- Zoos: A Historical Perspective from Smithsonian Institution Libraries
The National Zoological Park is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.
AZA
Beaver Valley
How did you become interested in animals and becoming a keeper?
As a kid, I was always in love with animals. I would rather have stuffed animals than dolls and constantly begged my parents for pets. As an adult, I knew I wanted to work on wildlife conservation and pursued a career in conservation policy.
I began volunteering at the aquarium near my home to get some critter time on the side. There I had my first hands-on experience with aquatic species like seals and sea lions, river otters, and penguins. I could not get enough!
When I moved to Washington, D.C., I immediately contacted the National Zoo to inquire about volunteer opportunities. I started as a behavior watch volunteer, collecting data on golden lion tamarins, elephants, giant pandas, and Andean bears. As I got to know the keepers, I became interested in a more hands-on experience. I became a keeper aide in Beaver Valley and the great apes/pandas unit. Over time I came to love my volunteer job more than my “real” job. Eventually a keeper position opened in Beaver Valley and I jumped at the chance to make animal care my new career.
What made you interested in the animals you work with?
I cannot tell when my love for pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) first appeared. When I was an infant, my family lived on the California coast. We could hear the sea lions barking from our home—maybe it was ingrained in me that early in life! Whatever the reason, I have always had a natural inclination toward marine mammals.
I was drawn to Beaver Valley because it is home to the Zoo’s pinnipeds. Once here, though, I became just as attached to our other species, many of which have an aquatic lifestyle. The adaptations some animals have made to live in a dual water-land habitat as fascinating to me. I am mesmerized each and every day by how good our animals are at what they do.
What’s your typical day like?
My day begins by checking in on all of the animals and feeding them breakfast. Most of the morning involves preparing their diets for the day and cleaning and maintaining their exhibits. We monitor water quality very closely as many of our species are dependent on clean water to stay healthy. We work together to keep the exhibits safe and clean and make improvements when we can.
Training and enrichment are important parts of our animals’ routine. We train all of our animals to voluntarily participate in their daily care—such as shifting to other areas, getting on a scale, and entering a crate—as well as some veterinary procedures that can be done without stress or restraints—things like blood draws and injections, ultrasounds, and dental exams. We try to provide a varied and enriched experience for our animals. We are always looking for new ideas and devising activities for them that will make their day more interesting.
At the end of the day, after everyone has been fed and tucked in for the night, we do another check to make sure everything is how it should be before heading home for some rest, and returning the next day for another day at the best job on earth.
Can you give some examples of how a typical day changed quickly to an atypical one?
Things change quickly when there is an animal emergency, either a health concern or an animal escape. Recently, at the end of the day we discovered one of the pelicans had a broken wing. We immediately contacted the veterinary staff and brought her to the hospital for what ended up being an amputation. We still had to finish our work with all the other animals while tending to an injured animal. Needless to say, the day ended later than usual with an unexpected result!
Exhibit malfunctions can also change things quickly. One morning I arrived to find a large tree had fallen during the night, destroying an outdoor holding cage and sprawling across the walkway. Fortunately no animals or humans were injured but the tree came perilously close to hitting the pelicans’ indoor holding area! The door to our office and the entire pathway was blocked by the fallen branches. As it was a weekend, there were only limited staff on grounds to help. Fortunately, those who were here stepped up and cleared the area, making it safe for staff, visitors, and animals.
What's the most interesting thing about the animals you work with?
I am an animal geek—to me, there is something interesting about every living creature. The animals I work with impress me with their ingenuity and adaptability. They are each amazingly good at their jobs. The beavers can chew through large branches and carry pieces much larger than themselves through small openings, over dams, and into their lodge. The otters are very food motivated and will work hard to get at their favorite snack—live goldfish. Seals and sea lions are amazingly intelligent. They learn quickly and sometimes seem to be training (and outsmarting) us! Mexican wolves have complex social structures and subtle communication strategies. I could easily spend the entire day watching our animals just being themselves.
What is one thing you think most people do not know (or understand) about the job of an animal keeper?
We are highly educated, highly skilled specialists who also have to be generalists and jacks of all trades. We are scientists, trainers, chefs, servers, janitors, maintenance workers, educators, performers, veterinary technicians, and care-givers. We do it all and we do it all well.
Some people see us interacting with our animals and ask how we got such a great job. I tell them how much training and experience I had to have and how many sacrifices I had to make to get here—I was a volunteer for a long time, none of us are getting rich, and we work odd hours on weekends, holidays, and through natural disasters. It’s not easy, but I would not want to do anything else.
There are some people who see us picking up poop and tell their kids to do well in school so they do not end up like us. To those people I say, what you’re seeing is what anyone would do for their pet or even their children. The same person you see doing that menial task is also the one with her hand in a sea lion’s mouth, brushing its teeth.
We are highly skilled and educated people who are responsible for the lives of rare and exotic species. No job is perfect but for me, this job has some amazing perks!
How do you incorporate each animal's natural habitat and behaviors into its daily routine?
Our exhibits are designed to imitate the species’ natural habitat. We make sure they have adequate sources of clean water for drinking, swimming, hunting, and bathing. They also need safe areas to haul out, curl up, or perch on to rest. We try to give them foraging or hunting opportunities—live fish for the otters, branches and logs for the beaver, whole prey animals for the eagles. We take their natural abilities into account when determining how to train a new behavior. We encourage natural behaviors with daily enrichment opportunities—sand boxes for digging, floppy toys for flinging, herbs and spices for scent marking. Obviously living in a zoo will not be completely natural but we try to get as close as we can while keeping the animals safe and healthy.
How do you continuously expand your knowledge about each animal?
Even though I have known our animals for almost a decade, they are constantly teaching me new things. I try to take the time to watch them on a daily basis, both while they are interacting with us and from afar while they are on their own. I try to stay up to date on research done on our species and any conservation efforts in the wild. We are in contact with other facilities that house similar species. Either through conversations or visits, we learn from our colleagues and share our experiences with them. I try to take advantage of opportunities to participate in meetings, conferences, or research projects. With all we have to do in a day, it is sometimes difficult to find the time for such things. But it is important and it is always worthwhile to learn more.
