Notes From a Biophile: Gorilla Halloween and Job Hunting

It is quickly becoming apparent that the lack of degree is going to make securing a zoo job difficult. Though I feel like I have more knowledge, maturity, and passion than any zoo applicant fresh out of college, a paper certifying that I was given an education is foremost in most zoo's hiring requirements. Applications sent to The San Fransisco Zoo and The San Diego Zoo were rejected out of hand due to lack of degree and paid experience. Paid experience is another one. I could have 20 years of volunteer experience and it wouldn't be considered applicable as a consideration for employment in some zoos.

The Phoenix Zoo and The Bronx Zoo also both have applications of mine but I have not yet heard back from them. I don't expect to.

It is looking more and more like I will have to work for a roadside attraction, a sanctuary, or an animal education organization for a few years before I will have the experience necessary for zoo work. This means that we will probably heading south after Pittsburgh; Texas, Florida, Georgia, or Tennessee where these establishments are rampant and rather endemic.

Heather is all for the south (or certain areas of the south) and I am not uninterested but there is a sharp difference in zoos on the southern side of the Mason-Dixon line that is not apparent to the naked eye. Northern Zoos are much more likely to have unions, health care, and living wages (not to mention hospitable temperatures), while Dixie zoos are known for their minimum wage keeper positions. It is also a fact that zoos tend to treat their animals in much the same way as they treat their employees: if the keepers are offered a low wage, the animals are likely to be receiving rotten vegetables; if a keeper is offered a great benefits package, the animals are likely to get the veterinary care that they require. It would be frustrating to work at a zoo in which the animals were given sub-par care.

The ace up my sleeve is Roseann, my wonderful supervisor and teacher. She is a well respected keeper with nearly 30 years of experience and zoo contacts from all over the U.S. A good reference from her will hold a lot of weight in some quarters.

On a different note, fun goings-on are ever afoot at The Pittsburgh Zoo. For some reason Halloween is a major zoo holiday and the preparations are now well underway. The zoo is in the process of making a commercial for their Halloween festivities and the gorillas and I were happy to contribute. The other day I made a scarecrow with gorilla treats hidden throughout and today it was erected in their yard. Though it was my day off I was sitting front row when the action began.

Giving fun things for the animals to do is called enrichment, and providing enrichment is an important aspect of zoo keeping. Today was especially enriching for our gorillas because they were also given bedsheets and fig tree branches. The cherry on top was the fact that a peacock flew in to their enclosure right before they were let out. The gorillas didn't know what to run after first!

Here is a series of pictures documenting their fun.

First Roseann and Jon erected my masterpiece.