About Author: Kerissa

Before we set out on our adventure, Ms. Pillsbury led us to her indoor workspace where she explained several different aspects of her job, including animal moves to other facilities. Although shipping animals may seem relatively simple, there is a complicated process the keepers must complete before sending an animal to a different zoo. (This is sometimes similar to what people have to go through every time they fly.) Paperwork must be filled out, the animals must be in excellent condition, and the crates must conform to current standards, which can be an issue because most airlines have a crate size requirement, and this requirement can often change. Recently, Ms. Pillsbury has been trying to send two hogs to another zoo in Florida. Park keepers have had to re-make crates twice already, due to maximum size restrictions and may have to figure out a different way to get them to their destination. Humans aren’t the only ones who have trouble at the airport!

After a look at the keeper offices, we went to the truck to begin our tour. Our first task was to pick the leaves off of acacia branches. It felt like we had a whole tree in the back of the truck! While we were busy plucking away at the branches, Ms. Minichino drove us into one of the open field exhibits. Before I knew it, we were navigating through a herd of giraffes and gazelles. It felt as though they were all staring at the acacia we had in our hands. While observing a gazelle, my fellow interns and I noticed the notches and different colored tags they had in their ears. When we asked Ms. Pillsbury about the notches and tags, she explained that this is how the keepers identify the animals. It’s an intricate system, and works sort of like a Social Security number. It allows Ms. Pillsbury to quickly identify each animal, which greatly assists her in completing her animal counts each day and also helps her to communicate with other keepers about particular individuals. This system is key to keeping track of all the animals in the wide open enclosures of the Park.

As we continued on, we came upon Kula, an Indian Rhinoceros, who was kind enough to walk over and let us feed her apples. She even allowed us to pet her horn! With seven interns tossing her treats, she became full and moved on. However, we were delighted to learn that we would be feeding the giraffes next! We slowed to a stop near several giraffes and waited patiently for them to come over to eat the acacia leaves. Very soon, we were surrounded by a whole herd, some pushier than others. As I began to wonder about the number of giraffes at the Park, Ms. Pillsbury explained how they are able to keep the populations of various species under control. They can either keep one male with a group of females, or they can put the females on birth control. Similar in form to human birth control, the keepers can mix it into the animals’ food or use implants to prevent the females from becoming pregnant. The keepers need to use clever techniques like this to help keep the free-roaming animal populations under control.

Sadly, we ran out of acacia and had to leave the giraffes. Ms. Pillsbury and Ms. Minichino were great tour guides. They helped me get an up-close view of what their jobs are like on a day-to-day basis and how they handle the enormous enclosures at the Park. I learned, firsthand, what it’s like to be responsible for such a complex group of animals. And, next time I’m at the airport struggling with my luggage, I’ll remember that the Zoo has to worry about how to transport delicate cargo, every day.

Kerissa, Real World Team
Week Six, Winter Session 2012

Dr. Anderson began his career at the University of Liverpool in England with an undergraduate degree in zoology (part of this degree involved behavioral ecology). He obtained his Ph.D. in primatology at Oxford University and went on to his postdoctorate work at Cambridge studying reproductive biology.  He studied bush babies and their bizarre mating systems and behaviors and found himself asking, “What are these creatures doing and why?”  Their odd forms of communication sparked his interest even more in animal behavior. Most of his work centered on primates, until he ventured to the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research to begin working with elephants in 2001. This time, however, he focused on the vocalizations elephants make as their way of communicating.  Unfortunately, most of these sounds are made at a frequency too low for the human ear to process, so Dr. Anderson has to record the sounds through the use of special collars. He then speeds them up on a computer to decipher the messages. One of the more extraordinary behaviors that they have discovered is how the herd reacts to an expectant mother.  Once the mother knows that she only has a week or so left until the birth of the calf, she makes a sound that signals the rest of the females to form a circle around her, which would protect the calf in the wild once it was born. Isn’t it amazing how one sound can tell the elephants so much?

Jennifer Tobey has a similar story to Dr. Anderson’s. She started off at a liberal arts school, Franklin and Marshall University in Pennsylvania, where she pursued a biology/psychology major with an emphasis in animal behavior. She then moved to California State University, San Marcos, where she earned her master’s degree in comparative animal psychology.  She focused on animal enrichment, which means she looked at the ways primates interacted with toys and food objects. A moment that made animal behavior more appealing to her was when one of the primates took the top off of an “indestructible” peanut shaker and was intrigued with the way it distorted the world when he looked through it. However, she eventually tired of  studying the primates because of their similarities to humans.  She decided to join the team at the Institute, where she studied the vocalizations of koalas instead. Like Dr. Anderson, she listens to their vocal communication and watches their behaviors in an attempt to translate what the animals are saying.  She has also gone to Australia to figure out how these normally solitary creatures in the wild communicate to find mates, which might help with breeding these animals in captivity. Ms. Tobey loves her job because it’s hands-on, and she knows she is contributing to the worldwide effort to conserve koalas.

Both Dr. Anderson and Jennifer Tobey’s studies of animal behavior and communication are very important to the lives of animals in captivity, as well as species in the wild. By decoding animals’ ways of communicating, they can figure out how to increase the longevity of animals in captivity and find ways to help struggling populations of animals in the wild.

Kerissa, Careers Team
Week Five, Winter Session 2012

 

Dr. Jensen’s main goal in his job is to preserve avian germplasm for future use for endangered species. Part of his job requires him to work with stem cell physiology, which I quickly found out is an amazing process. If the San Diego Zoo has a very valuable bird that is the last male of his species, they have found a way to save the species. First, a piece of the bird’s testes is cut and ground up in a special tissue grinder. The ground tissue turns into cells and stem cells are selectively picked out. These stem cells are injected into a male chicken embryo while it is two to three days old. The stem cells circulate in the chick’s bloodstream until it finds the place where the testes will develop. The cells sit there and when the chick develops its testes and hatches, they are able to produce sperm from both the chicken and the endangered species. This process is incredibly important to the conservation of birds worldwide because it can prevent extinction as well as encourage population growth. An example of this process at work is with the critically endangered Storm’s stork. There are only four hundred left in the world and the Zoo is working hard to boost their numbers. Already, in the past few years, the Zoo has produced five males as well as four females. The hope is that these birds will mate and help the population of the Storm’s stork to increase. Dr. Jensen’s work with stem cell physiology is vital to the conservation of endangered birds around the world.

Perhaps one of the most important contributions that Dr. Jensen has made to conservation is through his work with kiwi birds in New Zealand. Kiwis are native to New Zealand, but their populations are being greatly decimated by predators. While in New Zealand studying these animals, Dr. Jensen was required to go through several daily procedures. He had to hike to find kiwi burrows and then figure out which kiwis belonged to which burrows. Since kiwis are nocturnal, he had to wait until night to come back and wait for the father kiwi to get off of the eggs to find food. Dr. Jensen took measurements of the eggs in order to figure out when they would hatch so they could track the chicks. His research is imperative to the conservation efforts of many scientists determined to preserve the kiwi.

Although I may have been intimidated by the intricate workings of reproductive physiology at first, Dr. Jensen was able to explain its importance to conservation in terms that I could understand. For example, shipping an endangered species to a different Zoo to mate can be very dangerous because many species are delicate and may not survive the plane ride. This risk can be avoided by simply sending a rooster with the sperm of that endangered animal to its destination. It was definitely apparent that Dr. Jensen loves his job and his passion for preserving birds has inspired me to explore this field more.

Kerissa, Conservation Team
Week Four, Winter Session 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Kerissa, Photo Team
Week Three, Winter Session 2012

First, we were introduced to Laura Keener, the senior clinical laboratory manager. After she led us into a room where she had a presentation ready for us, she began explaining the various daily activities that her job entails. She often has to go to the site of a sick animal in order to figure out if a bacteria or virus is causing the illness and how the animal may have acquired the sickness. Their goal by doing this is to prevent the disease from spreading, like in the recent movie, Contagion.  Ms. Keener may also have to lead a disease investigation or figure out the cause of death for an animal, similar to a CSI team, because some of the diseases that animals can get, like valley fever, can be transferred to humans.

During her presentation, Ms. Keener displayed several pictures of various equipment that she and her team use. One of the devices was called a point-of-care (or POC) analyzer that is used to measure blood glucose levels in animals. It is akin to the device that human diabetics use, and Ms. Keener explained how they have been able to train some monkeys to allow the keepers to prick their fingers to check their blood. Ms. Keener also explained that they must often count the number of white blood cells, platelets, and red blood cells because many animals can be anemic, just like humans can be. As Ms. Keener’s presentation came to a close, she led us to one of the laboratories to learn more about the various types of bloodwork that they do at the hospital.

Once we arrived at the laboratory, we met one of the senior laboratory technicians working at the hospital. Ms. Nielson’s job in the laboratory is extremely similar to someone working in a laboratory for humans. She prepares blood smears from various animals to obtain cell counts, separates blood and plasma, takes a closer look at parasites and bacteria found in an animal, and many other important functions. Her cell counts and examinations of parasites and bacteria can lead to a diagnosis of many animals’ illnesses, exactly like a technician examining human cells. She showed us some of the different machines that she uses each day, which are alike if not the same as ones used in human laboratories. After  Ms. Nielson informed us of the importance of her job and the relation it has to us, Ms. Fuller appeared, and we left the laboratory to get a closer look into the hospital.

Jeanette Fuller manages the Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center, so she was able to take us on an amazing tour through the facility. The first room we ventured into was one of the surgery rooms, where less-serious surgeries take place. Ms. Fuller showed us the incredible lift system that they have that can lift animals as large as horses into the surgery areas. The sterile surgery room was almost exactly like an operating room for humans. There was a central operating table with a lot of machinery surrounding it, a wall of sterilized medical tools ready to be used, and a side room dedicated to cleaning the tools before and after surgery.

Our next stop was to the recovery area for animals. Each animal has its own room that allows it to recuperate comfortably. The placement of an animal depends on its size and species, the monkey and carnivore section is separated from the hoofed animals. Just like a human hospital, each room comes equipped with its own IV, except these hang from the ceiling to avoid the animal becoming tangled in the wires. Sadly, our tour of the hospital had to come to an end, but it was still the most memorable and fascinating part of my day.

Our inside look at the Clinical Pathology Departments’ laboratories and  hospital left me with a larger understanding of the many similarities between animals and humans. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the daily lives of Ms. Keener, Ms. Nielson, and Ms. Fuller, and I was amazed by the glorious hospital. However, it was apparent to me throughout the tour that we all need to do our part to keep wildlife healthy and avoid spreading zoonotic diseases. The most intriguing knowledge that I gained today was in learning that the way animals are cared for at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and many other places worldwide are so similar to the way that we humans are cared for in our hospitals!

Kerissa, Real World Team
Week Two, Winter Session 2012

As an educator, Ms. Carroll travels to schools, hospitals, senior centers, and other places to educate the public about animals. Her main goal is to get out the message about conservation. She takes animals called “ambassadors” that assist her with her job. We got to meet a few of these animals, such as Kizzy, the African gray parrot, and Cocoa, the southern three-banded armadillo. As Ms. Carroll introduced us to these animals, she also described the Zoo’s many conservation-linked programs, including “Growing Up Green.” In this program, she visits preschool to second grade students and introduces the topic of conservation to kids. Ambassadors like Kizzy, who is considered a threatened species, help Ms. Carroll explain the importance of conservation and how even small things like using water thermoses instead of plastic bottles can contribute to the effort of saving habitats. Everywhere Ms. Carroll goes, she always mentions the key message that we are always able to make a difference for endangered species.

Further along the tour, we got the opportunity to feed Mongo, a Bactrian camel. Before we entered the area where we fed him, Ms. Carroll pointed out another way that the Zoo participates in conservation. Many of the enclosures and fences throughout the Zoo are made of recycled materials that look like wood but are made from plastic items like milk jugs. It doesn’t have to be painted, can’t splinter, and is made from completely “green” products. As we began to feed Mongo, Ms. Carroll also explained several ways that they reuse the winter coat that Mongo sheds in the Zoo. The Bird Department can put some of it in the aviaries for birds to use for their nests, and cat keepers put it in burlap sacks for the tigers to play with. This shows that the “trash” can be re-invented into something useful for someone else.

This tour provided me with a new insight into conservation and how small changes in my daily life can make a difference. Ms. Carroll mentioned that it’s important to research where the products I buy come from to support wildlife. For example, certain brands of toilet paper come from plantations located in tiger habitats. This causes severe habitat loss for tigers. If everyone simply researched where the products they buy come from, they could switch to something more environmentally friendly and put the other companies out of business. Simple, everyday things like this make it easy to be part of conservation efforts that make a big difference for wildlife around the world.

Kerissa, Conservation Team
Week One, Winter Session 2012

My goal is to some day work at the San Diego Zoo. I believe this internship will be a great experience for me and will increase my knowledge of the many jobs that relate to animals and conservation.

Other than reading about animals, I enjoy playing tennis and soccer, going to the beach, swimming, spending time with my family, taking care of my three dogs, and going to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park whenever I can. School is also very important to me. I spend a good amount of my time striving to do the best I can in my challenging classes, including physiology and chemistry. I realize my academic success is vital to my future success and career.

Conservation is very important to me. I love watching animals in their natural habitats, and I am fearful that this may not be possible in a few years if our wildlife is not preserved. I know that this internship will show me the Zoo’s many achievements and projects regarding the topic of conservation and, hopefully, I will be able to contribute more to the cause. I am very much looking forward to this wonderful opportunity and cannot wait to share my amazing experiences with you!

Kerissa
Winter Session 2012