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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 adventures here on the Zoo’s website!
Have you ever had to babysit? If so, then you know how you have to keep children constantly engaged with some form of activity. Toys, games, food, you name it. The animals at the San Diego Zoo aren’t much different; to keep ‘em happy, you gotta keep ‘em busy! The interns were shown just how to go about that by Ms. Jessica Sheftel, the Enrichment Supervisor here at the Zoo. Follow along, and you can learn, too!
Decades ago, zoos would keep their animal enclosures spotless, sterile, small, and built entirely from concrete. They would place objects, such as balls, into the enclosures to see how the animals would react to these newfangled things. However, as the Zoo began to focus on conservation, like it does now, the staff learned that having the animals’ enclosures set up in that way was not healthy for their well-being. Animals need to have a wide area to roam that resembles their natural habitat. The toys and objects that go into their enclosures should encourage natural behavior. For example, a monkey will need to have a series of branches and ropes to climb across. Rather than putting their food bowls on the ground, they are attached to some of these ropes and branches to simulate gathering food in the wild. Another example would be species of snakes that reside in desert environments, like rattlesnakes. The zookeepers put rocks and logs in the enclosure to give the snakes the opportunity to squeeze through and under things, like they do in their natural desert habitat. When it comes to enrichment, there are many things to take into consideration!
As the Enrichment Supervisor, Ms. Sheftel is in charge of coming up with new and innovative activities to keep the animals busy and engaged. Their physical and mental health is important! For the Zoo’s spectacled bear, the staff hid a yummy honeycomb high up in a tree. This encouraged the bear to climb to the top o’ the tree to find his delicious treat. The tigers got a food-based challenge as well. The Zoo crew stuck a shank of meat onto a bungie cord that they hung from a tree branch. When one of the tigers saw it, he had at it! The bungie meat proved a challenge for the tiger to get ahold of, but the payoff was delicious. He got a workout and a snack. A two-for-one deal! Some of the animals’ activities encourage them to think outside the box… literally! In the primates’ bedrooms, there are skylights on the ceiling. Sometimes, the staff will put cylinders full of food behind the skylights. In order for the apes to get the food, they need to turn the cylinders over by putting their fingers through the grating. Once the containers have been flipped, their prize will fall out. Perhaps the most ambitious activity Ms. Sheftel conducted was during a time when the polar bears were shifted off exhibit. During this time, the reindeer were moved over to the polar bear exhibit. In their new enclosure, the reindeer had a chance to explore a completely foreign area. After looking around for a while, the reindeer were moved back to their main enclosure. Once the reindeer returned to their exhibit, the polar bears had the opportunity to explore their exhibit now smelling of reindeer. This got the polar bears sniffing like mad, searching every nook and cranny of the enclosure. Not only did the reindeer get to go on an exciting excursion, but the polar bears got to experience new scents to keep them engaged. Since polar bears rely heavily on their sense of smell when hunting, this simulated what life might be like for them in the wild. These are but a few of the enrichment activities the hundreds of animals at the Zoo get to experience.
In order to give the interns a better understanding of what goes into activity and enclosure design, Ms. Sheftel gave us some shoeboxes, crafting supplies, and animal figures to make mini enclosures of our own. While creating these enclosures, the interns had to keep in mind important aspects of making them fit for an animal, such as a water source, where they will get their food, where they can rest when they need a break, and what objects should be included so that they can have maximum engagement. The enclosures that were built included an aviary for birds with perches and lush branches, a savannah for lions with tall grass and big rocks to perch on, and a forest for a moose and beaver with thick trees to hide in and logs to build a dam. While the enclosures may have been small, it gave the interns a big understanding of the things you need to consider when building. Once we were done building the enclosures, Ms. Sheftel showed us what it’s like to get up close and personal with an animal interacting with handmade enrichment. We witnessed the squirrel monkeys, who reside in the Children’s Zoo, get different containers of food that they had to figure out how to open. These included paper bags, plastic Tupperware, and peanuts. The paper bags and peanuts proved much easier to open than the Tupperware! It’s important that more challenging items like the Tupperware are included because food isn’t always easy to come by in the wild.
Keeping the animals engaged is one of the most important aspects to keeping them healthy. It’s clear to see that Ms. Sheftel and the San Diego Zoo understands this. I hope you were as engaged as the animals. I sure was!
David, Real World
Week Three, Fall 2016
Have you ever had to babysit? If so, then you know how you have to keep children constantly engaged with some form of activity. Toys, games, food, you name it. The animals at the San Diego Zoo aren’t much different; to keep ‘em happy, you gotta keep ‘em busy! The interns were shown just how to go about that by Ms. Jessica Sheftel, the Enrichment Supervisor here at the Zoo. Follow along, and you can learn, too!
Decades ago, zoos would keep their animal enclosures spotless, sterile, small, and built entirely from concrete. They would place objects, such as balls, into the enclosures to see how the animals would react to these newfangled things. However, as the Zoo began to focus on conservation, like it does now, the staff learned that having the animals’ enclosures set up in that way was not healthy for their well-being. Animals need to have a wide area to roam that resembles their natural habitat. The toys and objects that go into their enclosures should encourage natural behavior. For example, a monkey will need to have a series of branches and ropes to climb across. Rather than putting their food bowls on the ground, they are attached to some of these ropes and branches to simulate gathering food in the wild. Another example would be species of snakes that reside in desert environments, like rattlesnakes. The zookeepers put rocks and logs in the enclosure to give the snakes the opportunity to squeeze through and under things, like they do in their natural desert habitat. When it comes to enrichment, there are many things to take into consideration!
As the Enrichment Supervisor, Ms. Sheftel is in charge of coming up with new and innovative activities to keep the animals busy and engaged. Their physical and mental health is important! For the Zoo’s spectacled bear, the staff hid a yummy honeycomb high up in a tree. This encouraged the bear to climb to the top o’ the tree to find his delicious treat. The tigers got a food-based challenge as well. The Zoo crew stuck a shank of meat onto a bungie cord that they hung from a tree branch. When one of the tigers saw it, he had at it! The bungie meat proved a challenge for the tiger to get ahold of, but the payoff was delicious. He got a workout and a snack. A two-for-one deal! Some of the animals’ activities encourage them to think outside the box… literally! In the primates’ bedrooms, there are skylights on the ceiling. Sometimes, the staff will put cylinders full of food behind the skylights. In order for the apes to get the food, they need to turn the cylinders over by putting their fingers through the grating. Once the containers have been flipped, their prize will fall out. Perhaps the most ambitious activity Ms. Sheftel conducted was during a time when the polar bears were shifted off exhibit. During this time, the reindeer were moved over to the polar bear exhibit. In their new enclosure, the reindeer had a chance to explore a completely foreign area. After looking around for a while, the reindeer were moved back to their main enclosure. Once the reindeer returned to their exhibit, the polar bears had the opportunity to explore their exhibit now smelling of reindeer. This got the polar bears sniffing like mad, searching every nook and cranny of the enclosure. Not only did the reindeer get to go on an exciting excursion, but the polar bears got to experience new scents to keep them engaged. Since polar bears rely heavily on their sense of smell when hunting, this simulated what life might be like for them in the wild. These are but a few of the enrichment activities the hundreds of animals at the Zoo get to experience.
In order to give the interns a better understanding of what goes into activity and enclosure design, Ms. Sheftel gave us some shoeboxes, crafting supplies, and animal figures to make mini enclosures of our own. While creating these enclosures, the interns had to keep in mind important aspects of making them fit for an animal, such as a water source, where they will get their food, where they can rest when they need a break, and what objects should be included so that they can have maximum engagement. The enclosures that were built included an aviary for birds with perches and lush branches, a savannah for lions with tall grass and big rocks to perch on, and a forest for a moose and beaver with thick trees to hide in and logs to build a dam. While the enclosures may have been small, it gave the interns a big understanding of the things you need to consider when building. Once we were done building the enclosures, Ms. Sheftel showed us what it’s like to get up close and personal with an animal interacting with handmade enrichment. We witnessed the squirrel monkeys, who reside in the Children’s Zoo, get different containers of food that they had to figure out how to open. These included paper bags, plastic Tupperware, and peanuts. The paper bags and peanuts proved much easier to open than the Tupperware! It’s important that more challenging items like the Tupperware are included because food isn’t always easy to come by in the wild.
Keeping the animals engaged is one of the most important aspects to keeping them healthy. It’s clear to see that Ms. Sheftel and the San Diego Zoo understands this. I hope you were as engaged as the animals. I sure was!
David, Real World
Week Three, Fall 2016
