On our first day exploring the San Diego Zoo as official interns, we were lead by Rachelle Marcon. An educator and guide at the zoo, she was able to tell us many exciting and fun facts about the animals we saw.

One of the most adaptable animals we saw was the koala. Imagine eating eucalyptus bows everyday, having to use your keen sense of smell to determine the least toxic (yes, your favorite and only food is toxic), and still getting 18-20 hours of sleep everyday!

Even though this koala looks like a newborn, it was actually born six months ago and was the size of a jelly bean!

We learned that koalas have two thumbs on their front paw for better climbing and grasping abilities.

Amu, the camel, is living happily with three other Bactrian camels: Mongo (pictured), the male of the herd, and the other two females, Heidi and Mouse. Their humps are used for storing fats for cold their homeland Mongolian winters. The Bactrian camels are also known for their thick and shaggy winter coats, which they are currently sporting.

Kristi Dovich, animal behavior manager at the San Diego Zoo, has been training a sea lion named Riley to perform a back flip. Riley, has been learning this trick for about three weeks. Communicating with animals can be difficult but Kristi Dovich has patience and skill that help enable her to be an effective trainer. Being able to sit in on a training session was a really awesome experience for the Zoo InternQuest interns!

Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

Our last day at the Wild Animal Park (WAP) was a real treat. We got to ride out on the back of a keeper truck with the guidance of keepers Michele Gaffney and Torrey Pillsbury. Yes you read right, a keeper truck! Not the photo caravans where you sit comfortably on benches, but a keeper truck where, much to the dismay of my fellow intern who wore shorts, we got to sit on bales of hay.

As I tried to find a position that was optimal for picture taking, Ms. Pillsbury told us about the tagging system that they did with the animals. Instead of notches, the animals are marked with tags. Tagging on the ears can count up to 400. Sometimes, the tag will fall out but you can still see what number they are by the hole that the tag left. Keepers log all this info down to track the animals.

When it came time to feed the rhinos, we had a heck of a time getting close to them. At first, they were very skittish and would not come close to the truck. But after about thirty minutes of chasing them around in the truck and bribing them with apples, they sauntered on over.

Oddly enough, a baby rhino is one of the cutest things that we had ever seen. Just seeing him pad around in his little armor was hilarious. As his mother ate the apples that we offered her, the baby was content with sucking on the bumper of the truck

What better way to end things than to go full circle? On our first day out, we fed the giraffes with Rachelle Marcon and now here we are on Week 6 feeding the giraffes at the WAP. Things were a bit different this time though, we were at their level. Well, almost. It was truly amazing to be able to look into those big eyes of theirs. It was almost enough for us not to mind the fact that we got acacia dribble all over us.

Regina, Photography Team

Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

I was surprised to find out that despite common belief peanuts go to the birds. Yes, you read right, peanuts don’t go to the elephants. As a matter of fact, it’s been quite a few years since an elephant at the Zoo has been fed a peanut. Sorry for bursting your bubble.

And how do I know this? This week we met with Dr. Michael Schlegel whose job it is to supervise the nutritional service department. More than making diets, Dr. Schlegel finds out what nutrients an animal needs. This is easier said than done though because you can’t exactly find a National Research Council (NRC) research document on California condors. So what Dr. Schlegel does is find a NRC on an animal that’s diet most resembles that of the animal in question, which in the case of the California condor would a be a feline. Of course a bird and a cat do not have the exact same needs even if they have similar diets, so adjustments are made accordingly.

I have often wondered what happens to the fruits that the plants on Zoo property produce. Dr. Schlegel informed us that a deal with the horticulture department ensures that fruit and leaves harvested on Zoo and Wild Animal Park grounds enhance the stocks of food for the animals. Now you know what happens to the guavas in front of the Kopje exhibit at the Zoo.

The forage warehouse (where the produce is stored) is divided into two sections: meat and vegetables. The veggie fridge itself was huge storing meal worms, sugar cane, and everything in between. The meat freezer had more of your “everyday” items: apple snails, mice, rabbits, and oyster shells.

Regina, Photography Team

We were delighted to meet with Dr. Chris Tubbs, an endocrinologist at CRES whose primary focus is pregnancy testing in rhinos. We learned that the best way to determine whether or not a rhino is pregnant is by running tests on its blood, urine, or feces to quantify the amount of progesterone in its body. Dr. Tubbs showed us how it’s done and then gave us the opportunity to experience the process of analyzing hormone levels for ourselves.

Using pipettes to aliquot enzymes into the test tubes made us feel like real scientists. An EIA (Enzyme Immuno Assay) measures changes in color and is used to quantify the amount of hormone in a sample. This process can sometimes take a couple of days but is a very important aspect of the scientists’ work in the Reproductive Physiology division at CRES.

In the Reproductive Physiology division, sperm is saved and stored in the Frozen Zoo where it can later be used for research or for artificial insemination. Sperm can be obtained when an animal is neutered or after an animal has died. Nicole, Tom, and Barbara, scientists at CRES, taught us how to count sperm, determine if it is alive or dead, and also how different methods are used to perform these tasks. Counting sperm through a microscope proved to be a little challenging because they are constantly moving around the slide! For this reason, specialized machinery that utilizes florescent light and dye labels is often used to count sperm cells. The machine was much faster and more accurate than our attempts to count the sperm with the naked eye.

Nina, Photography Team

Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

A lot of people don’t know that the mallards, white egrets, and the blue herons that are found in the bird enclosures aren’t actually a part of the bird collection (which last year contained more than 1,890 birds). In fact, these free loaders steal food from the birds in the collection. Which makes a bird keepers job all that more difficult because they have to make sure that the bird in the collection get fed and that the moochers don’t steal their food.

As Josh Zelt, a Bird Keeper at the Zoo, fed the flamingos and various freeloader ducks he provided us with some interesting tid-bits. It’s a well known fact that flamingos get their famous coloration from the crustaceans they eat, but what a lot of us didn’t know was that you could tell a mother flamingo apart from the rest because they are paler than the rest. This is because she gives her nutrients to her chick before she eats.

For me, it was very impressive to find out that Mr. Zelt got his job by working his way up. Instead of being hired on as a keeper, Mr. Zelt got hired as a building and grounds attendant nearly nine years ago. Thanks to his hard work and determination, he is a bird keeper now.

Perhaps it was only the fact that he was carrying food, but the way these birds flocked to Mr. Zelt, you would swear that it was something more. It was obvious in the way that Mr. Zelt spoke about these birds that he cared for each and every one of them as they were his own children. I can only hope that whatever job I end up doing, I enjoy it as much as Mr. Zelt enjoys his.

Regina, Photography Team

Todd Schmidt is a Senior Herpetology Keeper at the San Diego Zoo, a job that he has dreamed of having ever since he was child. His job is to take care of the reptiles in his corridor of the Reptile House. Being a herpetologist is a job that requires skill and accuracy and if not cautious may be dangerous. Mr. Schmidt must take many safety precautions because many poisonous snakes reside in his area of the Reptile House.For example, when working with the spitting cobras, Schmidt wears a facemask. Equally as important as the safety equipment is being well versed in the animals’ natural behavior. Just because an animal is venomous doesn’t mean it wants to bite you. The herpetology keepers know each individual animal and they know the general behaviors of the species. Herpetologist keepers are a smart group.

The Brachylophus fasciatus, commonly known as the Fiji Banded Iguana, is a species of lizard that makes its home in the trees on the islands of Fiji and Tonga. Due to the introduction of mongoose and cats to the islands and habitat destruction, Fiji banded iguana populations have been declining over the past century. However, the one pictured above is a hybrid of the species, a rare individual with unique markings. These iguanas are actually owned by Fiji’s government and are being taken care of by the San Diego Zoo.

Corucia zebrata, commonly know as the Solomon Islands skink, is a species of reptile living in the trees of the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands skink is the largest species of skink. It is herbivorous, eating different types of fruit, and veggies, and the pothos plant.While observing the many unique creatures, this one caught my eye with its eye catching color and interesting skin.

The alligator snapping turtle is one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world, reaching a weight of 220 pounds. These amazingly huge turtles can remain submerged under the water for one hour; with typically only the nesting females venturing out onto open land.Todd Schidmt, Senior Herpetologist Keeper, demonstrated the proper way to handle these amazingly huge turtles.

The Mossy Tree Frog, Theloderma corticale, is found in Vietnam and possibly China. This species is threatened by habitat loss. The amphibian’s dappled green and black bumpy skin gives this animal excellent camouflage in its surroundings. The mossy tree frog sat still in the hands of Todd Schimdt while the interns were busy chattering away with its neat looks.

Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

J.P. Montagne, a Senior Research Technician at the Zoo, told us all about biodiversity and why it’s so important to protect. Something I was surprised to learn was that the Wild Animal Park (WAP) is situated on 1800 acres, only 900 of which can ever be developed, the other 900 are preserved for conservation. 600 of the undeveloped acres are part of the Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP). The MSCP works to conserve biodiversity by preserving a network of interconnected habitats. It just so happens that San Diego County has the highest number of endemic plant and animal species (“endemic” means found nowhere else on the planet), higher than any other county in the continental United States the bulk of which are located on WAP lands.

So what were we going to do for the day? I wasn’t too sure on what “Applied Animal Ecology” meant but when Mr. Montagne hurried through our lecture on account of wanting us to have as much time out on the field as possible, I knew that we were going to do some field research. We checked several arrays of pitfall traps where reptiles, amphibians, and even bugs had fallen in over night. These traps consisted of fencing and buckets buried into the ground. The hope was that something would crash into the fencing and either veer right or left and eventually fall into the buckets where we would uncover it and log our findings.

I love all animals but lizards have never have been high on my list of favorites. So when Mr. Montagne opened that first bucket and uncovered a tiny juvenile orange-throated whiptail I didn’t expect to think it was the cutest things I’d ever seen. When Mr. Montagne offered to let us hold the lizard, I jumped at the opportunity. Although I did have a pet iguana a couple years back, I had never held such a tiny animal in my hands, so needless to say I was more than a bit scared of crushing it in my fingers. But the second I felt that tiny creature’s heartbeat between my fingers I was immediately astounded. It was such a small animal that I was surprised at the strength of its heartbeat. After that I went from bucket to bucket, fervently hoping to find another little heartbeat.

Regina, Photography Team

Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

Laura Keener, Senior Clinical Laboratory Manager, literally gave interns an overview of Clinical Pathology, I have the handout to prove it. Although the diagnosis of disease through laboratory work, which involves analysis of urine and fecal samples, doesn’t sound like an appealing job to most, Ms. Keener’s enthusiasm is infectious, no pun intended. Her excitement as she described the trials and tribulations of practicing wildlife medicine made me see Veterinary Clinical Pathology as a new frontier. In human medicine, pathologists only have to study one species, Homo sapiens; however, clinical pathologists practicing veterinary medicine always have to ask themselves “is this normal for this species?” So who can blame Ms. Keener for freaking out when she saw that a pig that was brought to the Zoo had blood cells that appeared anemic. Tests on the rest of the pigs in the new party revealed that this blood cell formation was normal for this species. Who knew?

Once inside the Pathology Lab, we took a first-hand look at the equipment that makes diagnosis possible. One such machine is the point of care analyzer (POC), which allows for the analysis of the blood of 180 species. Of course, manufacturing companies don’t mass-produce equipment like this for veterinary medicine, so Ms. Keener spent over a year searching for this particular machine.

Using a teaching telescope, we were able to see a sample of nematode eggs found in an excretory sample. But I think the highlight of our tour of the Pathology Lab was being able to see a sample of a tapeworm segment from a rhino, which Ms. Keener is holding in her blue-gloved hand. Even though it is my goal to become a veterinarian, I can’t quite stomach the thought of tapeworms. But I found this sample fascinating; it was just a single segment but it was huge! This single segment was as long as my thumb, so you can imagine how long the whole creature must be! Thankfully, after some testing, the worm was found to be non-pathogenic.

Even though they spend the majority of their time surveying for diseases and analyzing samples from deceased animals, the clinical pathologists at the Zoo have a sense of humor. This is obvious upon entering the Pathology Lab where you are greeted by two residents: “Pee” and “Poo” (plush toys that a former analyst gifted to the department). Another sample of this humor that we found particularly amusing was a “Dead End” road sign strategically placed in the room where pathologists perform necropsies.

Regina, Photography Team

Interns display enthusiastic response to Ms. Marcon’s statement of “Oh, it’s okay, you can pet him.”

As Ms. Marcon described the size of infant meerkats, this little digger kept a watch on us predators.

One fact that the interns were surprised to learn was that the value of the Zoo’s plant collection far outweighs the value its animal collection. Chew on that lettuce!

Travis (juvenile Masai giraffe) makes futile attempts to eat Ms. Marcon’s radio.

Who needs a spa?! Rhino’s get their R&R in refreshingly cleansing mud baths.