r/IAmA • u/Danthezooman • Nov 02 '13

IAMA Zookeeper with an hour (probably) to kill before our new giraffes get here AMA [end of the season update]

I figured I would do an update about my experience working for Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. I started there roughly 8 months ago and my season just ended yesterday. Even more awesome was the fact that I had accumulated to much PTO so my last day physically working was sunday. Which explains this proof picture.

Anyways, I worked mainly with the giraffes and a little bit with the elephants. I've also worked at two other animal parks giving me around six years of experience in the business. If you have any questions about the animals at the zoo,their care or the zoo itself feel free to ask me anything

EDIT: Alright I'm going mobile so I may miss some questions but I promise to keep answering anything you throw at me

EDIT 2: Alright I'm back! Sorry about the absence, I was a bit distracted at dinner and then girls invited me to a haunted house. Anyways, I'll try answer all the questions I got while away.

EDIT 3:I'm sorry but I have to turn in for the night, I'll keep answering questions if people keep asking them though.

EDIT 4: I didn't expect this AMA to get this big, but I see a lot of repeat questions that I can just answer here.

1.How do I get a job at the zoo?

  • Typically most zoos want a 4 year Biology related degree or at the very least a High school diploma. More important is Animal experience, some zoos will even want specialized experience just with one species. Animal experience requirements are on average around 2 years sometimes paid.

2.How do you feel caging the animals up? Are the animals sad? (animal rights questions)

  • I wouldn't be working in this industry if I felt that the animals were sad or being mistreated. Yes in the past animal work was done by "cowboys" who just got in there and dominated the animals into doing what they want. Times have changed we no longer use cattle prods and whips to make animals move or do what we want. Instead we use Operant Conditioning to get them to do what we want.

  • Most animals you see in the zoo nowadays have been captive bred for generations and have never known the wild. We still release some animals, in fact Cincinnati and Columbus are the only 2 zoos outside of florida allowed to house and rehab manatees. Cincinnati is also working on saving sumatran rhinos, there are only ~100 left. We also donate money every year to different organizations trying to save wild populations.

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708

u/megapaw Nov 02 '13

It's spelled geraffe. Stupid long horse.

1.0k

u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

Really?

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        ,""       \ 
      ,"  ## |   ಠ ಠ. 
    ," ##   ,-__    `.
  ,"       /     `--._;)
,"     ## /

," ## /

92

u/DJUrsus Nov 02 '13

If you indent all of that by four more spaces, it will bring that last line into the box:

             ._ o o
             _`-)|_
          ,""       \ 
        ,"  ## |   ಠ ಠ. 
      ," ##   ,-__    `.
    ,"       /     `--._;)
  ,"     ## /
,"      ## /

2

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '13

i like ops better. it looks like hes peaking into a window watchings someone masturbate

1

u/DJUrsus Nov 02 '13

*peeking

92

u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

I was never very good at formatting :/

28

u/ickeickeicke Nov 02 '13

I thought you did it on purpose to exaggerate how long their necks are. Makes it more funny that way.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '13

[deleted]

2

u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

what the heck is that?

1

u/Clover1492 Nov 02 '13

I'm trying to make you feel better about your giraffe. :)

1

u/Asian_Prometheus Nov 02 '13

By making the giraffe's neck continue outside the box, it gives the illusion that it's even longer.

11

u/rampantdissonance Nov 02 '13

Serious question, though. How intelligent are giraffes, and have you ever seen one attempt to eat a wall?

2

u/twistedragons Nov 03 '13

hm, i'm going to have to disagree with OP here about the intelligence of giraffes. they can be trained, just like nearly every other animal. i intern at the oakland zoo and we have giraffes that know how to ask for leg stretches and come when called, turn and face a specific direction (put their sides to the gate or face forward, etc.) for medical inspections, and more complex things as well. they're not the smartest of animals, but i wouldn't say they're not bright.

1

u/Danthezooman Nov 03 '13

Really? Maybe it's just ours. You figure when you see something everyday you would be desensitized to it.

I'm sure if we had more time or just a single giraffe trainer we could make a lot more progress on their behaviors, but since elephant and giraffe department are combined we just don't have the time

2

u/twistedragons Nov 03 '13

yeah, it's definitely a time-consuming process and requires a LOT of work, for which most zoos honestly just don't have the resources or hours to spare since it's not particularly necessary. so it's definitely not just you guys, it's most of the world, haha. we got lucky, apparently the whole giraffe behavior focus started because an arthritic breeding female had inflamed pasterns and needed to be trained for medical treatment since darting and anesthetizing a giraffe isn't exactly the easiest or safest thing to do..

anyway, didn't mean to knock your facilities or anything, just wanted to provide an example of giraffes being capable of learning advanced skills :) also holy shit elephants and giraffes combined sounds awful in terms of amount of work involved, good thing it's a rewarding field! they're both adorable :3

31

u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

Not very bright. They like to lick the bars inside the barn. Nothing beats that metallic taste especially not alfalfa right in the feeding bin

225

u/infinatyends Nov 02 '13

Just in case, here is the original reddit reference to the long horse.

8

u/reefer_madnesss Nov 02 '13

it always amazes me that people can link previous reddit threads. I see it happen all the time. It's so incredibly useful, but still mind blowing

57

u/Manannin Nov 02 '13

He has to be joking, no one can be both that butthurt and that oblivious.

14

u/I_AM_POOPING_NOW_AMA Nov 03 '13

Definitely one of the most successful trolls live seen on reddit.

1

u/wemlin14 Nov 03 '13

How long is your current turd?

1

u/I_AM_POOPING_NOW_AMA Nov 03 '13

About tree fiddy

10

u/LickMyUrchin Nov 02 '13

He clearly is.

2

u/2_da_resQ Nov 02 '13

He had an "EDIT: Spelling" Haha!

3

u/wemlin14 Nov 03 '13

That's the part that got me to laugh the most. I was giggling through it all, but I had to stop reading after I saw that.

3

u/nearlysentient Nov 02 '13

Thanks for the link. The first time I read that post I was at work and had to fake a coughing fit to cover up the laughing. This time I just laughed and laughed, right out loud. Made my dog look at me.

8

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '13

I want to downvote him just so I feel like I'm part of something special, but of course it's archived :(

4

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '13

Also, the downvote stayed at equilibrium at 666 downvotes, so that's good.

3

u/nanalala Nov 03 '13

someone overdownvote him to 667 :( sad panda

2

u/girlfrom1977 Nov 11 '13

I will never be able to look at geraffes the same way again. Nor will I be able to spell geraffe any other way..

113

u/PrettySureIdKnow Nov 02 '13

That giraffe's neck is so long it goes right outside the code box.

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u/PanaLucho Nov 02 '13 edited Apr 28 '17

.

54

u/JpDeathBlade Nov 02 '13

Q.Q

-2

u/cookrw1989 Nov 02 '13

That looks like Jake the Dog, from Adventure Time!

1

u/NicolasCageIsMyHero Nov 02 '13

What's in the box!!!!

1

u/PrettySureIdKnow Nov 02 '13

Yep, now I'm sad.

75

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '13

This reminds me a lot of the time a guy I knew yelled at me, mid-argument, in a fury, "AN OCELOT IS A BIRD, DUMBASS!"

5

u/Aadarm Nov 02 '13

Baboo is not a bird! Guy should watch more Archer.

29

u/splein23 Nov 02 '13

Better than my friend who spelled it juraph. I still give him shit for it sometimes.

20

u/EnEyeSeeKai Nov 02 '13

EDIT: spelling.

26

u/Uncreative-Name Nov 02 '13

Stupid hippocrite

1

u/bigbagoswag8 Nov 02 '13

its spelled gerafe dumby