#zookeeping

[the-vegan-muser]

I know she could kill me with minimal effort, but it’s hard to take her seriously when she sits like this.

[switchbackhyperloop]

On one hand, I totally get it when people describe dispassion as 'reptilian'. Herpetofauna can be pretty inscrutable to mammals who base so much of their communication skills on facial expressions.

On the other hand, I've worked with a ton of snakes, lizards, amphibians, etc, up close and personal, and they are a bunch of dramatic, emotional, demanding divas. Have you ever been on the receiving end of the Lizard Side Eye of Judgment? I have never felt so distained in my life.

[cluckamok]

Please tell me I'm not the only person who pointed excitedly at the screen and shouted "SEROW!" when the Japanese Serow was briefly on screen in S1E16 of Daemons of the Shadow Realm? They're such neat critters and I enjoyed working with them back when I was still in zookeeping. I was hoping there was a screencap floating around somewhere but it was the beastie that was briefly on screen that looked like this:

[zookeeperzebra]

what it’s like visiting other zoos as a zookeeper

[thedisablednaturalist]

God I hope that environmentalists, conservationists, zookeepers, etc. can figure out a way to unionize. I have no clue how a strike would work bc that would lead to our life's work being destroyed. If we stopped protecting these animals, ecosystems, etc. they would die. But it's horrible that getting a paid job is so freaking difficult bc you have to volunteer first, many positions require at least a college degree, and then when you finally get the job you're paid squat. Zookeepers usually have at the very least a bachelor's, most have doctorates. And get paid bupkis. But if we try to fight for higher wages we are called selfish and we are taking already limited resources away from those who need it most. Accredited zoos have to make difficult decisions to protect endangered species all the time, such as the Copenhagen Zoo deciding to put down a genetically invaluable Giraffe in order to make space for others.

I was able to ask one of the previous directors of the national zoo, "what is being done to insure fair wages for zookeepers, and expand opportunities to those who do not have the resources to volunteer?" I think I surprised her, but she said they were having workgroups and meetings on that issue. I believe that the national zoo has recently opened internships specifically for those with little experience, especially people of color, so that they can get training that will help them break into the field. I think they are paid but I'm not sure.

I don't think it's selfish for us to want to be able to afford rent, food, maybe a vacation once in a while too. We need to take care of ourselves so we can take care of our earth the best we can.

[local-hellhound-steals-spaghetti]

Hey, idk if you'd know this or not, but I've watch multiple zoo shows where they have a wild equine of some sort and to trim their hooves they always use a tranquilizer gun to put them out completely.

My question is why they don't train them to get hoof trims, with maybe some more minor sedition if needed like domestic horses do? I get that they are wild, but they have trained the giraffes to stand for foot care (at least this one zoo did), so idk why a zebra can't be taught that too. Especially when full sedation is so hard on the body and they're always concerned about them being down to long.

Is it because they don't want to habituate them to humans to much, or is it for safety of the person doing the hoof care? Are full hoof trims just to invasive of a procedure to train these wild equines to tolerate? Mix of all of these?

Really good question! So some zoos do train voluntary hoof trims but it depends on how many zebras are in your herd and how many staff you have.

This is a nice example of hoof trim training being used with a younger zebra, so they have the added benefit of early socialisation and habituation to people.

Also if you have your zebras out in a massive plains habitat, you'll need to be able to train them to come into a smaller area or recall to a station if you need to do husbandry. And

Ungulate keepers can be spread out across multiple species (though it depends on the zoo - that was the case at the zoo I did my zoo keeping course at) and their time is very limited to what they can acheive in that day. And it can also depend on the skill and experience - if no one on the team has experience in cooperative care it can be hard to get a cooperative care training plan going.

My experience has been that a lot of training and enrichment programs will take a backseat over general husbandry/cleaning and paperwork. And it sucks because training and enrichment are so vital to enhancing the welfare of your animals and sometimes upper management just doesn't get that.

So if a facility doesn't have the time, staff and resources to put towards training each individual zebra for a voluntary hoof trim (which could take months), sedation is the next best thing to ensure safety for the keepers and the animals. The stress for a wild flight animal is just going to be way too much for them and they will still need their hooves trimmed regardless.

The risk of complications around overgrown hooves or issues related to hooves are massive, so that has to be weighed against the effects of anesthesia.

As zoo keeping and cooperative care training advances, I've seen some really promising ideas about habitat design encouraging more movement on different substrates resulting in more natural hoof wear. Diet would be another consideration if we wanted to limit excessive hoof growth.

Would love if any ungulate keepers wanted to chime in with any thoughts!

This is a neat little video about why zebras need their hooves trimmed in human care:

Thanks for the question!

[starrypawz]

In the vein of my lemur meme THIS also happened more times than I could count in my past life as a zoo volunteer

[avesandaquatics]

Nobody talks about the walk of shame you have to do when you get into your vehicle at the end of the day and realize you still have your radio on 🥲