A Polar Bear Keeper’s Day
Posted at 10:54 am January 21, 2008 by Kelly Murphy
Chinook, left, and KallukMany of you have asked questions like, “What time are the polar bears on exhibit?” and “Who were the two bears I saw on Polar Cam?” Here’s very general run down of what a keeper’s day at Polar Bear Plunge looks like that may help answer some of these questions.
Our day starts at 6 a.m. The very first thing we do is a preliminary check of all the exhibits and animals in our care making sure they seem okay, no obvious problems that may have occurred overnight. We look through our daily journal for any notes to help us map out the day ahead. Then we start the morning routine with the polar bears.
Whoever has been in the exhibit overnight is called off into the holding area that we call the “bedrooms.” All three bears are separated and shifted accordingly. Then breakfast is served. This is also a good time for training sessions to occur. Once breakfast is done, veggies and enrichment are provided while the exhibit is readied.
The exhibit is picked up and hosed down every day. Every other day our 130,000-gallon pool is vacuumed to maintain proper water quality. Twice a week, equipment is brought in to clean the inside of our glass panels; the outside glass is cleaned daily. When the exhibit is ready, more veggies and enrichment are placed and the bears are released by 9 a.m., for that is when the San Diego Zoo opens.
Once bears are out it’s time to clean the bedrooms. There are six individual rooms, including a smaller dump-and-fill pool. Again, things are picked up, and rooms and alleyways are hosed down every day. Food is prepared a day in advance. This means weighing out individual diets, keeping food stocked, and then cleaning up the dishes and kitchen area.
Then there’s what we call our “outers.” These are the other exhibits/animals we care for. Currently this includes three female caracals and one female Pallas’ cat (see Kelly’s blog, Pallas’ Cat: Crate Training 101). Each exhibit is a little different but the usual occurs: shifting the animals to a holding area, servicing exhibits, and then cleaning the bedrooms. Again, enrichment and training may be involved.
Before we know it, it’s time for the afternoon switch of bears, sometime around 1 p.m. The bears are shifted off into bedrooms, separated, and fed the second portion of their diet. Again, this is another good time for training. The exhibit is given quick enrichment set up, and then either our brother and sister pair, Kalluk and Tatqiq, go out, or Chinook by herself. Whoever is left in the bedrooms is set up with enrichment and bedding for overnight.
We wrap up our day by doing our paper work. This includes a daily journal, enrichment and training logs, a daily keeper’s report, and any other miscellaneous notes. Remember, this is a very basic day and does not include meetings, giving behind-the-scenes tours or educational programs, medical procedures, projects, and any other thing that may get thrown our way. This also does not account for the variety we may want to incorporate in our day such as different combinations of bears, double pull offs and shifts, etc.
Every day is a new day and is definitely not boring. I hope this helps to answer some of your questions and keep you watching Polar Cam for polar bear activity. Be sure to tune in for what changes are to come.
Kelly Murphy is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous blog, Patchwork Polar Bear.
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January 21st, 2008 at 11:04 am
Thank you for addressing the polar bears…. It’s been a while since we’ve seen anything about them in the blogs and I’ve been wanting to read somthing for a while now. =) My question is this though, I thought the 3 bears were being let out all together, so Chinook was not by herself ? Has she acclimated now to being alone, or are there reasons she is not on exhibit with Kalluk, and Tatqiq ? I thought from previous blogs that the 3 bears were getting along famously, and all was going well. I love those bears, and hope all is well with them !! =)
Moderator’s note: Kelly will answer that question in her next blog.
January 21st, 2008 at 11:44 am
Thank you for the wonderful update on the bears! I have really missed your blog entries, as I check in on the bears, everyday! They are now a part of my routine!! I have notice the camera shots toward the cave with the waterfall, the lights going on ” behind the scenes” at around 6am, the bears being brought out or walking back in to their ” bedrooms” and such. Very clever, for the doors really blend right in, nicely! I enjoy seeing or guessing who is out with whom, who is the night bear, what toys are they getting for the day, how well do they interact with them, when napping time seems to be, watching Tatqiq birdwatch, and Kalluk chasing the women folk into the pool. (He really doesn’t like to swim alone, does he?!!) and even the food all over the exhibit and wondering what the treat of the day is! I often enjoy sipping my tea and watching you all cleaning up the plunge and taking such good care of them! I do miss watching them swim, though. There is something so wonderful and peaceful about those backfloats and seeing what I consider the most beautiful of all bears interacting with each other. And I do hope Tatqiq is all better and that there are no more sign of any illness. And thank you, again, for the lovely live cam. It means so much to me!
P.S.~Lainie~I have seen the 3 bears out together, quite often, but unless I am mistaken, they still don’t let them all out during the night. Only during the day, when zookeepers can keep an eye out on their interaction. In fact, see picture of Chinook and Kalluk at top of this article!
January 21st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Just saw moderator’s note about Kelly referring to this in her next blog entry. I have a smile on my face. If intuition proves correct, could this have something to do with breeding and the fact that Chinook would have to be alone on the exhibit when mating and with future cubs? Ah, the possibilities of more fuzzy faces!!
January 21st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Ahhh Debi, I only hope you are right !! =) I guess Kelly will fill us all in soon. But since neither girl has had a little cub before, and would be a first time mother, I’m guessing they would be inexperienced and therefore the little cub might have to be hand raised ? Okay, will be patient and try to await Kelly’s response, anxiously !! =)
January 21st, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Kelly, so much work in so little time! I’m glad you feel that your work is not boring because that attitude helps to keep you motivated to do all that you accomplish every day, day after day. The animals under your care and the zoo visitors benefit from your efforts and oversight. Thank you very much for all that you do for them and for us. Much of your work is done ” behind the scenes” so it is not obvious to the the casual viewer how much is done to keep the exhibits and animals in top condition. It was impressive, if not overwhelming, to read about your responsibilities. The SDZ is fortunate to have keepers like you.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:18 pm
God Bless You all! Frankly I don’t know how you guys get the chores done, on top of everything else. Cleaning those enclosures is a task! Definitely a labor of love and we, the cam fans, appreciate you immensely.
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:45 am
Wow…..I am sooooo jealous!!
When I started out in the ” world of work” we (in the UK anyway) didn’t have wildlife parks etc as we do nowadays and everything was so different. There just weren’t the opportunities to work with animals. I would love to be with animals all day but where I live it’s just too far to commute every day.
Your life, though very busy, sounds wonderful. I’ve been spending more time watching the bears lately. Who was the bear laying on his/her back sunbathing the other day? It reminded me of lemurs catching the rays.
Sometimes on the cam I’ve seen one or two of you hosing away around the pool. You are very lucky people.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Do you plan to let just the two girls, or Kalluk and Chinook, out some of the time, or perhaps overnight?
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Looks like Kalluk (?) just had a romping good time with the orange lid and is now snuggled up with the orange cone while taking a nap. Another bear (not sure who) is taking a stroll about the plunge, and the blackbirds are picking at scraps. So, while it is very arctic here in New England, with snow falling and bitter wind chills, the polar bears are soaking in the sun! Life is good!