Zoo Animals You’ve Come To Know Personally?

T

TheFrogLady

Well-Known Member
Might be a bit of weird topic, but has there been any zoo animals that you’ve come to know personally? (be it working with them, maybe meeting them in an animal encounter or behind the scenes tour, etc.)
 
Prochilodus246 said:
Kate the Asian elephant at Blackpool Zoo.

Back when the old elephant enclosure was home to Kate, I met her behind the scenes in early March 2016 and did some foot checks with the keepers. I remember vividly her foot felt very rough, almost like sandpaper. Crazy to believe that was almost 10 years ago now. :eek:
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That sounds amazing!
 
For me, I’ve spent a lot of time with the giraffes at the Toledo Zoo’s Giraffe Feed Deck while volunteering at the zoo and working as one of the deck’s employees.
 
During my time at Dudley zoo whilst doing the Zoo/Animal Management course I got to know quite a few animals, the one that I am most proud of was Pepe the adult male chimp,anyone who knew him was aware of his personality . Infact he was an absolute horror and his temper tantrums were legendary (he actually smashed the reinforced glass separating his indoor cage from the public corridor). However, after only working on the Ape and primates section for two days he allowed me to give him his drinks of fruit juice and tea via a metal teapot through the bars of the door in the service corridor, some staff who had been there along time weren't accepted like this. Even after I had finished my course I would occasionally visit the zoo and my first place to go to would be to see Pepe and get permission from the staff to give him his drinks and have a little chat. Great Days!!
 
I'm a Primate Specialist Docent at the LA Zoo, so I get to spend my Saturdays talking about our monkeys and apes, moving from exhibit to exhibit depending on the crowds and what other volunteers are doing. But whenever I can, I go to the Siamang Exhibit and hang out with the female Siamang. She's an older girl, in her late 30's now, and if the exhibit is quiet, she'll come down to ground level so we can see each other eye-to-eye. And she'll sit and make her quiet, happy vocalizations while I tell her how amazing she is. In the beginning, I assumed that it was the volunteer uniform that she was responding to, but I went to visit her one day in my street clothes, and she still came down to spend time with me. The biggest honor of my volunteer life!
 
When I was in ZooCrew at the Philadelphia Zoo, I spent a lot of time with the goats and sheep and we were encouraged to remember them all, which was hard because there were so many. One of the goats I remember was Saanen goat named Breezy who was bottle-fed by his original owners making him a bit of a nuisance and he liked to nibble on people's clothes. One time he snuck up behind me and started chewing on my shirt and I thought someone was tucking in my shirt for me and I said, "Oh thank you." Imagine my surprise when I saw a 300-pound billy goat. also know many of the cats that lived at the Philadelphia Zoo. I loved seeing Makini and Tajiri the lions build a family and I loved how shy and elusive Jutai the jaguar was. I also love the gibbon family at the Philadelphia Zoo. Loved interacting with baby Orion and him smacking the glass that I was on the other side of.
 
Strathmorezoo said:
During my time at Dudley zoo whilst doing the Zoo/Animal Management course I got to know quite a few animals, the one that I am most proud of was Pepe the adult male chimp,anyone who knew him was aware of his personality . Infact he was an absolute horror and his temper tantrums were legendary (he actually smashed the reinforced glass separating his indoor cage from the public corridor). However, after only working on the Ape and primates section for two days he allowed me to give him his drinks of fruit juice and tea via a metal teapot through the bars of the door in the service corridor, some staff who had been there along time weren't accepted like this. Even after I had finished my course I would occasionally visit the zoo and my first place to go to would be to see Pepe and get permission from the staff to give him his drinks and have a little chat. Great Days!!
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@Strathmorezoo you may be interested in this thread I made a few years ago...

21st Century Animal Icons: Dudley Zoological Gardens [Dudley Zoological Gardens] - ZooChat
 
Benosaurus, thank you for pointing out this thread to me. I have a few comments about some of the animals that you mentioned that I actually worked with.
Inca, a remarkable animal and the other Asiatics involved me in a funny story which I posted in zoo confession thread .
Filon was there during my time, he had quite a pleasant nature
I remember Flossie a and Kasama,Flora replaced Kasama after she died.My work experience with elephants lasted all of two days, they had great fun hitting me with their trunks
It was decided that it was becoming too dangerous for me, I didn't disagree.
I remember Azimat and Jazz was born during my time there.
Also Bonzo the gorilla was still alive then.He arrived at Dudley just after the Ape House was built in 1962 and died in 1994. Interestingly he was the last wild caught male gorilla to die in captivity. He arrived with a female (can't remember when she died)but apparently he wasn't very good with her. He actually attacked a keeper in the 1960s, hospitalised her. There was always talk of getting a new female for him ,but it was thought that his aggressive behaviour was becoming worse. Obviously ,genetically he was vitally important and it had been suggested at various times to use his sperms, unfortunately this never happened for reasons only the vets knew.
Hope these few notes are of interest
 
I was a zookeeper for 6 years and love and miss my animals! I got to know them so well - I spent more time with them than I did my own family.
 
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