Animal Interactions!

One of the downsides to my job is that I'm not really supposed to have any animal interaction. I prepare the diets; I don't feed them. But one of the upsides to my job is the research component. Usually this involves running samples of different types of feed (e.g., hay, squid, grass, etc.) through some sort of analysis or entering said analyses into a database. Last week on research day, we visited the Animal Kingdom Lodge (which shall henceforth be referred to as "the Lodge") to take paddock grass samples. We couldn't exactly shoo the animals off of the "savannah" while we were obtaining these samples, so we mostly just worked around them.

Keep in mind, these are wild animals, and although most of them have never known anything but a zoo habitat, they're still potentially dangerous. The Lodge animal manager, Leisl, was with us to make sure no one got hurt (animals and humans alike). Most of the animals shied away when we ran the gas-powered grass cutter, but the ostriches were a little more curious and a little less afraid.

There are several ostriches at the Lodge and all of them are female. Like many animals, birds tend to start their breeding season when food and daylight are plentiful. In a zoo, that means year-round. Leisl said the ostriches lay fewer eggs in the winter, but they never stop laying eggs. (I imagine the outdoor lights at the Lodge probably play a role in increasing the amount of daylight the ostriches perceive, but that's just speculation.) Anyway, that's just a roundabout way of explaining why the ostriches were less afraid of us: they wanted to flirt. With no boys around, these girls will try to impress anyone! They strutted up to us one or two at a time, bowed, and sort of flapped their wings. It was really cute. After a few minutes of showing off ("presenting," as our research specialist called it), the ostrich would sit on the ground and munch on the grass.

I've heard that one kick from an ostrich can kill you, but Leisl told us that they've never been aggressive without proper provocation (like restraint for blood sampling). The biggest problem they've had is their curiosity--they'll peek inside the truck windows and swallow whatever they can find. So every once in a while, an ostrich has to go to the hospital to have a pen or some other foreign body removed from her esophagus.

The ostriches were peaceful when we met them, but the zebras were another story. The young male has been picking fights with the rest of his herd lately, so we got to see some of the action. This was actually kind of bad because the zebras weren't really paying attention to where they were going when the girl was trying to kick the boy in his face. They could have easily stampeded us had we not jumped in the van. Leisl drove the van and one of the keepers in a golf cart helped her herd the male away from the rest of the zebras so that they would stop fighting, but we left that area and went to sample the grass elsewhere. The blesbok that was chilling near our "elsewhere" didn't seem to mind, but every animal is potentially dangerous, so it's always a good idea to be cautious and watchful.

Anyway, it was really cool to actually see some of the animals that we make diets for. In addition to the aforementioned animals, we saw little Thompson's gazelle (which look like dogs when they run around and play!), the big male Kudu (his horns make a sort of corkscrew shape and he walks in a proud, stately manner), the giraffe, impalas, West African crowned cranes, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill (a type of bird), and so many more. Research day is a nice break from making diets, and it makes it more interesting when you can actually picture the animal eating what you're preparing for it.

I'll try to get some of the pictures that we took that day off of Katie's computer and I'll post them here when/if I do! I got some good shots of the ostriches presenting and the zebras fighting, so hopefully I will succeed!