Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventure here on the Zoo’s website!
On February 24th, Interns had the opportunity to meet with Jessica Sheftel the Enrichment Supervisor at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Safari Park. Enrichment is providing stimulation for animals so that they exhibit their species typical behaviors. The time we spent together proved that enrichment is far more than just giving the animals something to play with.
Ms. Sheftel works closely with many of the keepers to determine what type of enrichment will be best suited for each species. She may ask them about feeding habits, how often they’re fed, how an animal may interact with their environment, and if the animal needs to be stimulated. Ms. Sheftel does this because she is in charge of helping a wide array of animals and doesn’t spend as much time with the animals as the keepers do. This close relationship with keepers prevents animal behaviors from being missed and helps Ms. Sheftel match enrichment material as closely as possible to the animal’s needs. Working with the keepers also allows Ms. Sheftel to get feedback on how each animal is doing in their enclosure. A keeper is able to see how the animal interacts in either a good or bad way and Ms. Sheftel is there to improve it and make it so that an animal will feel more like they would in the wild.
After giving us a presentation about her job, Ms. Sheftel had the interns design an enclosure for animals of our choice. The enclosures were shoeboxes and the animals were plastic, but it was fun nonetheless. My partner, Gillian, and I snatched the biggest box and decided to go for an African savannah themed enclosure. We picked a zebra, a giraffe, an ostrich, and a camel. This turned out to be very difficult. On top of making sure that each animal had enough food, we had to place the food in areas that the other species couldn’t get to. We put in large trees for shade and for scratching, mud to role in, a stream for drinking and cooling down, and tall grass with small rocks to hide bugs in for the ostriches. But where do you learn the skills needed to do design these things?
Ms. Sheftel didn’t begin her job at the Zoo as the Enrichment Supervisor. After high school, Ms. Sheftel went to college and got a degree in Anthropology with a minor in Behavioral Studies. In college, she had the opportunity to travel to Tanzania to study at Dar Es Salaam for four months, then work in the field in rural Tanzania for two months. Ms. Sheftel advised us that studying abroad is highly recommended if possible because it allows for you to look at the world in a new light and in the role of a student. As a student, you are not viewed as a tourist and will often be treated as a local. After experiencing a semester abroad, Ms. Sheftel decided that field work was just not what she was looking for in a career. After college, Ms. Sheftel worked at Zoo Atlanta and at the Language Research Center with Bonobos at Georgia State University. When she came to the San Diego Zoo, she worked as a keeper for eight years in the Children’s Zoo. While working as a keeper, Ms. Sheftel learned that keepers came from all sorts of backgrounds. Some had college experience with backgrounds in biology, psychology or even art. However, one of the most important things they did was get experience working closely with animals.
Without help from people like Ms. Sheftel, zoo animals wouldn’t be as actively engaged. It’s cool that she’s helping to develop different ways to stimulate wild behavior on a daily basis. Mrs. Sheftel taught me that even if you don’t end up working the job you’ve always wanted to, you’ll end up doing what you love if you work towards it.
Ahmad, Career Team
Week Four, Winter Session 2016
On February 24th, Interns had the opportunity to meet with Jessica Sheftel the Enrichment Supervisor at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Safari Park. Enrichment is providing stimulation for animals so that they exhibit their species typical behaviors. The time we spent together proved that enrichment is far more than just giving the animals something to play with.
Ms. Sheftel works closely with many of the keepers to determine what type of enrichment will be best suited for each species. She may ask them about feeding habits, how often they’re fed, how an animal may interact with their environment, and if the animal needs to be stimulated. Ms. Sheftel does this because she is in charge of helping a wide array of animals and doesn’t spend as much time with the animals as the keepers do. This close relationship with keepers prevents animal behaviors from being missed and helps Ms. Sheftel match enrichment material as closely as possible to the animal’s needs. Working with the keepers also allows Ms. Sheftel to get feedback on how each animal is doing in their enclosure. A keeper is able to see how the animal interacts in either a good or bad way and Ms. Sheftel is there to improve it and make it so that an animal will feel more like they would in the wild.
After giving us a presentation about her job, Ms. Sheftel had the interns design an enclosure for animals of our choice. The enclosures were shoeboxes and the animals were plastic, but it was fun nonetheless. My partner, Gillian, and I snatched the biggest box and decided to go for an African savannah themed enclosure. We picked a zebra, a giraffe, an ostrich, and a camel. This turned out to be very difficult. On top of making sure that each animal had enough food, we had to place the food in areas that the other species couldn’t get to. We put in large trees for shade and for scratching, mud to role in, a stream for drinking and cooling down, and tall grass with small rocks to hide bugs in for the ostriches. But where do you learn the skills needed to do design these things?
Ms. Sheftel didn’t begin her job at the Zoo as the Enrichment Supervisor. After high school, Ms. Sheftel went to college and got a degree in Anthropology with a minor in Behavioral Studies. In college, she had the opportunity to travel to Tanzania to study at Dar Es Salaam for four months, then work in the field in rural Tanzania for two months. Ms. Sheftel advised us that studying abroad is highly recommended if possible because it allows for you to look at the world in a new light and in the role of a student. As a student, you are not viewed as a tourist and will often be treated as a local. After experiencing a semester abroad, Ms. Sheftel decided that field work was just not what she was looking for in a career. After college, Ms. Sheftel worked at Zoo Atlanta and at the Language Research Center with Bonobos at Georgia State University. When she came to the San Diego Zoo, she worked as a keeper for eight years in the Children’s Zoo. While working as a keeper, Ms. Sheftel learned that keepers came from all sorts of backgrounds. Some had college experience with backgrounds in biology, psychology or even art. However, one of the most important things they did was get experience working closely with animals.
Without help from people like Ms. Sheftel, zoo animals wouldn’t be as actively engaged. It’s cool that she’s helping to develop different ways to stimulate wild behavior on a daily basis. Mrs. Sheftel taught me that even if you don’t end up working the job you’ve always wanted to, you’ll end up doing what you love if you work towards it.
Ahmad, Career Team
Week Four, Winter Session 2016
