Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. To read journals by the interns, see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
It was thrilling to watch the young cheetahs up close, playing with each other and roaming around their off-exhibit area at the Wild Animal Park.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
According to Dave Orndorff, animal care manager for birds, the San Diego Zoo holds the 
largest collection of birds in North America. Within this collection of over 2,000 birds there is one of 82 animals of its kind left in the world: the Micronesian kingfisher. This bird, extinct in the wild, is native to the island of Guam. However, due to human interference – we brought brown tree snakes to the island – and predation by that introduced snake, the kingfisher is only found in managed care. Although human activity led to the extinction of this animal in the wild, Mr. Orndorff explained to us the conservation strategies that the San Diego Zoo is a part of to try to fix that ill. These efforts hopefully will result in the kingfisher returning to the wild.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. To read journals by the interns, see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
Zoo InternQuest interns in the Bird Kitchen at the San Diego Zoo, where the food pans are intricately prepared.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. To read journals by the interns, see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
Deservedly christened the most dangerous animal in the world, this cassowary is the only one of its kind in North America. Being able to see this aggressive bird up close at the San Diego Zoo was a real treat.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. To read journals by the interns, see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
The Flamingo Lagoon is one of the most colorful in the San Diego Zoo. The brightly colored birds add alot of personality to their exhibit.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. To read journals by the interns, see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
Mr. Orndorff showed us the mating pair of red-crowned cranes at the San Diego Zoo. They have been very successful breeders and some of their offspring have been sent other zoos.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
David Orndorff, animal care manager for the San Diego Zoo, was our bird tour guide last week. He has worked with animals for over 36 years. We were privileged to learn about the different types of birds that live in various parts of the world. We saw first hand what it takes to care for and maintain a bird exhibit. We were surprised by the different diets of each bird, and how keepers are able to catch birds in the exhibit without injuring them.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
We spent an awesome afternoon at the Beckman Center for Conservation Research at the Wild Animal Park. First we met two friendly people from the Behavioral Biology Division, Jen Tobey and Caroline Pitt. Ms. Tobey has a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in psychology; she studies the koala. Ms. Pitt has a degree in biopsychology and works with antelope, specifically Nile lechwe, native to Sudan. The behavioral biology studies at the Wild Animal Park have to do with better understanding of wild animal species and the science of relating behavior to reproductive success. Another important thing that these researchers do is track hormones, by collecting feces and getting urine samples, to determine how hormones affect behavior.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
When walking through the Wild Animal Park, you never really think about what’s behind all that open space. We assume that the animals are just there for the public to enjoy, but in reality, the scientists at the Wild Animal Park conduct a lot of research with the animals that live there. At the Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) center at the Wild Animal Park, behavioral biologists like Caroline Pitt and Jennifer Tobey go out and study the animals.
Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.
Animal Care Manager Dave Orndorff led us on a guided tour of the bird aviaries and enclosures at the San Diego Zoo. Our tour encompassed quite a few places: the cozy and lush hummingbird aviary, the enormous three-story Owens Rain Forest Aviary, the Flamingo Lagoon at the Zoo’s entrance, and the bird food preparation area.
