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http://www.post-trib.com/news/manes/831884,salt.article

This job's a real zoo; she wouldn't change a thing

March 9, 2008
By Jeff Manes Post-Tribune correspondent

"... Lions and tigers and bears -- oh my! ..."

-- Dorothy Gale from "The Wizard of Oz"

Goose-feather snowflakes paint my windshield. It's a February afternoon, and I'm driving along that 25-mile stretch of U.S. 12 connecting Interstate 65 and Michigan City.

My destination is Washington Park Zoological Gardens, nestled along Lake Michigan's sandy shore. My interview is with zookeeper Elizabeth Myers. She is 29, engaged, and a native of Michigan who lives in Michigan City.

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"I take care of the large carnivores and omnivores," Myers begins. "My job title is general curator of the zoo."

Is the zoo closed to the public right now?

"Yes, we closed Nov. 1 and we'll reopen April 1."

How long has the Washington Park Zoological Gardens been here?

"Since 1928; we had 69,000 visitors last year."

Did you go to school to be a zookeeper?

"Actually, I didn't. I applied for a seasonal position back in 2000. As a seasonal keeper, you don't work with the large exotics that much. Mostly, I started out working with birds of prey and in the pet-barn area, where we have our domestic stock, but that's how I got my foot in the door.

"Since I've been working here, I've been sent to classes through the AZA (American Zoological Association).

"Besides the big cats, I also look after the aviary and the hoof stock animals such as the zebras. There are five full-time zookeepers here now. We divide up the duties."

What are some of those duties?

"We clean up after them, give them fresh feed and look them over to make sure nobody is sick. Each zookeeper is responsible for a certain area every day."

Job safety must be a concern.

"We will go into the cage with some animals, like the ring-tailed lemurs and bobcats. But we have protected contact with the more dangerous animals like the baboons and tigers, which means we can touch them or manipulate them through the bars, but we'll never be in the cage with them.

"My Bengal tigers were bottle babies. They like to play like any other animal. But we cease going in the cage with them once they develop the habit of wanting to stalk you. We don't want to show the public that it's OK to have them as pets. You cannot believe their muscle mass."

Have you ever been injured?

"Yeah, I've been bitten by parrots and prairie dogs, and scratched by a cougar. Nothing serious."

Liz, what was the name of that famous alligator guy who died a while back?

"Steve Irwin. Come on, the 'Crocodile Hunter' on Animal Planet! He was my hero. Steve had an awesome way of teaching people about animals."

Forgive me; I don't watch much TV these days. Used to like "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" with Marlin Perkins. Yeah, ol' Marlin would call the play by play while sipping on a banana daiquiri from the shade of a tent, while his aide de camp, Jim Fowler, wrestled rhinos or was being suffocated by a 30-foot-long boa constrictor the diameter of a large oak tree.

"Marlin who?"

It's a generational thing. Elizabeth, I realize you get up close to the animals, but do you become close emotionally? I mean, like someone who would mourn the loss of their cocker spaniel to an age-related illness?

"Yes, I'm with these animals every single day. You build a relationship with them. Maggie, my lioness, is going to be 19. You wouldn't know it by looking at her; she's as playful as a kitten."

A very big kitty. Do they all have names?

"Yeah, I can't call Maggie 'MO87205.' "

Is there anything here at the zoo that kind of creeps you out?

"I'm not too crazy about the hissing cockroaches."

Liz, I've never been too fond of spiders. Nothing should have eight legs, let alone eight eyes! Tell me more about the two Bengal tigers. How much do they weigh?

"None of our scales at the zoo are big enough to weigh them. The biggest scale maxes out at 300 pounds. I'd guess they weigh about 500 pounds each. Stars and Stripes are

5-year-old twin brothers.

"All of our big cats eat once a day. Each tiger gets about 11 pounds of food. But we do have fasting days.

"They also get a big beef leg bone once a week with some meat and gristle on it, which is like us brushing our teeth. I've had people tell me they've seen tigers on TV, but when they see them eye to eye, hear them chuffing, smell them ... ."

Chuffing?

"It's how they say hello. It's not a purr; big cats can't purr. They do it to each other. I chuff at them and they chuff right back, 'How is it going?' 'Everything's alright.'

"The animals are not here at the zoo just to be displayed or to educate the public. A lot of people come to the zoos and don't realize we have enrichment programs for these animals. They are getting top-quality care with top-notch diets fed to them.

"We offer them things to play with to stimulate their minds and bring out their natural behaviors and instincts. They are not just rotting away in their cages. We try to make their lives enjoyable. With the exception of the bears, these animals have never been in the wild."

There are those who do not approve of circuses, county fairs and zoos. What's the story on the two grizzlies?

"They were going to be euthanized. And, yes, there are radicals who will say they would have been better off killed than brought to the zoo. Visitors are only separated from these girls by an inch of glass. It's our new exhibit. They're from Montana.

"The Department of Fish and Game out there had relocated their mother about five or six times. She had a radio collar. She was a problem bear, getting into people's farms and feed barns. She taught her cubs to do the same thing.

"The mother eventually was euthanized; the girls were 8 months old at the time. Anything under a year, officials try to place. If a home hadn't been found for them, they were destined to be euthanized as well. They are about 5 years old now.

"Some of these animals are highly endangered. Zoos have breeding programs; we try to reintroduce species back into the wild.

"We have a species survival plan. We're trying to get the gene pool as authentic as we can. There's only a few tigers left out there, and their numbers keep dwindling.

"I'd like to do this for the rest of my life. It doesn't seem like work, being around the animals every day."

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Elizabeth Myers -- tending to creatures great and small.

Contact Jeff Manes at

jeffmanes@sbcglobal.net