Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal. To meet the Interns, read the Intern Profiles.

On Thursday October 25, because of Gaylene Thomas, an animal care supervisor at the San Diego Zoo, the interns had some unique experiences that most visitors will not have. We actually went behind the scenes with lions, hippos, bears, and tigers, and we were amazed with what we saw. We all thought it was amazing to be right next to some very large, beautiful, and majestic creatures. Despite witnessing some friendly keeper-animal interactions, Ms. Thomas explained that the animals would react differently if a person entered the exhibit with the animal!

The facilities and the procedures at the Zoo ensures both the keepers’ and the animals’ safety. In most cases, there are always barriers between the animals and the people. More importantly, the keepers develop a relationship with the animals by using training techniques so that the animals will work with the keepers. This can make life easier for such simple and routine tasks as having the animal move into its bedroom so the keeper can clean the exhibit. The keepers also train the animals to present their teeth and feet for checking, which can make it easier to see if there are problems that might require a visit from the veterinarian.

The animals and the keepers obviously have a special relationship with each other. When the keepers approached, the animals would start to move around like they were excited to see them. While the keepers were talking to us, they were rewarding the animals by either feeding them or giving them the attention they wanted. In this setting, even an Alaskan brown bear or tiger seemed cute and harmless. The animals are comfortable because they know that they are safe and that they do not have to protect themselves, their young, or their territory.

Much more attention goes into the care and training of the animals than meets the tourist’s eye from a day’s visit to the Zoo. And much more attention must be paid to safety than I had thought in order for everyone to be safe while working or having fun at the Zoo.

-Hayley, Zoo InternQuest, Real World Team

Learning about Hearing from Polar Bears
Polar bears in San Diego are a startling sight to see. They are in a replica of their natural environment (the summer tundra, not the winter) so they are comfortable and well taken care of. But their size is impressive, and their play can be rough and rowdy. And these polar bears are doing something really unusual: taking hearing tests in their spare time.

According to animal care supervisor Gaylene Thomas, two of the four polar bears at the San Diego Zoo are part of a noninvasive project to determine the hearing sensitivity of the polar bears. Knowing how good their hearing is can help humans understand what might disturb them in the wild. These tests are a breakthrough in the scientific community as they are the first to be conducted with any type of bear species.

The point of these studies is to determine the effect of the noise from oil drilling machinery that is currently being used in or is proposed for the North Slope of Alaska. Concern arises because this is also a popular sight for the polar bears to den and raise young.

Ms. Thomas led us around the polar bear exhibit and behind the scenes, which seemed a most unlikely place for conservation of animals in the Arctic. She explained to us that the animal keepers train the bears to touch a wood block with their nose when they hear a noise. This would be difficult, impossible actually, to perform with any wild bears, yet in the long run will help the wild population.

Global warming is already affecting the environment of the arctic regions, resulting in changes in the habitat and shorter hunting seasons for polar bears because of thinner ice flows (they have to stand on the ice at seal breathing holes). These bears have recently been classified as “vulnerable” and if the noise from oil machinery is found to affect their behavior, we humans can take actions to prevent their status from becoming endangered.

- Sarah, Zoo InternQuest, Conservation Team

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