Gone Zooing

During the first day at El Nispero I was able to take a walk around the zoo and determine what I could do to help. The grounds of the garden were beautiful and the animal exhibits were scattered throughout. I quickly began to take notes and select projects.

Every day on our way to EVACC (El Via Amphibian Conservation Center) we passed a group of three cages containing a three-toed sloth and two heron, a spider monkey, and three raccoons. The physical structures were kind of small but otherwise in decent shape, however they were

Jaguarondi Explores a New Enrichment Tool

lacking sufficient objects for the animals to climb on, hide in, and play with. The sloth cage was built around a fallen tree, which provided the only thing to climb on besides the actual cage itself. It was actually one of the nicest looking cages, but did not suit a sloth’s natural behavior.

Three-toed Sloths are the world’s slowest mammals; they move so slowly that algae can actually grow on their fur. They are well suited to live in trees and have a strong grip that is aided by their unusual claws. They are nocturnal and herbivores and eat leaves, shoots, and fruits. They maintain a low body temperature to conserve energy and regulate their temperature by moving in and out of the sunlight.

I decided to improve their cage by hanging ropes and vines up high for climbing on and providing elevated resting spots with buckets that had the bottoms cut off. These changes would allow the sloths to move around at the top of the cage and rest in the branches or buckets. It would also provide more perching areas for the two heron that live with the sloth. We observed both the sloths and the herons using the new perching shortly after we placed them in the cage.

My next project was restructuring a group of four enclosures containing three ocelots and a jaguarondi. These cages were fairly new and spacious, but again had very little inside. Ocelots and jaguarondis are both carnivorous felines. Ocelots are about twice the size of the average house cat and are usually nocturnal (active during the night) but can sometimes be diurnal (active during the day). They swim well and are usually found in pairs or solitary. They are targeted by hunters for their fur and the illegal pet trade. Jaguarondis are mostly diurnal and can live in a wide range of habitats as long as there is dense ground vegetation.

I decided to give the cats places to hide since they had none. I created hide boxes by painting shipping crates and adding some slats of bark to the front for privacy. One of the zookeepers added leaves and pine needles as bedding in the boxes. As soon as they were placed in the cages all the cats investigated and entered them. I also provided giant spools, branches, “scratching posts” (big pieces of bark that had been stripped off a fallen tree), and brushes for the cats to rub on. One day I gave each cat a coconut and watched them play with this new “ball”.

Every day I would find more enclosures that I wanted to improve. There were some animals that would have benefitted from having more individuals of their species living with them. All of the primates they had live in social groups in the wild, but they had one each of the capuchin, spider monkey and Geoffrey’s tamarin.  They also had single coati and kinkajou which sometimes live in groups in the wild. For each of these animals I implemented enrichment similar to the sloths, adding branches, vines, and rope to climb on; buckets to hide in; spools, shelves, and swings to climb on.

I had mixed feelings by the end of my time at El Nispero; I had improved the lives of some of the animals, but it felt like there were so many more that could use it too. It felt good knowing that I had shown the owners of the zoo that enriching their animals can be done easily with items they already had at the zoo. Hopefully they were inspired and will continue to enrich their collection. And maybe one day I will return to see!

Sarah Poses with a New Friend

Hello readers! I am Sarah, a keeper here at RWPZoo. I just returned from a two week trip to Panama where two other zoo employees and I shared our knowledge with other zoos and began an Animal Care Staff Conservation and Outreach Program. This annual program aims to provide an opportunity for zookeepers to significantly contribute to in-situ conservation (protecting endangered animals within their natural habitat) and/or professional outreach initiatives of their own choosing. Lou Perrotti, the zoo’s Conservation Programs Coordinator, brought two projects to Panama.
The first project was at El Nispero Zoo in El Valle. El Nispero is a third world zoo with little to no expertise in modern animal husbandry, exhibit design, or enrichment. Lou recognized the need to try and better the welfare of the animals in the zoo’s collection. The second project was at The Summit Zoo in Panama City. The Summit Zoo is set in the Summit Municipal Park and is a bit more up-to-date than El Nispero Zoo. The keeper staff is made up of workers with little or no animal background but who are dedicated and eager to learn. Both zoos contain animals that are native to Central and South America.
My work in Panama mainly focused on animal enrichment and training. Animals in captivity need more than just food and water each day. Enrichment provides physical and mental stimulation, hopefully to provide situations and activities they would normally experience in the wild. There are many types of enrichment that zookeepers can provide. Some examples are: providing different objects for the animals to manipulate, hiding food or prolonging the amount of time it takes an animal to get their food, providing branches, leaves, or grass for the animal to eat, smell, or hide in. We take this as common knowledge in the United States, but that is not necessarily how it is in other countries. Training can also improve the lives of animals in captivity in many ways. It can allow the keeper to view the animal up close and even have the animal present certain body parts. This  helps if an animal is sick, injured, or in need of medication. Training can be used to a keeper’s advantage by teaching the animal to move from one spot to another or to get into a crate for transportation. Training provides mental stimulation for the animal and is also another form of enrichment!
I would like to thank the RWPZ AAZK chapter for providing the funding for this first Animal Care Staff Conservation and Outreach Program!