Jason and I left the house at 7:15 to make our way to the zoo. We caught a beautiful sunrise on the way!
Once there, we met a woman named Sharon at the gate. She took us inside her office and told us a little about what we'd be doing. She gave us two name tags, t-shirts, and allowed us to store my purse inside a locker. She then took us out into the cold to meet the elephant zookeepers. We met their crew and they told us a little about what we'd be doing. To start with, we were going to clean the elephant exhibit. We used wheelbarrows and massive shovels to clean up the elephant shit. We also cleaned up the leftover hay from the day before. We raked and cleaned up while we listened to the elephants trumpet nearby. They were clearly aware it was time for breakfast and were ready to be fed.
After cleaning up, Sharon told us where and how to lay down the elephant's food. Apparently, they always try to put their food in fun and unique places. This keeps the elephants actively engaged while searching for food. Jason and I threw large twigs and plants on top of huge rocks. We also threw some in a few easy to reach places as well.
After cleaning up, the zookeepers had to encourage the elephants to go outside for their food. Once outside, we could clean their inside living quarters.Sharon called us over to a door and told us to stand safety behind a few yellow lines. Soon a door opened and we see our first glimpse of an elephant. Her name was Kelly. The door was just big enough for us to see most of her but not big enough where she could get out through that door. Her trunk, however easily reached through the door. We saw her beautiful eyes and long eyelashes blink as the trunk reached out for more food. By feeding her a little inside, they were able to give her a heads up that she was about to be able to go outside again. We were then instructed to follow two zookeepers outside where we could see their entire home from high up. We watched as they called for Kelly, lovingly encouraging her to go outside. She was ready and took off, spotting the apple the zookeeper was ready to give her. After giving Kelly a little time alone outside, they encouraged Tara to come out. They told us a little about these two ladies and how to tell them apart. Kelly was the one with more rugged ears and reddish skin. Tara was a little more harry and had a gray tint to her.
After they were outside, we then went inside to clean their living quarters. Once cleaned up, we were ready to take care of the elephants themselves. They took us inside where we would wash their feet, moisturize them, and feed them. Below are pictures:
After cleaning them, we were able to feed them. The moment the food came out, Kelly reached her trunk out and blew air directly into my face. She was soooo ready for some lettuce. In the picture below you can see my hair slightly swept back... this was caught right after she blew air on me. It was such a cool feeling!
Oiling up their dry skin:
After taking care of them, it was time to help the elephants with their "enrichment" activities. These are fun things to keep them sharp and active. Today we were going to help them pain! They even let us keep the paintings! below is helping the elephant to pain us two pictures:
The picture below shows Kelly doing a "splatter" technique. This is where they put pain on a screen and then ask her to blow air on it. This causes the paint to splatter onto the canvas.
The paintings:
After painting, they said they wanted to get my birthday picture! Early on in the day, Sharon asked what led us to doing the Keeper of the day program. I told her I loved elephants and this was my 30th birthday gift. She got excited and said she was glad I told her... guess this is why! Look what Kelly held up for me!
After the pictures, we got to pet and feed the elephants some more. Below are pictures:
This is Jason giving her some food. When she puts her trunk directly on your hands, it feels like a vacuum. She sucks all that food up and then pulls her trunk back in to eat. It feels so weird but also unbelievably amazing!
After saying goodbye to the elephants, we made our way to lunch. Sharon let us pick out whatever kind of food we wanted (chicken Caesar salad. Jason also got broccoli salad and I grabbed some Jello). The three of us then sat and talked for a bit. She told us a little about herself. We learned: she has been working at the zoo for 11 years; her mother-in-law is hard to deal with; she got a degree in genetics (really cool to listen to her talk about evolution); she's from New York, and she is definitely not a racist or homophobic (that was a fun conversation!). We told her a little bit about us and then we got to talk about what the zoo was like when I was a kid. I told her I remembered visiting Willie B behind a glass door. I also told her I remembered peacocks running around the lunch area when I was a kid. That sparked a really cool conversation about how horrible zoos used to be back in the day and how much better many of them have become now. She told us all the ways the zoos actually help animals and how they try to keep them safe and comfortable at all times. They also try to work with their natural instincts as much as possible, so they can still be who they are and enjoy their life like they would if they were in the wild. It was so cool! I didn't know they did that much for those animals.
Sharon and the zookeepers also told us a little bit about how their study of animals impacts human life. Apparently they learned that shark's skin is made up of what is like tiny teeth. This is why, unlike whales, they don't get barnacles. Once they learned that, it helped humans create water suits and even boats that are now less likely to get barnacles.
After lunch, Sharon walked us around the zoo and showed us other animals. We saw the baby panda bears:
We also learned a lot about monkeys, although it was too cold for them to be out. She showed us the fencing around the trees. There was so much material that it looked like overkill, but apparently it isn't. They found out that one of their monkeys was able to figure out how to get a stick and move the fencing apart to reach the tree. Once they saw that, they immediately put up more material so they couldn't do it again and teach other animals that skill. Of course, even if they had figured that out, there are a zillion other kinds of physical barriers that would prevent the monkeys from getting out. She also told us that some monkeys learned how to undo bolts. She said the zookeepers even learned that the monkeys would hide their behavior when the zookeepers were around, but that the monkeys realized they didn't need to hide this behavior with regular visitors at the zoo. They're so smart!! Of course, now they've learned how to position bolts and other things where monkeys can't get to it.
After visiting the animals, we went to visit the carnivore keepers. They took us to meet with otters. We then fed them with fish. The otters would ounce up and down like crazy waiting for a wish, but we were instructed to wait until they were calm before giving them the food. Jason's otter kept trying to put his paw out to get the fish. They were so cute! They were also very very loud, but cute!
After the otters, they took us to see the bears. There were two and they were adorable. They spent the entire time wrestling with each other very playfully. They told us one of those bears is very particular about her sleeping nest and the other bear just throws some hay down and goes to sleep. They have two very different personalities. Apparently they had a hard time getting along at first but now they love each other.
After the bears, we met Chelsea the tiger. They tried to call her inside but she refused to come. They asked us to step outside and then a moment later they told us it was okay to come back. Apparently Chelsea is very weary of new people. She would only come inside once we were gone. When we walked back in, they gave us a bottle of diluted goat milk to give her. We gently squeezed it through the fencing and she licked it up. She loved the milk more than the meat! We then gave her raw meat. They put balls of meat on a white stick and we slid the stick through the bars very carefully for her to eat. She was so sweet! She, of course, growled at little when we first showed up but she didn't jump at us or anything.
They also told us how they condition the animals and build trust with them. Apparently they've worked with Chelsea for so long now that she will willingly get up on a bench so they can give her ultrasounds and draw blood work to make sure she's healthy. Apparently they will only use positive reenforcement (by giving them food and treats) when trying to condition them. They told us that they can test Chelsea's blood pressure with her tail. They've conditioned her to allow them to use her tail by giving her treats. They also told us that they never grab hold of her tail if she's not interested, which makes sense and is kind. I'm so impressed with how compassionate and thoughtful they are toward the animals! They also showed us where they keep their toys. The toys are part of their "enrichment" activities.
After seeing Chelsea, they took us over to meet with Cloud Leopard. Below is a picture:
She has a huge tail and is a pretty large cat. She was very shy and really good at blending into her environment. It took a good 20 minutes before she walked toward us and felt comfortable being around us. She was really sweet too!
After seeing the cloud Leopard, we headed back to get our belongings and called it a day. That was one of the coolest days of my life! What a great way to end your 20s--with a real roar!
Below is a video Sharon took of Kelly painting for me!
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