General Zoo Q&A

[wolf567]

Hi all,

This topic is following on from suggestions made in the Forum Suggestions V2 topic.

General Zoo Q&A

I work as an Education Officer/Presenter at my local zoo. This topic is for you to have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about working in a zoo, different careers within zoos, animal related questions and more! Please do feel free to ask away and I will do my best to answer every question - but please do bare with me.

What can I ask?

You can ask any questions relating zoos/wildlife parks.
You may also ask questions about the animals listed below:
Gorilla
Gibbon
Lemurs (Greater Bamboo, Lesser Bamboo and Black and White Ruffed)
Drills
Howler Monkeys
Capuchin Monkeys
Lions
Cheetah
Tigers
African Painted Dogs
Snow Leopard
Giraffe
Rhino
Malayan Tapir
Fossa
Binturong

Please note that all views are my own and not those of my place of work or any organisation!

This topic will be locked on Monday 27th June!

[Koa]

Does a gibbon sucking its toe consistently at a glass window when guests are around signify anything about its behavior?

[wolf567]

Does a gibbon sucking its toe consistently at a glass window when guests are around signify anything about its behavior?

I have never seen that behaviour in our gibbons. However, we do have one that hangs on one arm and spins when staff/public are watching him. We believe this is related to his life before he arrived with us. He was originally rescued from the illegal pet trade, so we believe it may be something he icked up from his time as a pet or some kind adverse affect due to this - he also hates men (almost certainly due previous treatment).

So it could have something to do with their past or something they have learnt. We have gorilla that sucks her thumb - this could be because she realised she gets lots of attention from people when she does it. I have seen also one of our young gorillas slide down a hill on his belly and as everyone laughed he continued to do it for a few minutes. He still does it from time to time.

[Koa]

Does a gibbon sucking its toe consistently at a glass window when guests are around signify anything about its behavior?

I have never seen that behaviour in our gibbons. However, we do have one that hangs on one arm and spins when staff/public are watching him. We believe this is related to his life before he arrived with us. He was originally rescued from the illegal pet trade, so we believe it may be something he icked up from his time as a pet or some kind adverse affect due to this - he also hates men (almost certainly due previous treatment).

So it could have something to do with their past or something they have learnt. We have gorilla that slurps her thumb - this could be because she realised she gets lots of attention from people when she does it. I have seen also one of our young gorillas slide down a hill on his belly and as everyone laughed he continued to do it for a few minutes. He still does it from time to time.

Thank you! The gibbon I see appears to like the attention and doesn't shy away from people watching him, but you brought up a good point about where and how he might have learned this behavior.

[paperpaws]

Thanks for setting this up! Before I ask anything, I was wondering if it is okay with you if we ask more than one question in a single post? I asked an off-site friend of mine if he was curious about anything as well, and he came up with more than one question. Otherwise, I'll pick one that both of us are most curious about.

[wolf567]

That is fine Anduril

[paperpaws]

Alright, thanks a bunch!

- How did you end up in your current job position? Was it the position you applied for, or did you initially just aim for any position working at the zoo and go from there?

- Do you or other employees that you know of ever feel conflicted about certain animals being in captivity? I imagine most animals do not necessarily have to be an issue as long as their needs are provided for properly... on top of that, a not ideal zoo enclosure often does beat alternative scenarios, but in the zoo in Amsterdam for example you can clearly see that the birds and several of the big cats are uncomfortable and stressed.

[twinlinskis]

these questions are coming from a pretty simple minded person, so forgive the uh... juvenile questions, i guess?

i. i know you said that you're a presenter/education officer, but have you ever had the opportunity to feed the animals? like, were you a zookeeper at one point? if so, what were your impressions when feeding them, especially the predators? there's this age-old myth that predatory animals can smell fear on you, especially since whenever people get scared, we often tend to sweat, get the jitters, and physically show our discomfort around something we perceive as dangerous.

ii. what have been your most unfavorable encounters with both animals and guests? how did you handle the situation? if this question is too prying, feel free to skip it :')

iii. has your zoo invented a different sort of mental enrichment/adopted ideas from other zoos for their animals? what are the most interesting that you've seen?

[wolf567]

- How did you end up in your current job position? Was it the position you applied for, or did you initially just aim for any position working at the zoo and go from there?

I started volunteering at the zoo's sister park. This involved being around the gorilla enclosures just taking to people about the gorillas and making sure no one was feeding them etc. I did this for a year and half and also did three months being a volunteer keeper on the carnivore section. Then when my current job was advertised, I applied and was successful at the interview Ideally I wanted/want to be a keeper - but I love what I do.

- Do you or other employees that you know of ever feel conflicted about certain animals being in captivity? I imagine most animals do not necessarily have to be an issue as long as their needs are provided for properly... on top of that, a not ideal zoo enclosure often does beat alternative scenarios, but in the zoo in Amsterdam for example you can clearly see that the birds and several of the big cats are uncomfortable and stressed.

Fortunately, I have never been to a zoo where I have ever felt in such a way. I know my colleagues have been to other zoos and seen animals stressed though.

i. i know you said that you're a presenter/education officer, but have you ever had the opportunity to feed the animals? like, were you a zookeeper at one point? if so, what were your impressions when feeding them, especially the predators? there's this age-old myth that predatory animals can smell fear on you, especially since whenever people get scared, we often tend to sweat, get the jitters, and physically show our discomfort around something we perceive as dangerous.

Yeah, I have been lucky enough to feed a number of animals in my current job and previously in my volunteer roles. With my job I get to feed baboons, gibbons and rhinos on a routine basis as part of the public talks. I have fed a few predators - the most 'scary' was the lions. Their roar is so loud and goes straight through you!

ii. what have been your most unfavorable encounters with both animals and guests? how did you handle the situation? if this question is too prying, feel free to skip it :')

With animals I guess it would be when one of our rhinos weed on me - I just laughed it off, but wasn't best please
With people it would be when I told someone not to feed the gorillas - and they decided to have a go at me. So I just listened to them and explained why we don't allow people to feed the animals. He walked off and didn't say anything more. So I just radioed his description round so people could keep an eye on him and made the duty manager aware of what had happened.

iii. has your zoo invented a different sort of mental enrichment/adopted ideas from other zoos for their animals? what are the most interesting that you've seen?

We are always thinking about new enrichment and also researching what other zoos do. I guess the most interesting enrichment I have seen is a puzzle feeder for our capuchin monkeys. They have to move the nut along at different levels until they get it to the bottom so they can get the nut. It is very simple but I love watching them working it out and how they watch each other to learn

[wolf567]

So sorry Ever-green I thought I had replied to this.

• Do you think that despite the efforts of wildlife conservation organizations and zoos worldwide, the cheetah will eventually go extinct in the wild?

I do believe that cheetah have a chance of surviving. Building a genetically diverse captive population as a safety net is just one important step - and has proved successful with many other species such as - European bison and Przewalski horse. Both of which were previously extinct in the wild and without zoos they would now be extinct.

There are also some great organisations working on cheetah conservation and having good results. One great one is run by the Endangered Wildlife Trust in South Africa where they coordinate a successful meta-population. Thanks to their work cheetah populations in the reserves they work in are increasing! There is a lot of interest in other countries in Africa who wish to run a meta-population for cheetah as well and are seeking advice from the Endangered Willdlife Trust.

So I do believe if things continue going how they are - then cheetah to have a chance of survival in the wild.

If anyone is interested on knowing more about the Endangered Wildlife Trust's Carnivore Conservation Programme then you can find more info here.

I have also decided to leave this open and will close the topic on Moday 4th July

[Koa]

I have heard that cheetahs are difficult to breed in captivity, too; I believed it until a local zoo kept having massive cheetah litters born. They just had 13 cheetahs born in April (and that's not including all the litters from the years prior). Some of them did not survive due to inexperienced cheetah moms and one deformity, though.
http://metrorichmondzoo.com/13-new-cheetah-cubs/
Any thoughts on this, Blaze?

[wolf567]

It defently won't be easy for cheetah but I do feel it is possible.

Breeding cheetah in captivity can be difficult - but their are a fair few collections that breed on a regular basis successful. Just over two years ago we have two litters born with a total of 9 cubs (Unfortunately we lost three from one of the litters due to cowpox).

We are now in the position to mix our females with the males again for more cubs this year But it is a difficult process we have been incredibly lucky that ours mixed almost instantly and that was it. I know of other zoos that have tried mixing their cheetah with a number of others and still had no success.

With quite a few animals It is very common that inexperienced parents often lose some of their offspring if not all the first time round.

[Koa]

It defently won't be easy for cheetah but I do feel it is possible.

Breeding cheetah in captivity can be difficult - but their are a fair few collections that breed on a regular basis successful. Just over two years ago we have two litters born with a total of 9 cubs (Unfortunately we lost three from one of the litters due to cowpox).

We are now in the position to mix our females with the males again for more cubs this year But it is a difficult process we have been incredibly lucky that ours mixed almost instantly and that was it. I know of other zoos that have tried mixing their cheetah with a number of others and still had no success.

With quite a few animals It is very common that inexperienced parents often lose some of their offspring if not all the first time round.

Cowpox? Interesting! Thank you for your response, Blaze. I think luck is worth having on your side when breeding cheetahs.

[wolf567]

Going to lock this topic now. Thanks to everyone who asked questions

-Topic Locked-