Photo by Zoo Docent Mike Phillips

Weird and ugly, just a couple of the comments I heard while I was on anteater watch recently. What is an “anteater watch” you ask? Basically for a few hours I had to watch our male (Johie) & female (Talara) anteater (with the help of my fellow docent Jen Marsella) out in their area and make sure this new animal pair is getting along well together.

The female anteater is one of the newest additions to the zoo, and hopefully come spring we’ll have baby giant anteaters! Their mating season is in the fall, but since they are solitary animals (which means they normally spend their days out alone) we have to make sure they play well together when they are sharing their yard.  For those couple of hours we made note of any odd behavior or aggression towards one another. At the same time it gives us a chance to educate the visitors that may not know enough about them. For example, the conservation work surrounding giant anteaters (as a species they are threatened due to a loss of habitat), or how giant anteaters can eat up to 35,000 ants in a day, and my personal favorite when giant anteaters sleep and use their tail as a blanket completely covering them, the less strange they appeared to be.

Some may say they look ugly at first glance, but watch them for awhile you’ll see they are truly beautiful and interesting animals. While they look alike, I found the easiest way to tell them about was Johie’s tail hangs lower to the ground and Talara holds hers up higher and has blond highlights in her hair. Johie also seems to enjoy playing in the mud.

The next time you visit the zoo be sure to spend some time with just a couple of the amazing animals that we have!

-John Barbagallo
Zoo Docent

It’s really starting to look and feel like autumn around the Zoo this week. Colorful leaves twirling down from the branches like little helicopters and crisp breezes rippling across the Wetlands.

In the wild, Season change has dramatic effects on animals— predators and herbivores alike become more serious about building up their reserves of fat and fur before the winter starts. But here at the Zoo, each animal’s climate is controlled to keep them in their optimum comfort zones year round. Of course, that doesn’t seem to stop the Bison’s winter fur from getting thicker and longer, or the Snow Leopard from gazing off wistfully at some soon-to-come snowbound landscape.

School is in session again and so the kids I have been seeing here on weekdays tend to be mostly pre-schoolers. These are kids who, perhaps for the first time, are seeing Penguins and Seals and miniature Guinea Hogs up close and personal.  It’s great to watch them point and laugh.  Over at the Gibbons’ exhibit, a group of youngsters are thoroughly entertained by one of the playful apes who grabs a page from a magazine that’s been put into their cage for enrichment, and swings briskly up to his perch where he appears to actually be “reading,” or at least enjoying the pictures.

The Giant Anteaters are outside together now most of the time and they seem to be gradually getting less formal with each other. I actually witnessed a few friendly nose-bumps as they passed each other. Pretty soon it will be too cold for them outside so they’ll be coming inside where the climate stays at the warm and comfy levels they refer.

Life for animals here at RWPZoo certainly has some definite advantages.

By Rob Mariani
RWPZoo Docent

by John Barbagallo, Zoo Docent

In April of 2004 I visited the Roger Williams Park Zoo for the first time. I was very excited because I hadn’t been to a zoo in a long time. The day was perfect and I had a great time, but left with a lot of unanswered questions. Mostly about what I expected to see. Let me just say now I didn’t see anything bad or any animals mistreated. One thing I expected to see were the elephants outside playing. But they were in their pavilion instead. It was a nice day, so why were they inside?

I moved to the area in 2006, and even though I now lived 15 minutes away I had not been back to the zoo. In December of 2008 and I was reading the volunteer section of Craigslist when it immediately caught my eye: Volunteer at the Zoo! My first thought was I’d be standing at the entrance collecting tickets. And there is nothing wrong with that, and would have happily done it. Hanging out at the zoo all day? Sign me up! But I had to find out what a Docent was. The first search result was all I needed to see: The word docent is from the Latin word meaning “to teach.”

I thought back to 2004: Were there any Docents in the Elephant Pavilion that day? I bet they knew why they elephants were not outside (I know now it was their bath time, which is done every day!). I went to the orientation, had my interview, and started class in January. To say it was the complete opposite of what I expected is an understatement. There were lectures by the staff, presentations every week, homework, quizzes and a test at the end!

In 14 weeks I learned a lot about the zoo & amazing people that work & volunteer there, conservation, education, had an amazing teacher that inspired me more than she knows and met a group of amazing people from all walks of life that shared one common love for four hours on Saturday. The day I passed my test was one of the best of my life. I’m there Saturday at 12, but I’ve been going for the morning shift too. I can’t think of a better way to spend my Saturday than at the zoo!

 by Clare Durst

I’ve been a docent now for seven years, working Mondays and Fridays. My daughter’s become a docent too, and she’s at the zoo most weekends.  I’ll do almost anything I’m asked to, although I don’t usually handle the animals myself. Yesterday was a usual day: an hour or so talking to people about biofacts at the Africa table, and another hour observing the baby giraffe for signs of action – we’re recording how much he pees and poops and nurses and sleeps, to have a baseline to refer to in case he ever has problems.

My favorite station is the Africa table, in what’s called the “fishing village” (though there is no sign of fish).  I love to watch the little kids in their strollers getting wheeled over to feel the soft pelts, and I like to talk to the older kids about the elephant tooth or the zebra tail. With the Nature shows on television now, the kids are mostly well versed in which animal is what, although we have a binder of pictures of all the animals whose parts we show off.

What does a zebra use his tail for? To show he’s happy? Good guess, but think again!  The trick is to get the daddies interested, whether they are with their own kids or serving as school chaperones.  It’s always a challenge to divert them with something to think about (why do antlers fall off?) so that they don’t jump in with the answers to all the questions I ask the kids! And when I’ve finished my spiel about antlers vs. horns, and elephant tusk vs. walrus tusk, I can always encourage a visit to the elephants to see THEIR tusks, or the giraffes, to see if their tongues really ARE eighteen inches long.

Right now we’ve passed the season when the carriage trade (strollers) is about all we see on gloomy days, and are into the Yellow Fever season, when the lots are filled with school busses. The school groups are so enthusiastic and most are really interested in the animals, and we’re happy to give them the inside scoop on food or care. Sometimes with the stroller crowd, the prime interest of the toddler is steps to climb on his own, more than the animals, and our zoo fortunately is really safe for them.

 by Michelle Tuffile

Good day, my friends.
This is the first chronicle I will send to you about my experience at Roger Williams Park Zoo. One of the highlights of my week is volunteering at the zoo. A few years ago, I became a docent. (That is just a fancy word for a volunteer educator). I found out about the docent program at a dinner party for my husband’s work.  I was so eager to participate in the program as I had recently became a stay-at-home mom after my fast-paced career at the wealth management firm.

My first day reporting to class was such a memorable event. It was so difficult to leave my baby girl, Cami, for a few hours with her grandparents as she was still so dependent on me, but I knew that I needed some time to myself. I parked my car at the rose garden and entered through the back gate. As I walked in through the gate entrance, a cheery little whistle welcomed me. I looked to the direction of this wonderful song and it was coming from a white-faced whistling duck. I turned to him and smiled and said, “Good Morning.” Just knowing that I was in the right place to talk to animals and no one would think I was crazy. I had a smile from ear to ear.

My nose knew I was walking by the flamingos before my eyes reached them. Flamingos always have a distinct scent. I can’t describe it. You have to experience it for yourself. Once you experience the scent, you know exactly what I mean. One of my fellow docents, Paula (you would know her if you saw her. She has short blond hair and is usually walking around with a wallaby named Vincent) has told me that she could be blindfolded at her home and driven to the zoo and she will know she is in front of the flamingos by the scent.

I completed the docent program through the winter, put my hours in and became an official docent. I got a uniform and a nametag. Now people would know that I worked there and was not some crazy woman that knew everything about the animals.

I go to the zoo every Wednesday afternoon while my parents watch my children. It is 5 years later, over 250 hours of volunteer time, 3 children, and I’m still enjoying the zoo. Many things have happened over the past five years, but I will tell you more about that in later chronicles.

I have gained more knowledge from my fellow docents than I could ever imagine. Their wisdom and experience is priceless. I have learned about animals, habitats, geography, biology, horticulture, and more. I never imagined I could have so much fun learning. Then, getting to share that knowledge with the public is so rewarding. The teacher always seems to learn more than the student. The learning and fun never ends.

Being a part of the zoo is an exciting part of my week. The zookeepers are always welcome to answer my questions or offer a friendly smile. The creativity of the education department is infinite! Watching the video of the baby giraffe’s birth is miraculous and tear jerking. Watching him nurse creates warm-fuzzies.

I’ve got to run for now, but will write more soon. I’ve got to go feed my baby giraffe.