There is a genuine bond between Curator of Birds Bonnie Van Dam and the birds she works with.
“These animals pay just as much attention to us as we are paying to them, and I respect and love that,” Bonnie says as she reflects on the moment she found her true passion.
Bonnie started her career at the Detroit Zoo almost 30 years ago. Initially working with mammals, she was required to switch to working in the bird department, specifically the Penguinarium (which was then home to the penguins at the Detroit Zoo). This changed everything for her. She enjoyed the unique opportunity to interact with individual penguins and even saw the development of an incubation program that let her care for birds from egg to adult.
“Nobody doesn’t like a penguin,” Bonnie says. “They are just wonderful, wonderful animals!”
She continued her career working with other bird species and rose through the department’s ranks. Though men historically dominated the zookeeping field, Bonnie had a few great examples of women in leadership and saw room to grow. She helped usher in a time of change in zoos, where an emphasis was more heavily put on education, and the representation of men and women became balanced.
“Females have a different capacity for compassion and caring for and loving animals. Men do, too, but I think this is one reason we are seeing a trend of more women in this field,” Bonnie says.
Bonnie’s most rewarding moments have centered around the DZS’s conservation efforts. She has worked to increase the piping plover population on Michigan shorelines from 17 breeding pairs to 80, which was vital to the species’ survival. In 2020, Bonnie and her team were tested with the challenges of COVID-19, but all came together. That turned out to be one of the program’s most successful years, rearing 39 chicks! Bonnie has also partnered with a vulture rescue in South Africa, where she saw birds she raised enter a wild breeding program.
As curator of birds, Bonnie is responsible for the entire bird department — along with the Detroit Zoological Society’s (DZS) conservation and SAFE programs, and her AZA commitments. However, she still finds time for her favorite part of her job – spending time with the birds.
“This is why I do it,” Bonnie says, reflecting as she shares stories of getting away from her desk and working with the cassowary and some of her favorite vultures. “You can be having a bad day or a rough month, but you can go and sit down with a penguin and have a one-on-one experience with the birds, and it makes everything all better.”
“Kassie the vulture is at Vulpro, and I’m so excited to see her!” Bonnie exclaims about an upcoming trip where she will assist in helping these critically endangered birds.
Bonnie is thrilled to see how women have made a place for themselves in the field of zookeeping — and in DZS leadership.
“I’m proud of my female zookeepers! They are very good and dedicated to all the birds, and I would love to see more and more females come up,” Bonnie says.
Bonnie shares this wisdom when advising the next generation of women zookeepers: “Get your background, get your degree, volunteer working with animals and don’t give up.”
The DZS is so fortunate to have trailblazers like Bonnie, who have made a real difference in the lives of countless birds and people at the Zoo.
By Claire Lannoye-Hall, director of education for the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS).
Follow Claire on her journey through Peru when you read this blog on StoryMaps!
For more than two decades, the DZS has partnered with CONAPAC, a nonprofit organization in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. With the generous support of Amazon Explorama Lodges, a travel company with more than 50 years of commitment to the region, the partnership supports the conservation of this globally essential ecosystem. Each year, thousands of students and teachers receive school supplies, teachers participate in professional development workshops, and families have access to clean, safe drinking water.
In addition to the partnership’s commitment to education and safe drinking water, we support economic opportunities for interested communities. As part of this initiative, several thousand fruit trees have been planted in select communities as a source of added nutrition for families. As the trees mature and produce excess harvest, fruits are sold as a source of income.
During the first week of December 2023, four team members from the Detroit Zoo traveled down to Peru to participate in fruit tree planting. The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation provided funding for fruit trees that are native to the Amazon rainforest to be grown and transported. Pedro Paurcarcaja, an arborist in Iquitos, Peru, grew the trees from cuttings and seeds. Each tree was cared for and allowed to grow to a size that could be successfully transplanted. The trees were then placed in crates by type and transported down the Amazon and Napo Rivers on a cargo barge. Thousands of trees were delivered to the designated communities.
Each morning, we joined a group of volunteers and representatives from the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, CONAPAC staff and an experienced guide and translator from Explorama. We all took a boat to reach the designated community. Some of the trees went to individual families who expressed their interest and commitment to growing trees on land they have available. The families were responsible for planting their trees. Several hundred additional trees were planted in community spaces and for the schools.
Before our arrival, the communities prepared areas previously used for agriculture, such as corn and banana palms. With shovels and post-hole diggers in hand, the FTPF representative carefully demonstrated how to plant the saplings to ensure they had the best chance of surviving. We worked alongside members of the community, especially the children, and planted the trees designated for the community and school areas. The planting wrapped up each morning shortly before lunchtime. Spending several hours at each community provided opportunities to learn each other’s names, communicate in various forms (even if it was just smiles!), and gain a glimpse into the day-to-day life of our partners.
For the final two days, we visited an additional community in the afternoon. Both communities planted trees several years ago through the FTPF initiative and proudly showed us the trees’ growth. Ramon Castilla shared with us that more than 90 percent of their trees had survived, which is an impressive feat considering the risk of insect and flooding damage. Their success was a testament to the trees being planted in the right areas and their commitment to caring for them. The community of Jorge Chavez treated us to fruit fresh off the trees, including papaya and star fruit.
The community visits were also an opportunity to check in on the water purification systems, ensuring things were working correctly and the communities had access to safe, clean drinking water. For more information about CONAPAC’s clean water programming, click here.
Conservation work, especially when conducted in international settings, often does not address the needs or fundamental rights of the people who are directly impacted by laws and regulations that are put in place in the spirit of protecting animals and natural resources. While time-consuming, building meaningful relationships with individuals and communities who live adjacent to or share the same space as essential conservation areas can create vitally important allies. To do this well takes time and an investment in the wealth of knowledge and expertise of individuals who have lived for generations in the conservation areas. This partnership exemplifies the benefits of what collaborative conservation can accomplish.
To contribute to the vital conservation work in the Amazon rainforest, click here.
It’s just before dawn in the Apalachicola National Forest of Northern Florida, and light is glinting off the dew of the long-leaf pine trees as the humidity peaks. These conditions are just right for one of nature’s most adaptable animals to undertake an incredible journey. A striped newt (Notophalmus perstriatus) stirs under the water of a temporary pond.
Today, this young newt is preparing to travel from the relative safety of this ephemeral pond, to which he has been introduced with the help of the Coastal Plains Institute (CPI) and the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS). CPI has been dedicated to preserving the long-leaf pine ecosystem since 1984 and continues to work to maintain this unique habitat through scientific research, land management, and environmental education within Florida. The striped newt, recently listed as “threatened” in Florida, needs all the help it can get.
This very pond where the newt plans to emerge has been constructed and maintained through the work of CPI. The DZS and CPI have been collaborating on releases such as this one since 2017, and this particular newt has been bred and raised at the Detroit Zoo by staff who specialize in amphibian care with this moment in mind, the opportunity to re-introduce species and preserve biodiversity.
Newts are raised at The Detroit Zoo.
The striped newt can adapt to life outside the water, an ability that amphibians have been perfecting for millions of years. When conditions are right, the striped newt’s skin will begin to thicken and granularize, helping to hold moisture more efficiently than its typically slippery and smooth skin. The newt’s tail will become narrow, round, and less like a paddle, making traveling over dry ground much more efficient. This life stage is known as an “eft.”
As the newt slips out from under the water and moves onto land, its bright skin coloration advertises its toxicity to any potential predators who wouldn’t mind getting an early morning snack. Moving deliberately through the ground cover, the newt encounters a drift fence and travels along the edge of it. After a few feet, it drops into a 5-gallon bucket, which CPI staff soon recovers and processes. This fence and the corresponding bucket are all part of a scientific study undertaken by CPI to measure the success of introductions such as this one. Monitoring these drift fence arrays is no easy task, and CPI volunteers are tasked with checking these traps every day for up to seven months of the year.
Many months ago, the amphibian care staff at the DZS’s National Amphibian Conservation Center (NACC) began preparing to breed our resident population of striped newts. All the conditions for reproduction had to be just right. The correct water quality, depth, and egg-laying materials were painstakingly researched and implemented. With the addition of a specialized water filtration system, known as a reverse osmosis system, the amphibian department staff had complete control over the “makeup” of the newt’s water. It could reach the correct parameters to mimic the natural environment where these newts live in the ephemeral wetlands of Florida and Georgia. The plumbing required for this filtration unit was installed and tested by the DZS’s maintenance staff. The work required careful drilling through the walls of the NACC to run plastic plumbing lines to deliver the filtered water to the bio-secure and husbandry spaces where animals are kept. This was no small feat and proved to be a great example of how the DZS’s conservation success is a team effort spanning all the departments of the Zoo.
After all this effort to prepare, the real success occurs when the striped newt begins the reproduction process. The male will hold the female in an embrace known as amplexus; during this embrace, the male rubs the female’s snout with his chin and releases pheromones, which are fanned towards the female with his paddled tail. Once the female is receptive, the male will drop what is known as a spermatophore. From this point, the female will accept the spermatophore, and internal fertilization will occur.
Once the eggs are laid, usually on long emergent vegetation that has been placed in the habitats of the striped newts, the baby newts will begin to develop. This process can take several weeks and can be affected by temperature. The larvae are tiny, sometimes measuring about 8 millimeters, and very thin, resembling a small piece of wood or a twig, making them difficult to see with the naked eye. These tiny larvae are fed small invertebrates and aquatic worms, which have also been cultivated by the talented staff at the NACC. Once the newts have reached about 13 millimeters, they are eligible for release, counted and carefully shipped to Florida when conditions are just right in the wetlands for release.
After a long journey from an egg in the bio-secure breeding room at the NACC to the Florida wetlands, our newt is now being counted and sent into the forest by the staff and volunteers at CPI. This newt will likely spend years in this “eft” life stage, moving through the long-leaf pines and feeding on invertebrates. If conditions are right in the coming years, the newt will be beckoned back to the temporary ponds by rainfall and favorable environmental conditions, where it could potentially breed naturally and help bolster the numbers of this unique and increasingly rare amphibian. In 2023, the DZS and CPI introduced 227 striped newts back into the wilds of Florida, increasing the numbers of this important animal and furthering the case for collaboration in conservation.
Volunteers from Coastal Plains Instituterelease newts into the wild.
The striped newt repatriation project ended the season with a beautiful surprise. Several months ago, CPI staff dip-netted two large, gilled paedomorphs out of the new, rubber liner-enhanced release pond, where CPI staff released 227 young larval striped newts. The newts had been raised here at Detroit Zoo, sent to Florida on July 11, then released on July 12 after an acclimation process. In the coming weeks, four of the 227 were encountered in drift fence buckets and inferred to be exiting the pond and going terrestrial as efts. No others were seen after that. We worried that most animals were lost to predation by turtles and predaceous invertebrates. However, to end the season and ascertain whether some newts had survived and opted to live an aquatic life, CPI captured the two paedomorphs.
These paedomorphic animals may represent a persistent aquatic ‘population’ there. We hope and expect they will go on to reproduce. That will be determined next year by dipnet and drift fence sampling. This is the best news of the 2023 striped newt repatriation project field season and one of the highest points in the 11-year ongoing recovery efforts.
DZS raise newts and prepare them for wild release.
The Detroit Zoo is collecting old holiday lights throughout January.
This holiday season has been filled with twinkling lights adorning houses, trees and festive sculptures across metro Detroit. But what happens when these lights dim and burn out, their glow reduced to mere electrical waste?
With the holiday season now drawing to a close, the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is welcoming community members to recycle their retired holiday lights with us! Individuals and families can bring in unwanted, burned-out or broken holiday lights to be recycled free of charge. The light collection runs through January at the guest services office near the front of the Zoo.
Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo features millions of twinkling lights — and those that burn out will be recycled sustainably!
Through this initiative, we can work together to alleviate the burden on landfills and champion a sustainable approach to handling electrical waste. As a bonus, donated lights will help raise money to fuel the Zoo’s sustainability programs. From planting trees throughout metro Detroit to inspiring the next generation of suitability leaders through GreenPrize, our programs are helping to build a greener future for all.
By recycling your old lights at the Zoo, you’re not just disposing of unwanted holiday décor — you’re actively participating in a larger movement. You’re nurturing a cycle where discarded lights find new purpose, contributing to the DZS’s conservation work and supporting sustainability programs.
Recycle your lights at the Zoo to help us ignite a brighter (and greener) future!
Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo, presented by Strategic Staffing Solutions, is back! On select nights through Jan. 7, you can embark on a luminous adventure where the magic of the holiday season comes alive.
Wild Lights has been a treasured holiday tradition for more than a decade for a reason. At this incredible event, you’ll encounter enchanting animal-themed light sculptures that bring a whimsical touch to the festive season and create a magical experience for all ages. Be prepared to be mesmerized by millions of twinkling LED lights transforming the Zoo into a winter wonderland.
Still need a reason to visit Wild Lights this year? Here are five:
Spectacular Light Displays: Marvel at millions of twinkling lights illuminating nearly 500 unique displays, creating a stunning and immersive spectacle for visitors of all ages.
Toyland and Wishing Tree: Dive into a joyful wonderland filled with life-sized toy sculptures, including a 40-foot-long train, perfect for festive photos. Don’t forget to make a holiday wish at the wishing tree!
Holiday Entertainment: Enjoy live entertainment in the Wild Lights Lodge. Listen to festive music that will have you tapping your feet and getting into the holiday spirit.
Seasonal Treats and Beverages: Indulge in delicious seasonal treats and warm beverages as you explore, keeping you fueled and cozy during your magical winter adventure.
Dancing Lights Spectacle: Enjoy the mesmerizing synchronized light shows, where vibrant displays dance to cheery holiday tunes. It’s a visual feast that will leave you in awe.
We hope that was enough to convince you to bundle up and join us for a wild and wonderful holiday experience at the Detroit Zoo’s Wild Lights! Purchase your tickets here.
While you’re here, don’t forget to bring a pair of new gloves or mittens to donate to Mittens for Detroit this year.
Wild Lights is also sponsored by Burns & Wilcox, Kroger, Michigan First Credit Union, Suburban Subaru of Troy, KeyBank, DTE, Buddy’s Pizza, Doetsch Environmental Services, Lincoln of Troy, Michigan Panthers, IBEW Local 58, Genisys Credit Union, Gray’s Outdoor Services, Hagopian, National Flag Football and Aqua Tots.
By Mark Vassallo, curator of amphibians for The Detroit Zoological Society.
The Panamanian golden frog — or “La Rana Dorada” as it is known in Panama — is an iconic and potentially extinct amphibian from the elevations of the Central portion of the country. The golden frog, known for its bright yellow coloration and association with luck and fortune, has captured the hearts and spirit of the native Panamanian culture. On the upper reaches of “La India Dormida” or “Sleeping Indian” mountain in El Valle, Panama, there is a petroglyph that depicts a frog. This image has been estimated as originating before the 1400s and could represent one of the earliest tributes to one of the region’s most important animals.
El Valle, Panama is a gorgeous town nestled in the crater of an extinct mega volcano that has been dormant for more than 300,000 years. This fertile valley is home to a unique variety of plants and animals and is the former home of La Rana Dorada. El Valle is also the site for the annual Golden Frog Festival, which takes place in August. This event celebrates the golden frog with parades, concerts, educational displays and public offerings of support for this endangered amphibian. This year, I was fortunate enough to witness the events of this extraordinary week of festivities firsthand and was blown away by the pride and respect the Panamanian culture places on the golden frog and conserving the legacy tied to their heritage.
Since 2015, I have represented the Detroit Zoo while traveling to Panama to assist the El Valle Amphibian Conservation Center Foundation (EVACC) in the establishment and upkeep of a bio-secure population of Panamanian golden frogs on the grounds of Hotel Campestre. This unique facility houses and breeds the golden frog and other threatened and endangered amphibians from Central Panama. The EVACC is a nonprofit organization run by Edgardo Griffith and Heidi Ross, a husband-and-wife team of biologists who have dedicated their lives to preserving the golden frog and the biodiversity of Panama. The EVACC foundation helps organize The Golden Frog Festival.
One of the first days of the event is a parade where all the local school children dress up like the golden frog — their attire is usually yellow with black spots mimicking the tell-tale markings of this cherished animal. As the procession starts, marching bands play, and the whole town comes to see the event.
As the week progresses, the events include an evening of friendly competition between the various marching band troops from the area. In Panama, these marching bands are not your typical high school variety band. They incorporate stylish moves as they seamlessly mesh several varieties of music into the eye-catching display that brings sound and energy into the night. They wear special uniforms specific to their troop and continuously try to outdo one another with more incredible stunts and inspiring music as they proceed down the parade route to the church of San Jose. Here, the parade comes to an end.
Throughout the week, all people — from Panamanians to Dutch tourists — are allowed to pledge their support publicly through the signing of a mural that announces each person’s intent to preserve the golden frog — and, subsequently, the heritage of the Panamanian people who have inhabited this valley for thousands of years.
It is difficult not to be moved by such a display of national respect and acknowledgment for an amphibian. Coming from a background of zoo and aquarium science, I have seen how multitudes of charismatic megafauna have been widely celebrated and invested in, usually leaving the “little guys” like frogs to fend for themselves in a landscape dominated by “flagship” species like the panda bear or the blue whale. Amphibians are experiencing a crisis that is incomparable to any other taxa. Almost half of the Earth’s amphibian biodiversity is at risk or extinct. In the golden frog, there seems to be some hope for a representative that has comparable significance and also the potential to elevate the plight of amphibians into the public light.
The Panamanian culture has continued to hold the torch for this species, purely as a gesture of respect to the fantastic biodiversity that calls this country home. In celebrating La Rana Dorada, they also celebrate resiliency of a country that has chosen a frog as its champion, a golden frog. As one of the primary slogans of the EVACC foundation says, “salva lo que amas” or “save what you love.”
Humans aren’t the only ones who enjoy cozying up inside when the fall chill takes over — so do some of the animals who call the Detroit Zoo home!
If you are visiting the Zoo this season, you may notice that Suka, a female polar bear, has not been as visible inside the Arctic Ring of Life habitat. But there’s no need to worry, her absence is for a heartwarming reason. This fall and winter, Suka will be nestled in her cozy den behind the scenes in hopes of welcoming a polar bear cub (or two!) into the world.
Last spring, Suka and her male counterpart, Nuka, were observed engaging in an important act of nature — breeding. This pair has successfully mated in the past, resulting in twins Astra and Laerke, who were born in 2020 and moved to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in June 2023. After their past success, experts with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums — an organization dedicated to animal well-being, conservation and the sustainable management of animal populations in human care — recommended that Suka and Nuka be paired together again. So far, all seems to be going well.
Suka and Nuka
It’s important to note that female polar bears will den whether or not they are pregnant. While we are hopeful Suka and Nuka’s union was successful, unfortunately, our staff has no way to confirm if Suka is indeed pregnant. Polar bear pregnancy tests don’t exist, and polar bear cubs are so tiny in the womb that they cannot be seen via ultrasound. Instead, our dedicated animal care team will be closely monitoring Suka for any subtle signs that might indicate an impending birth. We won’t know for sure if there are cubs on the way until November or December.
To give this momma bear the best chance of success, Suka must remain undisturbed during her denning period. Denning is a critical phase in the life of a pregnant polar bear, where she seeks seclusion and tranquility to give birth and raise her cubs. Zoo staff is committed to providing Suka with a stress-free environment to ensure her comfort and well-being. Our team is hopeful that Suka will emerge from this denning season as the mother of some new cubs!
While Suka is cozied up in the bear den these next few months, visitors are encouraged to drop by and say “hi” to Nuka and the sea otters who call the Arctic Ring of Life home. And don’t forget to send Suka all your well wishes.
Update as of January 2024: After months of rest and relaxation under the careful monitoring of our animal care team, Suka emerged from her den. Though we were hopeful for cubs, this was not the case. Suka is now acclimating to life outside the den and will not always be in sight. The team will monitor her closely to determine when she is ready to be reintroduced to male polar bear Nuka. We look forward to a winter full of polar bear fun with Suka and Nuka!
Suka with her past cub, Astra, who was born in 2020.
2022 GreenPrize Award Winning School: Renaissance High School
If you’ve ever dreamt of making your school, your community and the world a greener, more eco-friendly place, we have the program for you! The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is celebrating students who are on a mission to make a positive environmental impact with our GreenPrize initiative.
What is GreenPrize?
The GreenPrize Award Program is all about sustainability, student-led green initiatives and the power of Green Teams. These Green Teams are like eco-superheroes – school clubs dedicated to promoting environmental sustainability. They’re on a mission to create lasting change, both within their schools and out in the community.
2022 GreenPrize Award Winning School: Hayes Elementary
How does it work?
In a nutshell, GreenPrize participants roll up their sleeves and put their eco-passion into action. They develop and implement sustainable projects in their schools or communities that have the potential to make a lasting impact. This isn’t just about talk — it’s about tangible, positive change for our planet.
2022 GreenPrize Award Winning School: Sacred Heart Catholic School
A Glimpse Back: GreenPrize 2022
In 2022, the DZS awarded a grand total of $4,500 to Green Teams in participating schools across Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties. Among those awarded were Belleville High School, Hillel Day School, The Montessori School Rochester, Hayes Elementary School, Sacred Heart Catholic School and Renaissance High School. Their sustainable efforts made a real change — and yours can too.
2022 GreenPrize Award Winning School: Hillel Day School
Join the GreenPrize Movement
Now, the spotlight is on you! Don’t miss your chance to be part of the next round of GreenPrize. The 2023-2024 GreenPrize program is officially open for applications, and your school could be the next champion for the environment.
Visit detroitzoo.org/greenprize to learn more about the program, how to apply and how you can kickstart your journey as an eco-champion. It’s time to make a difference, inspire change and show the world what the next generation of environmentalists is made of!
Join the GreenPrize movement and help us paint the world green, one sustainable project at a time!
2022 GreenPrize Award Winning School: Belleville High School2022 GreenPrize Award Winning School: The Montessori School Rochester
Leah Seldon created an educational video about wolverines during her internship for the Detroit Zoological Society.
By Leah Seldon, high school intern for The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS).
It was a Monday morning, and instead of making a right to go to school, my father kept straight on a path we hadn’t taken before. It was the first day of my Senior May Project (a program where seniors at my school do a three-week internship in place of attending classes), and I felt everything: nerves, sleepiness and excitement with no idea of what to expect on my first day. Luckily, I was met with smiling faces and people eager to assist me in finding my way. To give some context, I decided to intern for the DZS because the Detroit Zoo was always a place of fun for me. So, when I heard students in the year ahead of me interned there, I decided I would too. Before my first day, I virtually met with my supervisors to go over how my interests would fit within the education department’s needs. Together, we decided I would produce a video as an independent project. What type? That, we were unaware of.
I spent tons of time exploring and learning during my first week. Through a tour of the Zoo, I was introduced to all the animals as I walked past each of their habitats. I shadowed Learning Labs, programs where a member of the education staff teaches a group of students on a specific animal-related topic. During those times, I observed teaching methods that encouraged student engagement to enhance the learning process. It was a technique I had not seen used often. Also, I read a book and learned about humane education, which taught me the importance of teaching children to be kind to everything and everyone and to be aware of their choices. During my first education staff meeting, it was mentioned that the Zoo was working towards creating an experience for people to recognize the animals as living beings and not just as objects of beauty to admire. It was that piece of information from the meeting that I took with me when I went on to create my video. I wanted to help people connect with an animal.
Yaro and Janis caught Leah’s attention during her internship.
As part of my first project, I learned about the DZS’s conservation efforts with the creation of a script for a CARE Grant. My goal was to create a script that highlighted how a specific CARE Grant was to fund a trip that would encourage teens to get involved in the conservation of amphibians. Through my research, I was introduced to Species Survival Plans. I learned how the DZS partnered with other zoos to increase the population of certain amphibian species through breeding, releasing into the wild and research. I used my newfound knowledge to help me craft a script for the CARE Grant program. With the completion of this script draft, I was able to work more on my independent project.
Something I can’t fully explain drew me to the wolverine habitat each day, which wolverines Yaro and Janis call home. Maybe my dog’s name Wolverine made me biased, but it was much more than that. They ran around so freely. They kept me wondering what they were going to do next. I found myself watching them, being mesmerized and going into a trance. They constantly kept my attention day after day. They became my favorite animal in the Zoo.
In the middle of my second week, it came time for me to decide on an independent project. I knew I wanted the wolverines to be the focus of the video I was to create after watching them for so long. I started brainstorming and realized that I wanted to create something directed toward children because I find it very important to educate youth. This required me to get into the mind of a child. Luckily, I was one not very long ago. I remember that my favorite way of learning was when cartoon animals taught me. They were always more fun, and they were cool to look at. Also, I felt close to them because they were characters I could relate to. Therefore, I decided to create a video that gave information about wolverines from a wolverine… plush.
The wolverines enjoy exploring their habitat at the Detroit Zoo.
After mentioning this idea to one of my supervisors, they informed me of anthropomorphism.
This term was unknown to me, but after a conversation with them, I learned the importance of it. Anthropomorphism is when human characteristics are attributed to an animal. During our conversation, we brainstormed a list of the pros and cons of anthropomorphism. There were ways of using it that would create harm and ways that would be beneficial. It was important to me that I was careful with my usage of anthropomorphism to not unintentionally misrepresent the wolverine species. After navigating this new term, I was ready to make a video focused on wolverines. I didn’t stop there, though.
When thinking of creating this video, I wanted to include the wolverines who initially captivated my attention, Yaro and Janis. I wanted the viewer to watch the video and learn more about individual wolverines. That was a lesson the education staff taught me 𑁋 to focus on the species but also highlight the individual. As I went out into the Zoo each day, I saw that happening. There were conservation plans put in place for the protection of specific species. Also, each animal was cared for, and their needs were met. Each animal had a tailored diet, enrichment items and the appropriate habitat. I could tell they were each given the attention they deserved. That prompted me to include a segment in my video that focused on Yaro and Janis to give them their spotlight.
Creating this video has been a process of love. I am truly grateful to the entire education and volunteer services teams for taking me in and teaching me. They taught me that being part of a team makes everything better. Reaching out to call on others for support is okay and at times necessary. They also showed me that it takes drive and true dedication to be involved with such important work. Before coming here, I was unaware that the DZS was involved in so much, including humane education, animal well-being and conservation. I had no idea that such a pillar in all these topics lived so close to me.
By Mary Humbyrd, coordinator of behavioral husbandry for the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS)
National Zoo Keeper Week starts annually on the third Sunday of July. Representative Susan A. Davis introduced House Resolution 509 on June 21, 2007. This resolution was proposed to encourage individuals on a national level to engage in programs, activities and ceremonies during National Zoo Keeper Week that encourage species conservation and public awareness of the important role of zoos in wildlife conservation.
It is an absolute honor to celebrate our DZS zookeepers. Zookeepers are a unique bunch and have many amazing talents not often seen by zoo guests. Our animal care team is creative, innovative and can build just about anything with some zip ties and duct tape. Zookeepers brave the hottest days of summer and the freezing days of winter. Animal care specialists are on a constant quest for knowledge to improve and raise the bar to provide the best care of the animals they adore. They are involved with the animals from birth to passing and build lifelong relationships. They have their heart and soul in the profession. Zookeepers are advocates, educators, scientists and enjoy sharing their passion with anyone and everyone they encounter. As no day is ever the same, zookeepers have an incredible ability to go with the flow — but with precision and accuracy. Their passion for all living things is inspiring and enlightens all of us who have the privilege of hearing their stories.
From ice cream socials and cookouts to food trucks and Tigers games, scroll through the gallery below to see how we celebrated the DZS animal care team this past National Zoo Keeper Week!
Detroit Zoological Society Blog 