If you live anywhere in the Greater
Cincinnati area, there’s no doubt that the Cincinnati Zoo is on your
radar. Perhaps you spent time there as a child at birthday parties,
educational programs, or braved a night amongst the animals during
one of their zoo overnights. Maybe the Cincinnati Zoo is your
favorite way to celebrate the holiday season with a trip to the
Festival of Lights. Or the zoo might just be your go-to local spot
for a day of fun. The zoo is a different place to different people in
the area, but to Megan O’Keefe, the Cincinnati Zoo is where her
childhood dream of having a career working with animals came true.
O’Keefe, a 2003 graduate of Highlands
High School, is a Manatee Springs Animal Keeper at the Cincinnati
Zoo. She gave us an inside look into the life of a zookeeper. For
O’Keefe, her job is two-fold. There is the care and training of the
animals, and also interacting and educating the zoo’s visitors. “My
job description basically entails taking care of the animals, and all
aspects surrounding that. It’s a little bit different for each
department, obviously, since different animals have different needs
and different ways to care for them. There’s also a public aspect to
being a zookeeper. Not only do you take care of the animals, but
you’re also responsible for educating the public that comes through
your building. We also do keeper talks and animal encounters, and
things like that,” said O’Keefe.
Manatee Springs is an incredibly unique
aspect of the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s one of only 9 facilities in the
country that are part of a rescue, rehabilitation, and release
program for manatees. “A lot of people don’t know that,” said
O’Keefe. “There’s only two facilities outside of Florida that house
manatees – it’s ourselves and Columbus.” Since manatees are
endangered species, the ones found in captivity are part of a
rehabilitation and release program. The program provides care for
sick, injured, or orphaned manatees. “We get them better, and then
send them back down to Florida, where they eventually go back out
into the wild. We’ve had 14 manatees so far at the Cincinnati Zoo. 12
of which have been released successfully, and 2 we currently have,”
said O’Keefe.
When the manatees arrive at the
Cincinnati Zoo, they have been stabilized after being injured. “We’re
going to get manatees that have been stabilized after having maybe a
boat injury that healed, and now they need somewhere to gain weight
or get healthy again longterm,” said O’Keefe. Manatee Springs also
takes in manatees that are suffering from cold stress. “Manatees
are really susceptible to water temperature. Anything below 65
degrees, and they start getting like a manatee hypothermia,” said
O’Keefe.
The Cincinnati Zoo also helps to
rehabilitate orphaned manatees. If a manatee is found swimming alone,
or is too young to properly live on their own, the zoo will care for
them until they are old enough to be released back into the wild.
“Usually we don’t have information about what happened to the
mother – whether they’ve been abandoned, or if the mother may have
passed away from cold stress. We don’t really know that. We just get
younger manatees that aren’t really ready to be on their own yet,”
said O’Keefe.
If you’re a regular to the Cincinnati
Zoo, you are likely to encounter some of the same manatees during
your visits. “Most people don’t know about the program because the
manatees are here for a long period of time. Even if they come back
to the zoo, they might see the same manatees. So that’s another part
of our job, when we do our keeper talks, is to educate the public
about this program.” Transporting a manatee to the Cincinnati Zoo
is a major process. Because of the time and effort it takes to
transport these large animals to the zoo, they only take on longterm
cases. The manatees that come to Cincinnati could potentially be at
the zoo for a year or longer.
Being a zookeeper is obviously a vastly
different experience than the typical office job. While some people
may have conference calls and meetings to keep up with each day,
O’Keefe is busy making sure that the animals are healthy and happy,
and their facilities are properly maintained. It’s much more than
hanging out with cute animals all day (although, she does get to do
that too). There’s a lot that goes into the daily care of the animals
as well as keeping the zoo an enjoyable place for visitors to
experience. Each day on the job is a little different, and it varies
depending on which animals the zookeepers are responsible for at the
zoo. Along with taking care of the animals, the zookeepers also give
talks and interact with the public each day.
For O’Keefe, her first task when
starting a workday is to check on the animals. “After you check on
the animals, and make sure that everyone is doing well, you check on
the filtration system. This is where our department differs greatly
from other animal departments. Because we are fully aquatic, it’s a
lot more technical zookeeping than when you’re working with
hoofstock, where a main part of your day would be dealing with
cleaning. Where a majority of the day in other departments would be
feeding, cleaning, and training, here we have to make sure that all
the systems are running properly,” said O’Keefe. The Manatee
Springs animal keepers perform water quality testing duties, check on
the filtration system, and then clean out the pool. “We only give
the manatees food that is fresh, obviously, so we remove all the old
food that didn’t eat,” said O’Keefe. “Then we’ll have a cleaning
dive.” Manatee Springs has an impressive volunteer program, which
is especially helpful for the cleaning dives. Volunteers are at the
zoo seven days a week, and they help to clean the tanks. “So most
days, I’m up running the dives and telling the volunteers what to do.
Somedays I’m actually diving, especially if we have some sort of
maintenance that we need to do in the tanks, then the keepers will
get in and dive,” said O’Keefe.
Once the tanks are taken care of each
day, the zookeepers then focus on animal training. O’Keefe and her
co-workers train with the manatees, and also with their department’s
alligator and crocodile. “Training is really important in zoos.
It’s better for the animal and it’s better for the keeper if the
animal is trained, so we’ll do training sessions,” said O’Keefe.
When they aren’t training the animals or maintaining the tanks, the
zookeepers can be found putting their culinary skills to work for the
manatees. “Lots of our day revolves around food prep for the next
day, so we’ll get all the animals’ food ready for the next day,”
said O’Keefe.
Like previously mentioned, O’Keefe’s
daily workload changes each day. Somedays there are different medical
duties that need to be performed with the help of the zoo’s
veterinarians. “The keepers work really closely with the vet. One
reason for that is that if the vet has to do something physically to
an animal, it might have to be restrained. The keepers are the ones
trained on doing that,” said O’Keefe. On any given day, the
zookeepers and veterinarians may need to get in the water to do a
physical examination on a manatee. One consistency in the zookeepers’
daily duties in their last task of the day. The zookeepers always
finish each day by compiling reports to be electronically sent to the
curators and veterinarians. “We also send reports at the end of the
day on different aspects of the animals’ behavior, their diet,
medical stuff,” said O’Keefe.
O’Keefe was able to turn her lifelong
fascination with animals into a career after a mix of luck, and years
of good old fashioned hard work and dedication. “I was studying
Biology in school, and working on a farm, and volunteering at the zoo
by talking about animals in different exhibits. Then, I did an
internship with the Bird House and Manatee Springs. There happened to
be a person leaving the department to become a teacher – he’s
actually an instructor now for the Zoo Academy, where we have high
school students come in and help us everyday. So he was leaving to do
that position, and I kinda just slipped right into his role because I
was an intern in that department,” said O’Keefe. She also spent
time working at animal shelters, and on animal farms to gain
experience in the field. She recommends getting a solid education in
the Life Sciences (either Biology, Ecology, or Psychology) or
Zoology, and also volunteering with animals. “The more experience
you can get, the better,” said O’Keefe. “And do an internship.
That’s essential. Probably the most important thing is to do an
internship at a zoo because that’s how you can really get your foot
in the door, and start meeting people.”
According to O’Keefe, getting a
full-time zookeeper position at the Cincinnati Zoo is “a big deal.”
There are some people who are part-time or seasonal keepers for
years, and will never advance to a full-time position. Being educated
and having work experience doesn’t guarantee a full-time zookeeper
job. “Basically, if you want to be a zookeeper, it all revolves
around experience, luck, and timing. Obviously, there are a very
limited number of jobs at the zoo being a keeper. Usually someone has
to die or retire because lots of people don’t leave the Cincinnati
Zoo. It pays really competitively compared to other zoos, and it’s
honestly a great place to work,” said O’Keefe.
Seeing the animals happy is one of the
many aspects of being a zookeeper that O’Keefe finds to be the most
rewarding. Another is seeing the animals progress enough to be
released back into the wild. On a personal level, she also
particularly enjoys the open access to the zoo’s other animals that
comes with being a zookeeper. “Because I am a keeper, I can easily
go into another department and pet a sloth, or walk a cheetah if I
really wanted to. That’s been a really cool part of the job,” said
O’Keefe. And you thought that afternoon trip to Starbuck’s was the
highlight of your workday.
However, O’Keefe has found that despite
the rewarding aspects of her job, there are some difficulties that
accompany it as well. According to O’Keefe, “The most difficult
part is seeing the animals die. Luckily, I haven’t been here long
enough to see that happen very often, but that’s extremely
difficult.” Also, adjusting to a zookeeper’s schedule can be
difficult for some at first. Animals don’t take vacations or days
off, so the zoo must be properly staffed 7 days a week. “Sometimes
as a zookeeper, you have to work weekends and holidays, and there’s
really no exception to that because the animals need the same care 7
days a week. They don’t really take any off days,” said O’Keefe.
Her current “weekend” falls on Tuesdays on Wednesdays each week.
Landing her job as a full-time
zookeeper was the just the beginning for O’Keefe. She will now work
on obtaining her Rescue Dive certifications that are needed for her
department. Also, she will undergo venomous training in the spring.
Yes, you read that correctly – part of her job will be handling
some of the venomous snakes located in the Reptile House. When I
expressed my lifelong fear of snakes, O’Keefe was quick to point out
that some snakes “can actually be really nice animals.” Sure.
Whatever you say, Megan.
Regarding the snakes, O’Keefe said, “I
would say they weren’t my favorite when I started here, but we have
so many snakes here at the zoo that you really can’t avoid it, and we
have a lot of snakes in our department. Snakes are actually really
cool.” Since the Reptile House and Manatee Springs are under the
same curator, she also works with reptiles. Along with the manatees,
alligator, and crocodile that O’Keefe previously discussed, she also
works with turtles, snakes, and fish. Professionally, the venomous
training is a great addition to a zookeeper’s resume since not
everyone has the opportunity to participate in venomous training.
(Again, I’ll take your word for it, O’Keefe). This is another one of
the many reasons why I’m not a zookeeper – their first instinct is
to find a safe way to restrain a snake, while mine would be to run.
Overall, the duties of a zookeeper go
far beyond hanging out with animals for hours. It’s also a job that
tends to stay with people after they’ve clocked out for the day.
According to O’Keefe, working with animals has had an impact on her
human interactions, and has taught her a lot about patience and
energy. “There’s a certain energy that you need to put forth when
working with animals. You need to be relaxed and calm. I feel like
people, as well as animals, vibe off your energy,” said O’Keefe.
Next time you visit the Cincinnati Zoo,
make sure to say hello to O’Keefe and the manatees. If you’re brave
enough, see if she’ll take you for a visit to the Reptile House.