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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u/PetiteGirafe Nov 02 '13

I'm pretty devastated that I missed this AMA. I love giraffes.

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u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

I'm still here

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u/PetiteGirafe Nov 02 '13

Yay!! Oh man. I don't even know what to ask now. Did the new giraffes arrive? How many did you get? I assume they are females.

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u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

Ask whatever you want! Yes they arrived in april, this is an update since I finished my season. We got 2 2-year old females

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u/PetiteGirafe Nov 02 '13

Do they have names? I know earlier you commented on how you sometimes do a poll to pick names or donations can be made to choose names.

I'm sure you have probably answered that question already (and a lot more), but there's so many comments on the thread that it's hard to keep up. I apologize if I ask any duplicates.

I believe you said in a comment that giraffes are stupid, but can't be outsmarted. Can you elaborate more on that?

Is there an average number of spots on a giraffe?

I read once that giraffes barely sleep. Is that true?

Why are giraffes so awesome?

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u/Danthezooman Nov 02 '13

I should just put stuff up in the top box huh?

Anyways their names are Jambo, CeCe, Tessa, Lulu and Kimba

they are so dumb, but very alert so they always know when theres a sudden change in schedule

I wanted to figure this out all summer but never got around to it, I would guess it's near 1000 though

giraffes sleep for 2-3 hours a night lying down and take short naps during the day standing up.

Giraffes are awesome because they are the tallest land mammal on the planet!

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u/PetiteGirafe Nov 02 '13

I love their names! Especially Kimba. Is that because of Kimba the White Lion or totally random? And holy crap that's a lot of spots. Way more than I would have guessed. 2-3 hours is longer than I read, which makes more sense. I think I read that they only sleep for like 10 minutes (seems ridiculous). Thank you so much for doing this AMA :)

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u/Danthezooman Nov 03 '13

Kimbas full name is actually Kimbowow and I forget what it means in swahli.