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 wondered what kinds of food the many different species of animals presiding at the San Diego Zoo eat? Have you ever wanted to know who is responsible for meeting the diverse nutritional needs of the 4,000 individual animals that you may see during your visit? Several interns were given the opportunity to do so by meeting with Deborah Lowe, the Nutritional Services Supervisor at the Nutrition Department at the San Diego Zoo, as well as, Dr. Katie Kerr, an Associate Nutritionist. Ms. Lowe received her undergraduate degree in general Biology from University of California, San Diego and Dr. Kerr received her PhD in animal nutrition. These two showed interns around the Forage Warehouse, where all the food for the Zoo’s animals is sorted and prepared. Interns saw the multiple freezers where fruit, meat, vegetables and other perishable foods are stored as well as a barn where hay, insects, food pellets and seeds are stored. It was truly an exciting experience, with thousands of crickets and worms crawling on each other, lots of fascinating information, a little history on the department and even some ghost stories! While, I could go on about all the interesting things that the interns saw, it’s time to look at nutrition from a conservation standpoint.
Now, you might be thinking, how in the world does nutrition have anything to do with conservation? Too my surprise, quite a lot! The nutritionists have the very important job of keeping the many animals at the Zoo happy and healthy, alongside making sure that each individual is well fed and that their nutritional needs are met. The diet that each animal at the Zoo is provided directly affects their appearance, behavior and health. Each day, the nutritionists, like Dr. Kerr, carefully record the number of calories, vitamins and minerals that each animal intakes. Dr. Kerr modify these values based upon size, age, dietary needs and also reflecting what the animals would eat in the natural world. Dr. Kerr pays attention to these small details for good reason, if these animals fall ill or are experiencing dietary issues, they need act quickly to adjust their diets so that animals can return to prime form as soon as possible. Without the efforts of specialized nutritionists, the breeding and restoration programs for endangered species would be at risk, since many species will simply not breed if they have an inadequate diet, a behavior often seen in the wild when resource levels are not adequate to rear young.
Another interesting way that Forage team, including Ms. Lowe, contributes to the conservation of species at the Zoo, is the manner in which they feed the animals. Instead of feeding the animals in the same manner that house pets are fed, which leads to repetitive behaviors and boredom due to lack of stimulus, the Nutrition Team works with keepers to help keep the animals mentally stimulated. This is done by sometimes putting food up trees or behind rocks, sometimes even creating puzzles for animals to solve. This is also sometimes incorporated in order to trick animals into taking medicine, for instance by putting pills inside crunchy peanut butter, so that animals can’t identify the pills and spit them out.
Nutrition cannot only be applied to conservation at the Zoo, but it may also be applied in your day-to-day life at home. Being careful about what you throw away and avoiding wasting food are two great ways to contribute to conservational efforts. Instead of simply throwing food parts that you don’t eat, such as fruit peels, vegetable peels, and left overs, you can create a compost. Compost can recycle to the nutrience in the left overs so that they may be repurposed as fertilizer. Another way is by resisting the urge to feed wild animals, as this makes them less fearful of humans, increasing their change of being killed or hurting people. The next time someone tells you nutrition has nothing to do with conservation, you’ll be ready!
Mael, Conservation Team
Week One, Winter Session 2019
