Coming face to face with three curious giraffes, tossing apples to Indian rhinos, what a memorable way to complete our last InternQuest day at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. Torrey Pillsbury and Michele Gaffney, Senior Keepers at the Park, led us through both the Asian Plains and East African areas of the expansive field exhibits. These two vast enclosures house a large number of species together to mimic the animals’ natural social setting. Ms. Pillsbury and Ms. Gaffney described their detailed routines during the day complete with counting the animals within herds, feeding the animals, and observing the groups for any signs of abnormal behavior. What an immense task with such large enclosures! To keep track of the animals in the field, Ms. Pillsbury and Ms. Gaffney use a specific counting system with ear notches along with specifically colored ear tags. Our experience was notably informative and entertaining, especially for close observations of rhinos and giraffes. This was particularly insightful for viewing different animal adaptations that enhance an individual’s food acquisition abilities. For instance, we quickly observed that rhinos have a prehensile lip after repeatedly tossing them apples. We also noted how advantageous a giraffe’s lengthy purple tongue is for ripping off acacia leaves, almost like a hand grasping a branch. These animals were not shy about asking for food, and we certainly got an up close and personal experience.

Ms. Pillsbury and Ms. Gaffney also pointed out the energetic Przewalski’s horses located in an exhibit adjacent to the field enclosure. This horse species, scientifically documented in 1881, was once extinct in the wild but has now been reintroduced to China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. The horses are particularly important in Mongolian culture, considered horses of the gods. Another intriguing aspect of the Przewalski’s horse is that it could quite possibly be the only equid species to have never been domesticated. The research regarding this possibility conducted at the Beckman Center for Conservation Research is based on DNA samples from Przewalski’s horse bones from the St. Petersburg Museum in Russia. The result from such a study would shed historical light on human and horse relationships.

Alicia, Real World Team

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