National Zoo Keeper Week 2018
National Zoo Keeper Week Reminds Me What It’s All About
By Lisa Walker
July 16, 2018
Animal care is synonymous with sacrifice — whether the caretaker is a zoo keeper, a vet tech, a kennel worker, or anyone else who is working closely with animals. Every day we choose to put the needs of the animals in our care above our own. Missing out year after year on holidays, family events, and traditional weekends are a part of the gig.
As zookeepers, we are rewarded by bearing witness to and directly impacting the daily lives of all the amazing species in our collections.
“It is imperative that we use every opportunity we can to inspire visitors to appreciate wildlife and their natural habitats.”
In the Bronx Zoo’s World of Birds Brooder Room, where I frequently spend a portion of my day, there is a constant flux of birds in and out that require a special dedication. The brooder is often full of baby birds that need to be hand-raised and fed every other hour or a fledged-too-soon chick that was not getting adequate attention from the parents. Then there are birds that just need a little recovery time from an illness or injury before returning to their exhibit.
Keepers’ early starts and late stays are important to making sure these birds are getting what they need. This is exhausting physically, mentally, and emotionally.
A lot of effort goes into ensuring that our birds are either growing up healthy and hitting all their developmental stages or regaining their health during their recuperation period.
I get great satisfaction seeing a bird leave the Brooder room — whether it is on to the next stage of their growth in a larger space to gain flight muscle or back to the exhibit they came from because they are feeling better.
As a keeper I am surrounded by amazing animals. Nevertheless, like in any other line of work there are days it is difficult to find a smile or days so busy it is almost impossible to find a few moments to grab a bite to eat.
Then I go out on to the public floor and hear the excited whispers. “She’s a zookeeper! She is going to feed the animals!” Or my all-time personal favorite (heard while soaked in sweat, scrubbing a penguin pool): “Look kids, it’s a Zookeeperus americanus in her natural habitat.”
It’s those whispers that remind me how fortunate I am to spend my day doing what I do. It is imperative that we use every opportunity we can to inspire visitors to appreciate wildlife and their natural habitats.
That’s why I keep coming back. Well, that and the baby birds of course.
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Lisa Walker is the provisional senior wild animal keeper in the Ornithology Department at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo in New York City and a member of the American Association of Zookeepers (AAZK).
