My Day at the Zoo

I’ve been walking with the camel for several weeks now. Tula and I are getting acquainted with each other, and are learning each other’s quirks.

The biggest problem I’m having is that she is basically an extremely stubborn animal, and she believes that she does not have to obey me. Shannon, the Curator of Animals, must be obeyed on sight apparently – all she has to do is walk passed us and Tula is walking like a pro. It’s kind of funny when it happens. The minute Shannon is no longer in view, Tula reverts back to her stubborn ways. She knows exactly what she’s doing!

Just yesterday Kristen and I went into the enclosure – once the 2 year old was separated out – and got Tula’s gear on and headed out for the trails. We did alright until we hit the wide open spot of the trails, in front of the coffee house. This is as far as Tula goes, according to her schedule. My schedule says we go to the Eagle’s enclosure – but we’ve only been there once.

I think I’m going to try a new tactic today: instead of aiming for the Eagle’s enclosure, I’m going to head back to the greenhouse and see if she will do that for me. She likes going to the greenhouse because that’s where birthday parties are held. She likes birthday parties.

I wonder if I can go a different route entirely? I’d like to take her back by the caribou – but that has quite a hill, and then we’d have to walk passed the tigers which might cause a stir. Maybe I’ll save that for summer time, when the trails aren’t as icy and slick.

After having taken our walk, I decided to walk around the zoo a bit. I hadn’t really taken the time to visit all the other animals in a while, and it was such a nice day.

The tigers were both out and about, enjoying the sunshine. They were pacing back and forth along the fence line. What amazing animals they are! Even from 10 feet up on the boardwalk, you could see the feline power in each move they made. The difference between a 4 year old tiger and a 17 year old tiger is very apparent!

Having the tigers up and about got the wolves, right next door, all in an uproar – literally! All six of them were sitting there next to the boardwalk, voicing their opinions about everything. They have such a wonderful voice, and it really sends a chill down your spine when all six of them start in on the howling.

The local hunters in and around Anchorage have been very generous this season, donating their used carcasses for our animals. The wolves get some really great treats, like a whole moose’s rib cage or all four legs, each Wednesday (or Treat-Day, as their handler calls it). They had the remains of Treat Day scattered all about their enclosure the day I was visiting with them. That means, of course, they had lots of ravens around, too. Man, those are big birds! I wouldn’t be surprised to see one make off with a whole leg!

Heading back to the infirmary, I got there just in time to help Shannon and several of the keepers unload a truck-full of supplies. We had an assembly line going: Shannon unpacked bags of feed off the pallets and handed them to me; I passed them on to a keeper standing in the doorway of the storage shed, who handed it off to another keeper (or three, by the time we were finished) working inside the shed to organize everything.

The bags of feed weren’t really that heavy (probably 25 lbs each) but there were certainly a lot of them! Shannon makes an order each month for all the food the animals will need for that month, and considering the fact that we have as many as 100 (plus or minus a few) animals at the zoo at any given time = that’s a lot of feed! My back was complaining all night long.

You should see the walk-in freezer in the kitchen! All kinds of meat and produce in there, including whole animals – like road kill or donated carcasses. You never know what you’re going to see when you walk in there. Not exactly a pleasant place for a vegetarian to visit, if you know what I mean!

After unloading all the feed, Shannon let me go with her to visit a brand new resident, over in the orphanage enclosure: a little brown bear cub! He’s very small and badly starved – but seems to be doing well, and is perking up nicely. He should be the size of a very large dog by this time of year, but he looks like a tiny little teddy bear instead. We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him, but hope that will good food and medications, he will survive and grow big & strong.

Shannon brought 6 bales of straw to his enclosure, to make a den for him. When she went into his space, he cowered in the corner and bawled at first – but then got brave and actually lunged at her, growling and snarling. That’s a very good sign! It means that just the two or three feedings he’s received so far are making a difference already!

So, hopefully the walk with Tula today will be a good one!

Cross your fingers for me…