon family. We have to move Bandit the ringtail cat from the Baboon night house area over to the Mandril area to make room for the new girls. A whole lot of coordination and effort goes into such a move and introduction, much more than one might expect.

Otters:
Biko shifted into the night house perfectly today. We had to rake up all the dead leaves on the platform over the pond on exhibit, that area doesn't get maintained very often so it was a pretty big job. We filled 2 large trash bags with leaves and otter poop.

Other events and happenings:

After a long hard day of working in 114 heat, I get in to my 135 degree car, ready to go chill out and have an Alaskan Summer Ale with Mike - the damn car wouldn't start. Luckily there is an aawesome guy who works on all the carts at the zoo and has a shop about 20 yards from where I'm parked. I told him my situation and he was a complete life saver today. He pointed out the fact that my battery was totally corroded and dead and that all I needed to do was find a way to get to Napa and buy a new one. I brought the new battery back to the Zoo and he installed it for me - I am SO bringing him a six pack of coors light next weekend. So all in all it was an insanely exhausting day. I came home, took a three hour nap and I think I'm better now.

I don't suppose they have these types of days in San Diego.

What's the big deal with lemurs?

2008-06-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Those of you who read my blog every so often (all three of you) might wonder, "why is she so into those lemur animals? What's the big deal about lemurs?" Well, I thought I might take a little time here to explain why they are such amazing and important animals (besides the fact that they are adorable and sweet).

• Lemurs in the wild are found nowhere else on the planet except in Madagascar, one of the
most important conservation hotspots on Earth.

• Lemurs are the last living link to ancient primates that have a common link to the primate
lineage that evolved into humans.

• Lemurs are the most endagered of all the living primates, due entirely to human development
and deforestation (habitat loss) of Madagascar.

• Lemurs are closely related to bushbabies, lorises, and pottos and look something like a cat,
being nocturnal, insectivorous and characterized by a small body, long nose and large eyes.

• Lemurs have an interesting evolutionary history and the only reason they still exist today is
because of Madagascar's isolation from the African continent (which took place around 160
million years ago).

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

Zoo attendance was higher than last year at this time because of this nice cool weather we've been having for the last couple of days. It really was a beautiful day to be outside.

This morning started out on the Baboon string with Debbie - otters all came in and shifted really well, Spock was actually in a good mood (he didn't display any threatening behavior) and the lemurs were awesome. Comet still needs to gain a couple of pounds so we really tried to get him to eat all of his buiscuits (understandably, they prefer bananas and other fruit to these "grainy" biscuits which are very high in nutrients and calories). This means feeding them by hand out on the island which is a lot of fun - I could hear the people across the lake at the picnic tables "ooooh"ing and "aw"ing and going, "look honey, she's feeding them!" It's actually quite funny. The girl lemurs were being especially obnoxious for some reason today, making it really difficult to hand feed the boys. They would chase them off and then look at me like, well, aren't you going to give me any? Brats. Even still, I just enjoy the hell out of these little animals so much - they are so amazing. I figure I've got enough pics of them on here though, so I didn't bring my camera along today. I did learn each Lemur's aquisition number however, which is good information to have (if you're into that sort of thing...).

Red Ruffed Lemur Info:

10566: Comet (red) father
10567: Moswalla (green)
10568: Mantabi (blue)
10569: Ankavia (yellow)
10570: Pia (pink) mother
10571: Catta (no tag)

When we got back from lunch, I ended up helping Amy on the Uco string, which now includes the two Fennec Foxes, Kotto and Mpoko - two girls that just recently came to the Phoenix Zoo. I actually discovered a tunnel that they made by stepping in it to mine and Amy's amusement as I was cleaning the windows of the exhibit. The public got a kick out of it too - they were at eye level with my feet. I had a shoe full of dirt and we found out that those Fennec Foxes are crafty little girls, trying to dig their way out of the exhibit. They are really adorable too:

Red Ruffed Lemurs of the Phoenix Zoo

2008-05-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

The temperature reached 100 today and most animals at the zoo were seeking shade wherever possible. We fixed the mister system on lemur island so they had some relief from the heat. A favorite spot for them to cool off is under their nighthouse...

aw...Catta is loving the shade

Weekend of May 10th, 2008

Last weekend was an interesting one...for many reasons. I ended up re-aquainting with an old friend/boss that I haven't seen in about 7 years on Saturday, strangely enough, this (in my mind major event) fell on the birthday of an ex of mine who refuses to stay in touch with me anymore because he got married. Just to add to the weirdness, this friend/boss from 7 years ago married a lady named Tracey, (divorced now and apparently dating strippers...but hey, I guess that's another story altogether) and the afore-mentioned ex did the same exact thing, only like, a few years later. Minus the dating strippers part. Yep, Tracy. Of course, the spelling is different but...geez. It seems like the universe enjoys playing crazy coincidence games with me sometimes. Of course I always get caught up in it and think it means something at the time but in reality, I always find that it doesn't. But really, what are the odds. I guess if I ever have a daughter, the name Tracy is out. I really don't like that name.

AAAnyway, Friday night I ended up taking care of Sassy, my brother's wife's dad's dog. I tend to be her caretaker whenever Dan needs to go out of town for businesss. Sassy decided to take a swim when we got back from our walk, so of course I encouranged her, grabbed a beer and took some photos.

Andean Bears

2008-04-27T16:49:00.001-07:00

Will and Rio are Andean Bears, the only species of bear found in South America. At the Phoenix Zoo, they reside in the "Forest of Uco" along the Tropics Trail. These two are mighty cute and they love peanut butter. We filled pinatas with it today for their BE, in honor of Dia Del Nino (Spanish holiday for kids apparently). Zoo attendance was around 10,000 for the event - it was crazy.

Vashti and Misto - the Saki Monkeys - are now sharing their exhibit with a large rodent called an Agouti who we officially named Frankie today. I like it. He looks like a Frankie.

Lemurs and Orangutans

2008-04-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Catta - in my opinion, the prettiest lemur on the island.

Below: Julie, one of the five female Ringtail Lemurs. In the wild, (Madagascar) Ringtail Lemurs and Red Ruffed Lemurs generally would not interact, so they are kept separate at the Zoo. The two species have very different personalities and temperamnets. However, in all lemur societies, the females are always dominant. I have noticed that the Ringtail Lemurs are much more "high strung" and don't seem to be quite as sweet as the Red Ruffs. They are a bit more entertaining though, and unlike the Red Ruffs, the social stucture among the five of them seems to be ever-changing. They are all females though, so the role of dominance shifts every so often, which is not the case with the Red Ruffs as they are an established family group of males and females. There is a show on Animal Planet called Lemur Kingdom - they follow family groups of Ringtail Lemurs and it really gives you an insight into their social behavior. If you ever have the chance, you should definitely check it out - it's fascinating stuff (if you're in to that type of thing!) ;-)

The Orangutans use tools (palm tree stems) to get to their carrot puree - this is a special treat for them! Baby Kasih uses her hands since they are still small enough to fit through the gate.

Today I helped Debbie in the morning with Baboon/Mandrill. She needed to leave by 11:00 a.m. to get to Tucson so we hustled all morning with otters, baboons and lemurs. Spock (male mandrill) was in quite the pissy mood - kinda freaked me out a little. Biko (spotted necked river otter) is doing really well adjusting to Kima and the new baby MaKenna. I'm really glad that he seems to be getting better since Hasani's passing :-( R.I.P. little guy.

When Debbie left Denise needed my help at orang so that's where I spent the rest of the afternoon. I really love talking to Denise about her days at Sea World -- she is close friends with Jeff Andrews and she used to work as a narrator at the old dolphin petting pool! It is really amazing to hear the kind of inside knowledge and experience she has. It also reminds me how valuable this experience at the phoenix zoo really is in regards to eventually working with dolphins. I feel very lucky to be part of all of it, and it truly is the most rewarding thing in my life. I may not be able to go to Moorpark and get a degree in exotic animal training and managemnt but, I feel I am doing the best I can with what I've got.

Who knows, in a few years, maybe I'll end up somewhere I never expected like Seattle or British Columbia :-) It is, after all, the "Killer Whale Capitol of the World"...

Baboons and Mandrills

2008-04-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

First part of the day was spent cleaning up the baboon/mandril night houses and exibits. I learned some valuable tidbits about the hamadryas baboons from Debbie that I actually remembered. I learned how to positively tell the girls apart. I will note it here so that I can always use it as a reference:

Gertie - stalkiest of the three females
Grady - really red face, especially around her eyes
Sky - long, slender face/nose

It's harder to tell them apart on exhibit, the keepers even admit they still have a little trouble with this. But now at least when they are stationed in their night houses I can tell them apart.

I did get to visit lemur island which was great as always. I did something a little different with the food this time though, the three males are a little underweight so they're biscuits are carefully measured out and need to be hand fed to make sure each animal gets his alotted diet. It was quite the task to get each one isolated enough from the dominant females in order to get them their portions. It took a bit of clever maneuvering but I think Comet, Mantabi and Maswalla all got enough biscuits! They are such sweethearts.

Back at the Zoo!

2008-04-03T22:44:00.001-07:00

I got to work on the Uco string again, this time with Lelanie. It's so good to be back, I really missed everyone -- maybe next weekend I'll get to hang out with my Lemurs again :-) Last weekend was great though, Will and Rio (Spectacled Bears) were cute as ever, Rio graciously accepted carrots from me before she was let out on exhibit. Vashti and Misto were really comfortable with us, I met the new Agouti and took care of the Coyotes and Coatis. It was a beautiful day. :-)

Volunteer Keeper Week 25

2007-12-18T20:11:00.001-08:00

Today I worked with Amy on the Uco String. The Spectacled Bears (Will and Rio) are getting more fruit in their diet now, and they loved their oranges today. They won't eat lettuce or celery at all but for some reason, comessary still includes it in their diets. In the morning I mixed Will's glucosamine tablets with some grape jelly and let him lick the spoon -- he seemed to especially enjoy this. Rio wouldn't go out on exhibit, instead she insisted on making a nest for herself using palm tree frawns and burlap -- quite an interesting behavior to witness. We thought that she may be going into estrus, explaining her sudden, intense nesting behavior. I also learned today that the male bear is only "effective" certain times of the year, this being one of them.

The new baby otter - Mckenna - swam in little circles around her tub chasing her toy -- the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me.

Volunteer Keeper Week 24

2007-12-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

I was assigned to work with Amber today on the Uco String. It was cold and rainy which made for some rough golf cart rides around Zoo grounds, but the experience was well worth it. Preparing diets for Spectacled Bears, cleaning the Cheetah nighthouse -- I'm really getting a feel for all the aspects involved in being a keeper.

Cheetahs → Juma & Ratel

The Phoenix Zoo housees two Cheetas, Juma and Ratel. The two are brothers and have been raised from cubs by humans. Although fierce predators in the wild, these Cheetahs are very comfortable with people and will even allow us to go into their exhibit (territory) and to be within very close proximity to them. From what I understand, Cheetas are not considered to be a part of the "big cat" family since they don't roar.

White Faced Saki Monkeys → Misto and Vashti

Below are Misto and Vashti, male and female (respectively) White Faced Saki Monkeys. We hand feed them today. We decided to let them dig through the pan themselves after a bit, to pick out what they liked best - turns out it was peanuts. Who knew?

Coatis → Jake and Lewis

The Coatimundi (most people shorten this to Coati) is a mammal related to the raccoon, in the family Procyonidae. The Coati is a widespread species, living in habitats ranging from hot and arid areas to humid rainforests.

Coati's have been scientifically described as 5 different species:

1. South American Coati (Nasua nasua)
2. Brown- or White-Nosed Coati (Nasua narica) - Jake & Lewis
3. Nelson's Coati (Nasua nelsoni)

4. Wedel's Coati (Nasua wedeli)

5. Mountain or Andean Coati (Nasuella olivacea)

Our little Coatis, Jake and Lewis, are complete sweethearts.

Below is Jake, being cute, and Lewis, peeking through the gate to watch me clean his bowl. We had just finished setting up thier exhibit, which today, included a bowl of water with antiseptic mouthwash in it for behavioral enrichment. Apparently they love this, because they rubbed it all over themselves.

Volunteer Keeper Week 23

2007-11-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

Here is Bandit, the Ringtail (cat) who lives all by his lonesome in the Hamadryas night house. They are actually nocturnal, solitary animals in the wild so Bandit is quite content with his situation.

Catta -- so pretty up in the tree.

Below is Pia, you can really see her identifying pink ear tag here, as well as one of her grooming teeth. She's licking bannana off her hands --- aaw.

AAZK

2007-11-17T22:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was at the zoo, but we had the American Zookeeper Association fund raiser so I helped out with that. Silent auction, live auction, raffle, you know all that stuff. It was really fun being a part of AAZK though and we earned almost $13,000!!

Volunteer Keeeper Week 21 & 22

2007-11-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

Week 22 - worked with Denise on Orangutan string. Snuck away for a moment and one of the elephant keepers invited me to feed Reba some peanuts. That was really cool.

Reba
Photo courtesy Phx Zoo

Week 21

Sad day. Found out Gladys, one of the Hamadryas girls, has an in-operable form of throat cancer. She'll be put down tomorrow, just a couple of weeks before her 30th birthday. :-( We put extra Behavioral Enrichment in their night house just for her, since it will be her last night there. *so sad right now* I'm in total agreement with Denise when she says, "I'm tired of watching animals die". It is an extremely depressing part of this job.

Didn't get to see my RedRuffs today, but did spend a little time at Stingray after all the work was done. Met up with Mike there, hung out for a bit, then had a really nice dinner at Philly's. Even when everything else in my life seems hopeless, I can always rely on Zoo Sundays to remind me of what it's really all about - and that it's really not all that bad.

Stingray Bay

Volunteer Keeper Week 20

2007-10-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

Ugh. "Boo at the Zoo" (Our annual Halloween human event) means that Hamadryas Baboons and Mandrills don't go on exhibit becuase people in certain costumes can spook them. No telling what these primates are capable of as far as escape routes if they are provoked enough. Because of this, Phx Zoo protocol requires that they remain in the nighthouse for the duration of "Boo".

Staying in the night house stalls all day and being shifted from one stall to the next so keepers can clean results in very stressed out animals. I happened to have the camera with me and was able to capture a few of the tense moments. This turned out to be a very educational day though, a great learning experience.

...Had to put my beautiful Ankavia picture on first. She is the big bully of the female lemurs and I can't stand how she beats up on poor Comet - still her and I seem to be building quite a friendship when I'm out on the island. She is a lovely animal.

Hehe, and of course one of the timid boys (blue ear tag, don't know his name yet) hangin out on the branch looking for banana handouts. Please excuse the cheesy photoshop effects - the product of two beers and a little boredom.

Above, is our male Mandrill, Spock. He has complete control over the two females (Wucaria and Pearl). His disposition is unpleasant at best. He would just as soon maul you as look at you and threatens to do so every chance he gets - even after you give him a bannana and think you have appealed to his gentler side. That's just not the case, primates such as these don't mess around with such things. Dominance and their social order is everything to them.

Going into one night house stall with Spock just behind a flimsy metal door (pounding said door with all of his strength every so often just to remind us he's still there...) is a frightening experience to say the least. Not a pleasant animal, but I do feel sorry for him - the only reason he is that way is because in his early days, he was terribly mistreated due mostly to lack of knowledge on how to properly care for non-human primates. He is also extremely sexually frustrated right now since niether of the females are in estrus. Several times he has been observed, ahem...taking care of things by himself while on exhibit in front of impressionable children. Heh, the things animals do.

Above is Wucaria. She recently turned 31...very old for a Mandrill. In the wild they typically only live 15 to 20 years.

Wucaria

Debbie is giving Wucaria prune juice to try and make her feel better because she has spondalosis
(a degenerative spinal chord condition).

One of the Hamadryas girls, I still have't learned to tell them apart yet so I don't know for sure which one this is. Sort of a symbolic pic of her though, sitting in there with that pumkin...she doesn't look very happy :-(

Kenny. Male Hamadryas Baboon. You can see all the papers and boxes they tore up.

Some Cownose Rays swim by. We have 40 of them this year at Stingray Bay, along with some Nurse and Bamboo Sharks.

One of the Southern Stingray girls :-) Beautiful.

Wyland Clean Water Challenge 2007 - Phoenix

2007-10-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

The Wyland "Clean Water Challenge" tour stopped in Phoenix this October.

Okay, had to put this one first...yeah, that's me, Wyland and Lindsay.

This was the first thing I saw when I pulled into the parking lot at 7a.m. Orcas!....WYLAND ORCAS!!! Can life get any better?

The Humpback Whale side of Wyland's "Every Drop Counts" Truck. We took a tour of it and were part of the filming of a documentary for the Discovery Channel that will air next year.

Helping Wyland Paint! So awesome.

My first Wyland appointed job of the day was "ladder girl".

Heh, Mike was called up to do an impromptu presentation on native Arizona wildlife inhabiting lakes and rivers of the Desert. Surprise - we ended up mostly getting a bird-talk ;-) but everyone loved it...he did a great job keeping everyone interested. The man holds it together under pressure, that's for sure! :-)

Malia stirring paint for the kids.

Volunteer Keeper Week 19

2007-10-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

Stingrays are back! :-) :-) :-) Spent the latter half of the day feeding them and learning about them from keepers before the exhibit opens to the public... will be helping out at Stingray Bay this winter. Life is good.

Nurse Sharks: the largest, darker colored one's name is Rosie
Rays: small one with lots of scratches named Scrapper
Southern Stingrays: JoJo, Dot, Dusty

Volunteer Keeper Week 18

2007-10-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I pretty much took care of lemur island all on my own today, the red ruffs are really starting to recognize and trust me, which I find incredibly gratifying. Not just for the fact that they are highly endangered animals and I'm lucky to even be working with them, but because I have truly (and somewhat surprisingly) come to care a great deal for each one of them. They all have such distinct personalities and roles to play in their social group. I'm starting to gain a profuound understanding of the connection these keepers have with their animals, and I only see them once a week! Imagine being there every day - they would be like my family - my kids! I don't think I'd be able to go home without wondering and worrying how each one was doing while I was gone. It's definitely more than a job. I can clearly see that caring for animals in this capacity becomes not only your life's work, but your passion as well. And truly - only certain people are cut out for it. Wether or not I am one of them remains to be seen, but at this point in the journey, and more than ever, I'm absolutely in love with the idea that I could be.

Made a RRL screensaver when I got home. Yeah, I get a little obsessed ;-)

click for larger version

Other exciting and notable events of the day:

Congrats mama Kima!!! She gave birth to a little baby otter girl on Wednesday, October 3rd!!! Biko and Hasasni are on exhibit now by themselves (mama and baby are in the nighthouse/den) so dad and son had better behave themselves. I can't wait to see the new pup's progress!

REUNITED!! Kelly the spider monkey had surgery last week to remove an ovarian tumor. All went well, and as of yesterday she was ready to get back to the island and to her species-mate, Debbie. We went up to AC, got her in the crate and transported her home. There were a couple of tense moments at first, but Debbie ended up greeting Kelly with a big hug - literally, I'm not kidding, these two monkeys put their arms out, around each other, and hugged! It was freakin adorable and incredible to watch.

Didn't find this out until last night around 8 when I was already home, but apparently our salt water inhabiting, friendly finned visitors are back for the season. It hasn't been officially announced yet though, which is why I am not at liberty to divulge any more details at the present moment. In fact I've probably already said too much. All I can really say about it is...
:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) I'm doing a happy dance :-) :-) :-) :-)

Volunteer Keeper Week 17

2007-10-03T22:18:00.001-07:00

I am posting this late, I volunteered last Sunday which was September 30th. Due to the quarterly Family Get Together along with my work schedule, I wasn't able to post until now.

Basically, I got passed around to all the keepers who needed help - yup I was pimped out at the Zoo. Started on Baboon string with Debbie since LeiLani and Denise were out for the National AAZK Conference. Most of the day was actually spent helping Amy on Orangutan and Uco/AZ strings. I got to help with the Bear barn which I must say, had me a tad bit nervous for a few moments, only because I'm not very familiar with their night houses - and they are very large, intimidating animals who won't hesitate to demonstrate their strength to a puny human -especially if they sense fear. All went well though, and I had a very educational experience yet again. It's so great to be a part of all this :-)

.
...cute but I don't think I'd want one upset with me for being the stranger, poking around in his living quarters.

Volunteer Keeper Week 16

2007-09-23T20:33:00.001-07:00

Awesome day. The weather is finally cooling down so Zoo attendance is picking up. Animals are much happier, the Red Ruffed lemurs were enjoying time up in the trees (which is much more natrual for them), instead of desperately seeking shade under their nighthouse stalls. I'm so glad fall is FINALLY here and there are so many exciting things coming up. Stingrays will be back at the Zoo on Oct. 20th, and Wyland will be here the 22nd! The longer I work here, the more I feel like this is exactly where I am supposed to be :-)

Heh, Ryker pushing herself in the kiddy swing. So cute - what a little show off!

Just a few shots I managed to snag with my cell phone.

This little owl will be featured in a
ZooLights exhibition on zookeeping.
We took a bunch of pictures today
for it. This one's for Foley ;)

Above: this is Sam - HI SAM!!!

Squeaks and LeiLani enjoying each other's company.

Volunteer Keeper 15

2007-09-16T22:34:00.001-07:00

Worked with Denise on the Orangutan String. Learned a lot more about primates, (Great Apes specifically), and had an awesome day.

Got to hand feed and medicate my second favorite of the prosimians... theRingtail Lemurs:

Liz (dominant)
Julie (least dominant)
Sherry
Mara

This is Liz...chubby little thing actually has boobs! (Not a bad shot for a crappy cell phone...)
The Ringtails were a little more skittish when taking food from my hand than the red ruffs, but still adorable nonetheless.

Volunteer Keeper 14

2007-09-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Morning 6-6:45a.m.: Otters. The first thing I noticed was that Kima's stall was boarded up and made into a den since she is expected to give birth in the next two to three weeks. She will need to be separated from Biko and her son if/when this happens. First thing is to clean the exhibit while LeLani feeds a.m. diet. We do a quick cleaning of the nighthouse stalls then let them back out on exhibit with access to the first stall when we leave.

Morning 6:45-7:30a.m.: Cleaned Mandrill Exhibit, then Baboon. Hamadryas exhibit was a pain to clean today because their was a bunch of old browse in there that got everywhere. I had to spend a lot of extra time breaking down the branches so they would fit in the trash can. The added bonus? Many scorpions have been found scurrying about this area, I worked diligently to get out as soon as possible. While I do this, LeLani prepares diet for Mandrill and Baboon. Before we let them out of the night house and on to exhibit, we take the prepared food, which today consisted of grapes, lettuce, raisins and biscuits, spread that around the exhibit, then lock everything up and let them out. (While I was cleaning the exhibits, LeLani also medicated Spock and Wucaria).

Morning 7:30-9a.m.: We headed out to the islands to feed lemurs and spider monkeys their a.m. diets and clean. Actually, the new game plan which works out much better and "follows all the rules" is for both of us to go out and do lemur, have LeLani drop me back off at the dock while she goes to Spider, and I head back in the cart to pick up dirty dishes and wash them at commecary. By the time I'm done with that, I just go back to the dock and pick her up.

Quite possibly the absolute worst
photo ever captured of me, this was
taken back in July headed out to the
islands to feed the lemurs.

some work stuff

2007-09-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well, here's what I actually do for a living. It'd be nice if I could make zookeeping (or better yet, marine mammal training) a full time, paying gig, but unfortunately life doesn't always work out quite the way we might have hoped. Graphic Design has proven to be at best, a suitable alternative career choice. Here's some samples of my work.

banner for BMW repair shop's website (I did not do the logo)

local real estate broker - website still in progress

Obviously...

2007-09-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

No one actually reads this effing thing so I'm not entirely certain why I bother. If nothing more, at least it serves as a personal reference. I haven't been able to blog here for quite some time because we were behind on the cox bill and thus had no internet. Things are looking up now financially, internet's back on and here I go again. Not like it really matters, but I'll try to catch up on the 3 weeks that have gone undocumented from my Phoenix Zoo Volunteer experience. Hooray. I can just feel everyone on the edge of their seats with anticipation.

AUGUST 12, 2007 - Keeper Assistant Week 10
Didn't go this day, was exhausted from the week.

AUGUST 19, 2007 - Keeper Assistant Week 11
Awesome, will write more later.

AUGUST 26, 2007 - Keeper Assistant Week 12
Awesome, will write more later.

September 2, 2007 - Keeper Assistant Week 13
Awesome, worked with Debbie instead of LeLani, different experience, good in many ways, will explain later.

Volunteer Keeper 9

2007-08-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

JOURNAL:

Another amazing day. I just can't stop expressing how valuable this experience is turning out to be, and how much I am learning - it's so great. The red-ruffed lemurs were the best part of the day (as always), I had some new encounters with them today which were awesome. Slowly, I'm getting to know each one's distinctive personality which makes me adore them that much more. In the afternoon, one of the last stops of the day is a short boat ride back to lemur island. This is a nice stop because all the 'dirty work' has been done for the day, we take care of all that in the a.m. The second visit is when I have a chance to hand feed each lemur, and on occasion, bond with them :-) They will accept grapes, mangos, apple pieces and once in a great while leafeater biscuits, right from your hand. Well today, they did more than just accept my offering of afternoon snacks. Pia is the dominant female of the bunch (yes, in the world of lemurs, the girls are completely in charge). Well, I'm holding the tupperware container filled with fruits, handing it out piece by piece to each lemur (6 total). She's grabbing my hand with her little hand, pulling the container in her direction to try and hog all the food! It was so sweet because this is considered to be "aggressive" behavior for lemurs. I politely, yet sternly, instructed little miss thing to wait her turn to which she obliged. They are such wonderful creatures. When all the fruit was gone and I evenly distributed the boring vegetable portion of their diet to each night house stall, I figured I'd see if they'd accept some gatorade-soaked biscuits from me by hand. Sure enough, they came right up to me and took each one I offered. This time, Ankavia (second in ranking to Pia of the females) did the same hand-grabby thing! She just wouldn't let go - It was so amazing. Comet (a male) came up next so I had three of them with me on the ground, just hangin out and eating snacks. I decided to go ahead and attempt to pet Comet since they seemed so at ease with me and I'd heard he was cool with that sort of thing, so I reached out and he just sat there and let me! Oh man, it was an unforgettable experience! There seem to be many of those in this line of work :-)

Another notable event of the day is that I fed little mr. ringtail cat for the first time. I handed him a couple of grapes which he snatched very quickly. I guess we're just supposed to set them in his little house instead of let him take them directly from our hand - he's not quite as gentle as the lemurs and has a rather dagger-like set of canines. I presume I was lucky not to lose the tip of a finger.

PICTURES, FACTS & ANECDOTES:

RED RUFFED LEMUR (Varecia variegata rubra)

Blue ear tag, one of the boys. such a sweet face.

Red Ruffed Lemurs are herbivores, feeding primarily on fruits, leaves and seeds in their natrual home in Madagascar. At the Zoo, they are fed a similar diet which includes vegetables and "leafeater" biscuits as well. Though the teeth may look menacing in the picture above, they actually are not at all dangerous. Since they cannot manipulate their fingers well, their six bottom teeth form a "toothcomb" that they use for grooming themselves and other members of their group. Red Ruffed Lemurs have a specialized claw on the second toes of their hind feet which they also use to brush their coat.

There are two subspecies of ruffed lemur; the Red ruffed and the black & white ruffed. Red ruffed are bigger, weighing 7-10lbs. The life expectancy of the ruffed lemur in the wild is 15-20yrs and can be longer in zoos. Like all lemurs, the ruffed lemurs can only be found on the Island of Madagascar, off the south-east coast of Africa. They live in groups of 2-10 individuals, traveling and resting high up in the forest canopy. They are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) and arboreal (tree dwelling).

It is quite an opportunity to get to work with these animals since Red ruffed lemurs are critically endangered in the wild due to deforestation, trapping and hunting. They are protected under Appendix 1 of CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species). Estimates suggest there are perhaps as few as 1,000 Red ruffed lemurs left in the wild.

And yet more pics of the darlings from last sunday:

Beautiful Ankavia. She is the second most dominant female of the group, and seems to enjoy grabbing my arm when I feed her.

3 little lemurs, eating from the bin...so precious.

whatcha got there? mangos?

oooh, just grapes. I'll take one anyway.

ahem, do you mind?

aaah, a morning stroll.

who? where?

MY NOTES:

Ear Tags:

Red - Comet (m)
Green - (m)
Blue - (m)
Pink - Pia (f) (Ranking = 1)
Yellow - Ankavia (f) (Ranking = 2)
No Tag - (f) (Ranking = 3)

Volunteer Keeper Week 8

2007-07-29T15:08:00.001-07:00

a little baby hedgehog (hedgie) at ACC (animal care center). they are usually not white but we're not sure if this one is actually albino...eyes are not red.

Biko...our big otter boy. Spotted Necked River Otter that is. I know it looks kind of sad seeing him through the bars like that, but this is actually just his nighthouse, to which he and the others always have the option to enter or leave. The exhibit and pond are just out that little door on the right.

Kima eating some fishy fish.

Aaaw, hi little man.

Volunteer Keeper Week 7

2007-07-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

Next week I am definitely bringing a camera (or using Mike's) to help document the day. There were so many amazing photo ops today - I was totally bummed I didn't have a camera!

One little creature that I haven't mentioned in here yet (most people don't even know we have him at the zoo) is our little ringtail cat who lives in the Hamadryas nighthouse. He is a cute little thing that pokes his head out of his box every now and then when we're cleaning. Being a nocturnal animal, we don't see him much. I have been including somewhat generic pics in here, which I will do for the ringtail also, until I take some of my own next weekend.

Above: Ringtail Cat (Bassariscus astutus)

The Ringtail is a mammal belonging to the racoon family and is native to North America. They are sometimes mistakenly referred to as civet cats, which in fact, is a totally different species. Ringtail Cats are omnivorous, feeding on fruits, berries, insects, lizards, small rodents, and some bird species. In the wild, the Ringtail Cat must watch out for owls, coyotes, racoons and bobcats, who all have a taste for the little guys. Luckily, our little boy is safe in his zoo home. These animals live largely solitary lives in the wild, so he is perfectly content by himself. He is also very timid, and shy - natural traits of Ringtail Cats.

Also, just a note that I will be elaborating on in MUCH greater detail to come...WYLAND IS COMING TO THE ZOO ON OCTOBER 22!! Of course I, (along with Mike) will be part of the event. He is going to have painting workshops for the kids and if all goes according to plan, I'll be working with Wyland on that. We are trying to time it so the stingrays and sharks (Living Exhibits) will be there early for Wyland's appearance. Anyway so, what exciting news for the Zoo!!!

NOTES:

Identifying the Red Ruffed Lemurs:
3 boys: ear tag colors: Red, Green Blue
3 girls: ear tag colors: Pink, Yellow and no tag

Otters:

they prefer capelin to the generic bass type fish that commissary usually provides them with. Hasani ate every peice of fish that I offered him! :-)

Keeper Assistant: Week 6

2007-07-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

I so love being at the Zoo on Sundays...its the only part of the week that I actually look forward to. When I come home on Sunday nights, even though I am physically exhausted, I just can't seem to leave it behind. Thinking about Kima and Hasani (my favorite otters), the lovely lemurs, and even those icky baboons and mandrills - just keeps life interesting and exciting. Sort of makes me think that I should be leaning towards a possible career shift soon. Or at least incorporate the zoo into my current career somehow. I'm definitely moving in that direction, which was in fact the plan all along. I guess time has just gone by so fast...its hard to believe I've already been volunteering there for almost 8 months! LIfe changes fast and with what I'm trying to accomplish, I need to be sure to keep evolving with the changes.

As for the work day, it was another one on the baboon string with Lelanie (I think she has adopted me for Sundays...which I am totally okay with).

For starters, Saturday had been "winter in July" for the Phx Zoo. This is the annual event that brings actual snow (mainly in the form of behavioral enrichment for the animals) to the zoo. They haul huge ice chunks in trucks and in the wee hours of the moring, put them in some sort of chipper thing which then blows snow out for the animals! By the time I arrived at the Baboon exhibit on Sunday morning, there were still patches of snow on the ground! A very odd sight in the middle of summer in Phoenix - but awesome nonetheless.

So, in the nighthouse when we first arrived, we gave Wucaria (our "older lady" female Mandrill), Spock and Pearl some morning treats of banannas and leafeater biscuits. Spock got very angry when I offered him a biscuit instead of a bananna. When he gets angry he hits the metal door very hard with his hand which makes a startlingly loud crash. Enough to wake me up, that's for sure. I ended up feeding Wucaria while Lelanie distracted Spock at the other end of the enclosure so that he wouldn't get mad when the girls got banannas and try to violoently take them away - it can be a tricky business.

Around 7:30am - after cleaning exhibits and preparing food:

NOTES:

Baboon/Mandrill Meds:
Old age/stiff joints > Ibuprofen
Toxoplasmosis > Fluconazole, Sulfadiazine
Valley Fever >

Above: Two of the Hamadryas girls: Gertie & Grady.

We also went out to Spider Monkey island with the 200lb scale (the thing is just really freakin heavy) to try and get weights on Debbie and Kelly. Only Debbie cooperated and got on the scale with a little coaxing. The keepers are in the process of station training but we didn't use a bridge (whistle or clicker) at all, just food and praise (the praise they couldn't really care less about).

Volunteer Keeper Week 5

2007-07-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Above: Red Ruffed Lemur (Varencia variegata rubra)

Today was my first time on the island and I absolutely fell in love with the Red Ruffed Lemurs :-)

There are six Red Ruffed Lemurs in our living collection; 3 females and 3 males. The only names that I can recall at the moment are Oncavia (a female) and Comet (male). I never realized how insanely cute these animals were until I saw them up-close and personal! They would take small pieces of fruit from my hand as gently as a kitten...and then they'd close their eyes with what seemed like incredible contentment as they chewed. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I definitely made an inter-species connection with those little guys - they are my new favorites (when the stingrays are gone for the summer of course...). I've been reading up on the Lemurs also, and will include some very interesting facts in here shortly.

Above: Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas) "Kenny"
Born: 1983 (captive born)
(photo credit:flickr.com - guppiecat)

Above: Mandrill Baboon (Papio sphynx) "Spock"
Born: 1993 at PhxZoo
(photo credit: :flickr.com - guppiecat)

The two (un-becoming in my opinion) primates pictured above are Kenny, our dominant male Hamadryas Baboon, and Spock - the dominant male of the Mandrills. There are 5 Hamadryas total; 4 females (Gladys, Grady, Gertrie and Sky) and our beloved Kenny. On this particular Sunday, Kenny was having a bit of stomach trouble. Apparently vomiting in the cheek pouches and then eating it back up is a normal occurance for these creatures. Kenny's projectile variety vomit that Lelani and I were subjected to at close range however - not so common. We probably shouldn't have fed them marshmallows for morning goodies - oh well, live and learn. Even though I have never taken a particular liking to these animals, its amazing how close one can feel to any animal after being such a contributing part of his life. Seeing such a big, often ferocious animal such as Kenny barf right there while we're trying to medicate him, and seeing that sad look on his face as he looked to us to "do something" really affected me for some reason. Working at the zoo is a very eye-opening experience in so many ways - every Sunday its something new.

Another interesting (and completely un-related) incident that happened in the Baboon kitchen - we found a medium sized scorpion in the restroom/storage area behind the toilet. Denise (who trains and cares for the Orangutans...) is deathly affraid of creepy crawlies so Lelani decided to make the most of this situation. She proceeded to grab the scorpion across the middle with a pair of scissors, clenching them just enough as not to slice the thing completely in half. Mischeviously she decided to torment Denise who was outside on the cart, which I thought was hillarious. Watching the little monster squirm as its guts started to fall out seemed like a lot of fun for Lelani. Girlie screeches, eeeews and intermittent laughter could be heard as Lelani continued to mutilate the scorpion via scissor-stabbing in a puddle of its own guts out on the scorching pavement, I swear I could hear it sizzling. I guess an important lesson I'm learning here is that there is no place for squeamishness in the world of a zookeeper.

I will get to Spock and the other Mandrills later.

The otters were cute today, as always. I love working with these guys because they are one of the few aquatic, fish eating species we have at the PhxZoo - in fact Biko and Kima came to us from the San Diego Zoo! It just makes me feel that much closer the reality of working with dolphins ;-)

So for otter feeding time, we separate each one out into a separate stall so that Biko doesn't steal everyone's food, and to make sure everyone gets their alotted diets. In the a.m. this diet includes about 2 medium sized whole dead fish, and a good size ball of raw ground meat. We also float a bowl of kibble and carrots in the main stall that they have access to while they're on exhibit (floating the food in two bowls is just so that the ants can't get to it). The otters will usually take the meat easier than the fish but with a little coaxing, everyone eventually finished it all. We also made them "otter pops" which are just fish that have been frozen in water. As you can see from the photo below, they absolutely love them.

Above: Kima enjoying her otter pop! (photo credit: flickr.com - guppiecat)

Above: Black Handed Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) "Debbie"
Born: 1979 at PhxZoo
(photo credit:flickr.com - guppiecat)

This was also my first time at Spider Monkey island to visit Kelly and Debbie. Spider Monkeys are New World monkeys who (somewhat misleadingly) are actually more primitive than Old World monkeys. The New World monkeys consist of four families of primates which inhabit Central and South America.

Volunteer Keeper Week 4

2007-07-02T14:06:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday I've officially reached the one month mark of volunteering as a keeper assistant at the Phoenix Zoo. Yesterday I worked with Denise at Orangutan again which means I have worked all carnivore/primate strings; Orang with Denise, Carnivore with Amy, Uco with Lelanie & primates with Amber. I have been having such an awesome time, it is definitely very hard work though - it's not for the weak-willed and not for people who don't truly have a passion for animals. In order to maintain a good attitude, you absolutely have to love them and know that you are doing it for a reason.

Siamangs are one of two species of lesser apes or Gibbons. We have a male and a female on Siamang island - Cindy and Boyd.

Yesterday, Denise and I paddled out acroos the algae-laiden muck...I mean the lake, to Siamang Island. The relentless sunshine made for temperatures in excess of 114 degrees all day. Our little boat was made out of metal - not pleasant. Anyway, we had prepared some bags of popcorn for treats and BE, along with a cup full of grapes and banannas which the apes also love. Cindy and Boyd had already been fed their morning diet of corn on the cob and some monkey biscuits so this was it for the day. When we arrived I patrolled the small island for poo and said hi to Cindy when she came up to investigate what I might be doing with that big rake and bucket. After a quick once over, I was deemed acceptable and she went on to join Boyd and Denise with the popcorn.

SHAMU BUG!!

2007-06-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

Today as I was leaving for work, I pulled out of my apartment complex to go north on Kyrene Road when right in front of me, traveling south on the same road, the Shamu Cruiser passed by!! Now that's something you don't see every day in Phoenix. Sea World must be doing some sort of an outreach or tour program again. Although I was very temped to follow it, I decided against it because I was already running late for work. Plus I may have ended up in San Diego. Oh well, it was still awesome.

Here is the Shamu Cruiser and the story behind it..

Shamu Cruisers were created by St. Louis-based Craftsman Industries. Designed from the 2001 VW Beetle, there is a pod of six that travel around the country as part of Sea World's outreach and promotional tours.

Fiberglass molders, machine and body shop experts, painters, airbrush artists, graphic artists, decal applicators and mechanics all work together to make each Shamu Cruiser. Each fiberglass fluke weighs 45 pounds and the dorsal fin weighs 9 pounds. Solid aluminum rods connect them to the body of the car and the hatchback and doors remain fully functional. Despite the added weight, the shape of the tail fluke makes for minimal drag with no noticable effect on vehicle performance, so the Shamu Cruiser gets a respectable 25 MPG.

Keeper Assistant: Week 3

2007-06-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Monkey Village - Yesterday was Spock introduction day and I was lucky enough to be part of it! This was also my first time in the MV nighthouse, as well as walking around inside Monkey Village with a keeper, helping with feeding and BE. What an amazing day!

The Monkey pictured above isn't Spock, but one of the other Squirrel Monkeys at the Village. Each of them has a bead to distinguish them from one another - I still need to learn who is who. I will find out next Sunday who this is and post it in here. (Spock actually doesn't even have a bead, they didn't have one handy at his exam).

Okay, so at about 10am, after attending to the African Wild Dogs, Cheetahs and Howler Monkeys, we went up to the veterinary office just in time to catch Roberto and some volunteers giving Spock his annual exam. This was almost too much for me to handle...I'll have to get used to the medical stuff. We were able to pet him while he was under - it was kind of creepy actually. When he came to, about an hour later, Amber and I transported him over to Monkey Village to join the females and juveniles now that Kirk and Wharf are gone. He will be spending 2 days in the night house to re-acclimate himself to the Village and to the others. The reason he left was because he and Kirk got into a fight which resulted in poor Spocky losing a finger. He's all better now though and back in business with lots of females to attend to! ;-)

The string of exhibits I was assigned to last Sunday, June 24 is refered to as Row. Strings are based on animal Taxon rather than (necessarily) on zoo proximity to one another. Amber is the primary keeper on Row and the string includes the following animals:

AFRICAN WILD DOGS (Lycaon pictus)

Four African Wild Dogs reside at the PhxZoo. Amber told me their names but honestly I don't remember what they are as I was paying much more attention to the intensity of the situation. They were hungry and loud in their nighthouse, running frantically back and forth, jumping on wooden boxes, howling and drooling for food - and it was early, about 6:30am. It seemed strange for me just to be awake - let alone to be in the nighthouse of a pack of wild dogs. They were definitely checking me out, sizing me up as an intruder I would presume. I stepped back so Amber could get on with the business of feeding and so I could just observe without disturbing their routine for now. She explained as she went along.

Their a.m. feeding consisted of chunk meat and carnivore diet. Upon our arrival, the dogs were separated out into different "stalls" in the nighthouse. Once everyone was where they were supposed to be, she closed the doors behind them and quickly slipped a pan of food underneath the fencing. These dogs are very much wild animals and they viciously devour their raw meat as such. Quite intimdating for me but Amber was very much at ease with the whole thing (well, she has been doing this for about 5 years now...). After we cleaned up she coralled them into one stall and released them all out on exhibit at the same time, this was quite a sight to see. A pack of wild dogs sprinting out from the nighthouse, running together in the morning light. Their exhibit is a good size too - plenty of room to roam so they were all good to go. As we were leaving they walked up to the fence to get a good look at us one last time and I just couldn't help but notice those ears of theirs. Sort of Mickey Mouse-ish. They are very cute animals who deceivingly resemble the family dog - yeeeaaah...not quite so friendly.

CHEETAH (Acinonyx jubatus)
JUMA & RATEL

Awe...beautiful Juma and Ratel, the two Cheetah brothers at the Zoo. Though its still hard for me to distinguish between them, I did learn that Ratel (Rae-Rae as his keepers affectionately refer to him) has a scar on his face and you can see the whites of his eyes more so than Juma. I still struggle with this but okay. I guess (at least I think its Ratel) that he also only has 3 black stripes at the end of his tail intstead of 4 like Juma. Pictured above - I believe is Juma but who really knows. I see a scar but no whites of the eyes. Perplexing. Anyway, very graceful and powerful cats, to see them up close was amazing. We are not supposed to "pet" them but since they were hand raised in captivity and practically beg for it by purring and rubbing their faces against the fence, it is extremely hard to resist the temptation. I won't say whether we did or didn't, but...yeah we're really not supposed to.

HOWLER MONKEYS (Alouatta caraya)
BILBO & OLIVIA

This is an example of a male (above) and female (below) Howler Monkey - though these are not pictures of Bilbo and Olivia, they look very similar. The male above was photographed in Belize while the female below lives at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

ANTEATER (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
Ebenezer, Jezebel & Ezekiel
Eb & Jez are Zeke's Parents

Interseting facts: The Giant Anteater is one of only two mammals without teeth (the Pangolin being the other).

MANED WOLVES

Maned Wolves - Timmy aka Romeo, & I can't seem to remember the females name right now. She has only 3 legs but is in overall good health

Monkey Village - Spock introduction day :-) watched his annual exam, no vaccinations and no bead i.d. tag. He will be spending two days in in night house to reacclimate to Monkey Village and the others.

Keeper Assistant: Weeks 1 & 2

2007-06-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I started volunteering at the Phoenix Zoo back in January, working every Saturday at Monkey Village. The job basically required me and other volunteers to help the employees by making sure visitors were behaving themselves within the exhibit, as well as answering basic questions about the 17 Squirrel Monkeys on display there. About four months (120 volunteer hours) into the job, an opportunity arose for a keeper's assistant position! This is what I had initially applied for so I was really excited to get started. My first day as a keeper assistant was last Sunday, June 10.

Keeper's Assistant - day 1

Sunday morning - arriving at the Zoo at 6a.m. will definitely take some getting used to. For now anyway, I'll rely on my enthusiasm and a strong cup of coffee to get me there - on time and ready to work. Keeping focused on my goal of working with dolphins is really all it takes to keep me going though. I was assigned to assist the lead primate keeper, Denise, in her duties the first day, which began with a trip (for her...) to Siamang island. I waited on the dock while she made her way across the pond to feed these apes.

Siamangs are one of 12 species of lesser apes - or Gibbons. Similar to the great apes in some ways, lesser apes are restricted to deciduous monsoon and evergreen rainforests of Southeast Asia. Similar to the great apes, the Gibbons lack a tail and have the same dental formula. They differ in that they are much smaller in size, have a more slender form, longer arms, longer canine teeth, and the presence of those funny-looking butt-pads. In most species, males and females are about the same size but differ in coloration. To learn more, please go to: http://www.conservation.org/English/Pages/Default.aspx?USC=True

Keeper in training - day 2

Yesterday started out with carnivores . I assisted in the a.m. feeding and medicating of the Zoo's two spectacled bears, Rio and Will. Rio is a young female who they believe is pregnant and Will is a twenty something male (I forget his exact age) which apparently is pretty old for a bear. He takes medicine for his stiff joints. Spectacled bears are generally solitary animals and Rio does a good job at keeping Will away from her most of the time. They do have quite a nice, large exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo, so there is plenty of room to co-exist without too much aggression from Rio.

Before the bears were let out on exhibit, the keeper and I went out on a mission, shovel and bucket in hand. Its all part of the job. The clean-up actually didn't turn out to be so bad and the next item on the agenda was Behavioral Enrichment or, BE. After portioning out parts of their food, we wrap it in several paper bags and place them throughout the exhibit. This gives the animals an opportunity to sort of forage for their food, more like they would do in the wild, rather than simply having it handed to them. This along with many other enrichment techniques, referred to as BE, greatly improves the quality of life for captive animals by providing them with mental stimulation and something to do.

When we finished with Rio and Will, it was off to medicate and feed Vishna and Mr. Mestopheles, the white-faced saki monkeys. We placed their food (banannas, watermelon etc.) in several paper cups which we then wedged between branches throughout the exhibit. Vishna and Mr. Mestopheles (or Meesto) are an old couple who have bred many times but are no longer able to. They now hang out happily together in the forest of Uco on exhibit.

Next on the agenda was to feed Missy - the Jaguar. She is quite an amazing and intimidating animal. To watch her devour her raw meat breakfast from about a foot away was incredible. She wasn't pleased at all with me observing however, and quickly let me know by growling - to which I emmediately responded by backing up. The keeper laughed and said not to be affraid, at all times there has to be 3 doors locked between us and the Jaguar. Missy is quite and old lady at 18 years, and has always shown particularly aggressive characteristics.

By about 8am we went on to feed the male coati who's name escapes me at the moment. He is nothing like Zippy though - my favorite coati of all time. This guy has a stump where his tail used to be, I'm supposing he lost it in a fight. Quite a fiesty little fellow. Enought with him, so it was back in the cart and off to the Mexican grey wolf exhibit to feed Sonora and Mirella their morning ball of raw meat and prepare the rest of their carnivore diet for later. We have to be careful with them since they are part of a Game and Fish Department re-introduction program. We can't let them get used to human contact since they may someday be re-released into their natural habitat. Mirella, being the bolder of the two, reluctantly came over to us and the keeper threw in the meat. I helped change the water and scoup up poop. They are impressive animals to see but right now their coats are looking a bit withered since they tend to shed them in the summer months when it just gets too dang hot for all that fur. I took note that you can tell Sonora and Mirella apart simply by their faces - Mirella has kind of a mean look - like she would attack if given the chance, while Sonora looks much more friendly and docile.

It had been quite the eventful morning so far...and my day had only just begun. I was passed over to another keeper who carted me over to the otter exhibit. I love the otters - they are so cute. The PhxZoo has a small family of spotted necked otters (Lutra maculicollis). We have Biko (dad), Kima (mom), and baby Hasani who is about a year old and was recently re-united with Biko since he's been a little more independent.