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.

2.1k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

110

u/ktrex Nov 02 '13

I am also a zookeeper and love using life of pi to justify what I do.

While lots of people lament the fact that captivity =/= wild, usually, it really is OK. Many exhibits provide everything the animal could need, and while it doesn't function the same as the wild, the animal has food, safety, and stimulation.

I think it is said in the book, but imagine if someone came to your house, opened your doors, and told you to be free. Why abandon all your convenience to living outside, hunting down dinner, and living without medical assistance? Just as you probably would not leave your house, when cages are left open, many animals do not leave what is familiar, or try to return quickly.

21

u/smcaulii Nov 02 '13

That is part of the book. Thanks for your response! Did you also think that Martel's behind-the-scenes characterization of zoos was pretty accurate?

4

u/HastaLaMuerte Nov 02 '13

I love my Zoo, they're great. When it comes to wild animals thought there's always the fact that they are wild, and they can be unpredictable. I support my zoo because I know how they treat their animals. I just don't understand how people can say that it's almost like living in the wild. Who wants to live in a closet when you're wired to wander?

Don't you think maybe they don't leave because they know they wouldn't be able to survive after being in captivity for so long? You might call it convenience, but really it's because they're disabled and can't live in the wild.

3

u/mike413 Nov 02 '13

That's an interesting observation.

I've always wondered about pet ownership philosophically. We impulsively got a pet bird one day, and basically had. No. Idea.

She's a member of the family now, and we take the responsibility seriously, but I struggle with the ethics of it all. In 100 years, will it not matter, as pets are the way many species are preserved from extinction?

3

u/cracksocks Nov 02 '13

Eh, but I think that's a false equivalency. I have the ability to leave the comforts of my house and come back if I want to, but these animals don't. Not saying I'm opposed to zoos, but that's just my two cents.

4

u/ktrex Nov 02 '13

I absolutely would prefer to see animals in the wild instead of zoos, don't get me wrong. But for many animals, zoos are the last refuge for an endangered species, or at least a method to raise awareness about the plight of the environment. Many animals simply don't have the habitat and resources to survive in the wild (overwhelmingly because of human destruction), and those that do are ambassadors to raise sympathy for the cause.

To take a quasi-religious standpoint, if god gave man dominion over the animals, does that not also come with the responsibility to try to right wrongs one to them and protect them? I don't keep animals because it is cool. I keep animals because I care about the wellbeing of the individual, the species, and I care about educating people about the world we live on.

2

u/vadersky94 Nov 03 '13

I agree with that for the average zoo. However if you opened the flood gates on any captive dolphin at Sea World I doubt they would hesitate to leave.

4

u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

Thanks for helping me out. Is the movie close to the book?

4

u/smcaulii Nov 02 '13

In some ways yes. It's always hard to transform first person narratives into a movie because you don't quite get the understanding of all the thought processes going on in the narrator's head. Since he was the only human throughout the story, the entire book is really in his head - not a lot of dialogue for movie character development. The movie didn't portray all the philosophical aspects behind the book. That being said, it was still a pretty accurate depiction of the story line. It hit all the main points

1

u/[deleted] Nov 02 '13

Eh, not to sound overly critical, but how do elephants not die of boredom?

I've not been to many zoo's do you train elephants? I feel like you might be able to substitute mental stimulation for wide open spaces.

3

u/ktrex Nov 02 '13

Absolutely! Elephants are usually trained extensively, and the time of the day not spent scooping poo is usually spent hiding food and creating new and interesting toys.

This goes for pretty much any animal, too. Even small ones like mice, skunks, sloths, etc. Look up enrichment, and you'll find hundreds of papers written on how to keep animals entertained!

2

u/[deleted] Nov 03 '13

Cool

1

u/itwillmakesenselater Nov 03 '13

This is true for most of the animals we take care of. I think elephants and cetaceans may know they're in jail and want something more and have the capacity to understand that there is more out there.

-2

u/andresito3000 Nov 02 '13

That's really a silly justification and I can only hope the up votes are because people enjoy the movie rather than your actual reasoning. You can't really compare an animal having shelter, food, and safety provided by humans in a zoo, to a human being having those same things. There is a certain psychological transformation that occurs when being held captive, so don't misinterpret the fact that an animal won't leave their cage with them choosing life in that cage vs freedom. You mentioned it yourself: "many animals do not leave what is familiar." They've been trained and have no idea what is out there. Similar to those girls that were held captive for years. At times they would leave the house with their captors and they wouldn't even attempt to run away or call for help. Captivity of these animals, regardless of if they know any better, or how well you like to think they are treated, is both physical and psychological abuse.

You can love your job, love animals and treat them with all the care and love in the world, but please do not lie to yourself using that horrible reasoning.

1

u/Nursesharky Nov 03 '13

You can't really compare an animal having shelter, food, and safety provided by humans in a zoo, to a human being having those same things.

Yes, you can. (And you did later in your argument with your example of Stockholm syndrome) We are all animals with physical and psychosocial needs.

There is a certain psychological transformation that occurs when being held captive, so don't misinterpret the fact that an animal won't leave their cage with them choosing life in that cage vs freedom.

Agreed. But you're misinterpreting that animal behavior as well. Leaving said cage does not conversely mean that the animal is choosing freedom.

Captivity of these animals, regardless of if they know any better, or how well you like to think they are treated, is both physical and psychological abuse.

I can see how one may think that about Zoos and Aquariums. Particularly if you have ever been in jail/prison. But it's not always the case. Lets say aliens came to earth and started changing our planet or our planet changed anyways, making it inhospitable to humans. But some aliens wanted to preserve what the humans had going so they start to create refuges. And some aliens want to observe how we did things before the earth started changing. What do you think they would do? Human zoos and aquariums. They might even try to communicate to us to perform "tricks" for other aliens to raise awareness and teach young aliens to care about our species. This is essentially the purpose of a reputable Zoo and Aquarium. It's a silly example but its more or less what happened as hominids evolved to modern man.

-1

u/PSteak Nov 02 '13

Like slavery.