GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Have you ever wanted to spend your day surrounded by exotic, exciting and endangered animals? A day at the zoo can be a fun way to fill that need but what if you got to spend every day working with wildlife?
That’s exactly what zookeepers get to do, and this week we are putting the spotlight on them!
The third week in July marks National Zookeeper Week, a week dedicated to celebrating the efforts of zookeepers worldwide who protect and preserve our wildlife.
More than just feeding and cleaning up after animals, zookeepers are educators, wildlife ambassadors, conservation champions and caretakers of creatures big and small.
But what exactly does it take to be a zookeeper?
You could watch the FOX 17 Koala Cam to get a glimpse of the work they do, but you might just walk away even more curious about the job of a zookeeper and have some questions about those adorable furballs the zookeepers are caring for!
We went to John Ball Zoo to ask Jaime Racalla, animal care supervisor, some questions about the life of a zookeeper. She also spent some time answering our burning koala questions.
Jaime is a Grand Rapids native and has been a zookeeper at the John Ball Zoo for 12 years. She leads the team tasked with caring for koalas Iluka and Noorundi.
Here’s everything you ever wanted to know about the life of a zookeeper, along with answers to your burning koala questions from a koala-ified expert!
What does a zookeeper do on a day-to-day basis?
Jaime says part of the fun of being a zookeeper is that you don’t know what you are going to end up doing from day to day. “Obviously, our animals have daily needs and that’s what we are here to provide. So, things like feeding, medication, training.” Zookeepers use voluntary training for food rewards with the animals to keep them engaged while allowing them a chance to visually inspect different parts of their body. Zookeepers also keep the habitats for the animals clean. “Obviously, animals are making messes that we have to take care of for them, that’s not just going to go away, so that’s a big part of our day too.”
What kind of training is required to be a zookeeper?
“Most of us have gone to some kind of college or institution or university for a bachelor’s degree, usually in biology, sometimes we are lucky enough that some programs are zoology-focused specifically,” Jaime explained.
There is only so much that you can learn from books, Jaime says, so most zookeepers also complete an internship studying under other zookeepers.
What are some of the biggest challenges of being a zookeeper?
“I think it’s hard to shut off being a zookeeper. A lot of these animals become almost like children to us, you know, we do care about them so much. So, it’s always a challenge to kind of have your work-life balance and make sure that you have your personal life too,” Jaime said. “We’re lucky that we these animals under our care so long because they get such great health care and we’re here to watch them so that bond just increases over time. So, it’s really hard to lose an animal.”
The John Ball Zoo recently reported the unexpected death of Ygritte, a wallaby and mother to Jackie. Jackie has since been hand-reared by a team of zookeepers who take turns feeding her, carrying her around in a pouch, and caring for her overnight.
We asked Jaime how zookeepers deal with the death of one of the animals.
“It’s a lot to deal with,” said Jaime. “Our zoo is really like a family where, you know, somebody has a loss and the other family members are there to support that person, you know, we are reaching out to that team making sure they are O.K., do they need extra help that day? Do they need to just take a break and we’ll do some of their work for them, that kind of stuff. The zoo is a great family.”
What’s the most rewarding part of being a zookeeper?
For Jaime, it’s about seeing the excitement of zoo visitors. “I think, you know, obviously the animal care itself is really so rewarding in and of itself. Most of us we would say we're animal people and not necessarily people people. Not true about all of us. But then at the end of the day when your passion for caring for those animals, you actually get to see, I mean it doesn't even have to be kept the kids are a really fun example, get to see that because the eyes light up when you get the animal to do something that they've never seen to do before or actually getting them to understand like all koala sleep all day. They can actually jump eight feet, like, getting them to see that kind of stuff in action and watching their little eyes light up. It's just great,” said Jaime.
While most people find the zoo to be a delightful experience, some claim it’s cruel to keep wild animals in habitats. We asked Jaime what those people should know about the quality of life of zoo animals.
“So, at least for John Ball Zoo, we take animal welfare as one of our top priorities, especially being in animal care. So, we go through evaluations as a team on what natural behaviors should the species be exhibiting? Are they exhibiting them? If they aren't, what are we going to do about that? Sometimes that can even result in not having that animal species in that space anymore. So, we take it very seriously that they need to be doing the things they naturally would be doing and how are we going to provide that for them,” Jaime explained. “Most of these animals are either endangered or their habitats are really being threatened. And when it's a world away from you, on the other side of Earth, it's really hard to get people to care. But seeing an animal and actually having passion for you know, learning that individual animal story, getting that connection with them really gets people to care that much more. So having that for our visitors and actually be able to inspire change when it's not happening is a great outlet of zoos. And most of our animals would not survive in the wild, too.”
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a zookeeper or the animal residents, John Ball Zoo has a variety of programs for people of all ages. You can learn more on the John Ball Zoo website.
After talking with us about the life zookeeper, Jaime answered some questions we had about koalas Iluka and Noorundi.
Noorundi (age 4) and Iluka (age 2) are spending the summer at the John Ball Zoo as part of the San Diego Zoo Global Education and Conservation Project (SDZG).
The JBZ staff worked closely with San Diego Zoo to train on their daily care before the koalas arrived. Jaime flew out to San Diego to learn how to care for the koalas and a San Diego zookeeper traveled to Grand Rapids with the animals.
How did the koalas get here?
The koalas came to Grand Rapids as part of the San Diego Zoo Global Education and Conservation Project. JBZ community partner Amway donated the time and expense to bring the koalas to Grand Rapids via a private plane. Todd Urbanski, pilot for Amway, has been a zoo volunteer since 1999. The koalas rode in crates fitted with a little perch for each koala and some eucalyptus.
What were the first few weeks at the zoo like with the koalas?
“So, this is their first travel outside of San Diego. The program has existed forever, but these two boys haven't gone anywhere. So, we were curious to see how they did. But obviously, San Diego takes into account on their end, they're not going to send an individual that they think is just too nervous or something about them that would make them not a good candidate to go. So they felt pretty confident in these two with their behavior and everything. And then after, you know, getting to know them I felt did too. So, the first few weeks I would say it was the most fun just because the public hasn't seen them yet. Or watching them explore their new space and get comfortable and, really, it brought me a lot of joy to watch the other zookeepers be able to see them and get to know them because everyone is so excited,” said Jaime.
What happens to their enclosure when the koalas return to San Diego?
“When we built it, we're obviously building it like really specifically for koalas. But luckily, koalas overall for the space have a pretty generic need. They like 60 to 80 degrees and their humidity range is pretty large also, which makes a great setup for whatever you want to become in the future. So, you know, we tried to think of things like potentials that it could be and try to, on the front end, add things in that would help to have those pieces in there. But we're still honestly trying to sort out what we would think would best be in this space,” Jaime explained.
Watching the koalas the first few days via the FOX 17 Koala Cam, we thought we saw one of the koalas hiccupping. We had to know if that was what was really going on.
“They do it, we don’t necessarily know why, but they do it as a response to stress,” Jaime told us. The koalas haven’t hiccupped in a long time at John Ball Zoo, but that’s not the only indicator that a koala is stressed. According to Jaime, when koalas are very stressed, they emit a loud humming noise. The zookeepers in San Diego told Jaime they have only heard the hum once from a koala. Iluka and Noorundi haven’t hummed at all since arriving in Grand Rapids.
We’ve noticed Iluka lift his head up and it looks like he’s making some kind of noise. We asked Jaime to explain what Iluka is doing and if he’s making noise.
“He’s bellowing, you can’t hear it, but it’s pretty loud. That’s what he would do to let other boys like his brother know ‘This is my space, not yours.’ And if there are some lovely ladies around, it would get their attention to start coming over.”
Koalas sleep up to 20 hours a day. During the hours they are awake, they can usually be found in his tree munching on eucalyptus. When the koalas climb down from the tree and get on the ground, what are they doing?
“They’re just exploring,” Jaime said. She said koalas don’t frequently leave the safety of their trees due to dangerous predators like dingoes.
How do zookeepers monitor the health of the koala?
“We’re weighing the koalas themselves every single day. And when we have them, you know, in hand and on the scale, it’s a great opportunity to kind of feel over their body condition, make sure we’re not seeing anything obvious, like something on their skin, anything going on with their ears, eyes,” explained Jaime. Zookeepers also collect and weigh the koala fecal pellets daily to catch subtle health changes.
The zookeepers take the koalas from their enclosure every day and disappear off camera. Where are they going?
“They are getting weighed,” said Jaime. Sometimes, the zookeepers try to put the scale in the doorway of the enclosure so zoo guests can see what’s happening.
Are the koalas comfortable with being picked up?
“I feel like they are definitely comfortable with being picked up. Whether or not they always want to come is another thing like, ‘Yes, I'm comfortable with going away from my snack. But do I want to? Do I want to get out of bed in the morning today? I don't know.’ Like, yeah, their hands are built this way. Really good for gripping on trees, especially with their nails. So, it's easy to get the first hand off, and then that second hand when you only have one hand, is very difficult,” Jaime told us.
Are koalas clumsy?
Jaime says koalas are not always the most graceful, but they are usually able to use their claws to keep themselves in the tree.
Koalas are extremely picky eaters. Out of the more than 700 different species of eucalyptus plants, koalas eat less than 50 of those species. Where does their eucalyptus come from?
“We do have a commissary on site and when the shipment comes in, that’s where it is stored. We order certain species that we want to off them that comes in,” explained Jaime. “It actually comes from a supplier in Florida that helps us out. So, we order enough to keep the boys well fed plus some every week. It comes in twice a week by plane.” Koalas are extremely picky eaters. Out of the more than 700 different species of eucalyptus plants, koalas eat less than 50 of those species. Jaime says John Ball Zookeepers try to offer the koalas 3-4 different species of eucalyptus every day.
Are koalas super soft?
“They are soft, but they don’t feel like velvety silky like they appear. They kind of almost feel like a nice, soft sheep.”
Do you notice a difference in Iluka and Noorundi’s personalities?
“Oh, yes! Noorundi, he’s very sweet and very calm, kind of a gentleman. He lets us do everything pretty easily without fuss, other than he’s very good a clinging. He loves to sit way up high so he’s harder to get if he doesn’t come down. But once you have him in hand, he’s very calm and doesn’t care. Whereas Iluka, he’s often lower and easier to grab but he can be very sassy. He definitely lets you know when he would rather be sleeping or having breakfast. He wants to go on the scale and then be done with it, and you should have something very good to offer him afterward," explained Jaime.
Male koalas in the wild don't interact. We asked if Iluka and Noorundi ever interact.
Jaime says not really. Iluka occasionally bellows at her brother to let him know he is there, but the two prefer to be alone.
Is it typical for koalas to do a lot of head shaking when they wake up?
It is. Just like us, Jaime says koalas are stretching and waking up. Koalas can spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping.
The koalas will be at the John Ball Zoo through September 1. Make sure you stop by and see them before they are gone!
WATCH the full interview with Jaime below:
