The Inaugural Zoo Experience was a Success

Over fifty guests including local dignitaries, school board members, zoo staff, parents and friends attended the culmination ceremony of The Zoo Experience, a one-week, internship-style day camp which was held July 16th – 20th at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo.

Big Bear High School students Melissa Ellis and Kelly Mount spent the week working behind-the-scenes with zookeepers in the morning, giving presentations to zoo guests on various animals in the afternoon, and then wrote a blog each day illustrated with their own photographs, chronicling their experience.

“This has been one of the best weeks of my entire life,” said Kelly Mount on her last day of The Zoo Experience program. “I don’t want this week to be over. I learned so much about each animal and so much about the zookeepers and what they do every day. I honestly want to do something this important sometime in the future.”

The brainchild of Big Bear Alpine Zoo curator, Bob Cisneros, Cisneros approached the president of the local Big Bear Valley American Association of University Women (AAUW) about partnering on a special program for Big Bear high school girls in 2017. Cisneros and members of AAUW worked for months creating the inaugural program. Cisneros was pleased with the outcome of The Zoo Experience.

“Every day, zoos all over the country make it their mission to connect people to wildlife,” explained Cisneros. “The “Zoo Experience” took our zoo’s mission and expanded upon it in a most profound way. An immersion experience at the zoo gave two young women entering their senior year in high school a week’s worth of epiphanies. The science behind what we do in zoos as well as the emphasis that we place on conservation education made our collaboration with AAUW a perfect partnership.”

Cisneros wasn’t the only one happy with The Zoo Experience. "We are very pleased with the meaningful impact that The Zoo Experience STEM camp had on our students,” said Jill Myers, AAUW director, The Zoo Experience. “The students came away with a clear picture and understanding of the complex environment and the many career paths in the zoological sciences."

But the person who has summed up the experience best was Zoo Experience participant, Melissa Ellis. “This whole week was one of the most amazing and insightful weeks of my life. This experience has been filled with so much valuable information, which I'll be able to use when considering my future profession,” said Ellis. “I wish my week at the zoo wasn’t over, but I hope that this first Zoo Experience has set a good foundation for the lucky girls who will get to participate in the years to come.”

AAUW, whose mission it is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research, has created this unique program in conjunction with the Big Bear Alpine Zoo and has sponsored the two, high school junior girls. With the success of the 2018 Zoo Experience program, plans are already shaping up for 2019, with next year’s program scheduled to take place at the new zoo.

The Zoo Experience Day Five

Jill Myers, The Zoo Experience Director, Melissa Ellis,
Bob Cisneros, Zoo Curator, Kelly Mount, and Christie Walker, The Zoo Experience Asst. Director

MY ZOO EXPERIENCE

This has been one of the best weeks of my entire life. I have loved everything about this program. It was amazing how we were able to follow our zookeepers almost everywhere they went. When you watch them work, you can definitely tell how much they care about the animals. I’ve noticed that everyone that works at the zoo knows what they’re doing and they never make a mistake. 

Kelly Mount

I don’t want this week to be over. I learned so much about each animal and so much about all of the zookeepers and what they do every day. I honestly want to do something this important sometime in the future.

Kelly Mount

Lotus Blossom is a female badger. She was rescued in 2005
at one-year-old. She was found on the side of the road and
was hand-raised. Photo by Kelly Mount

HOW THIS EXPERIENCE CHANGED MY LIFE

Melissa Ellis

This whole week was one of the most amazing and insightful weeks of my life. This experience has been filled with so much valuable information, which I'll be able to use when  considering my future profession. 

As I’ve said before, I have wanted to be a veterinarian since I was very little and now this program has opened my eyes to the world of zoology and being a zookeeper, which has been very beneficial to me. The program has allowed me to highly consider the field of zoology as a profession.

Luna is a female ringtail cat that was rescued in 2011.
Photo by Melissa Ellis

I wish my week at the zoo wasn’t over but I hope that this first Zoo Experience has set a good foundation for the lucky girls who will get to participate in the years to come.

Melissa Ellis

Thank you Village Pizza for providing lunch for the students, mentors and staff. 

Melissa and Kelly having a "beary" good
time at the first annual Zoo Experience.

The Zoo Experience Day Four

I HAVE TO RAKE???

Have you ever been excited to rake stuff up or collect tree branches? Well I never thought I would answer yes to that question but today changed my mind. I was able to help collect branches for the grizzly bears' enrichment along with gathering rocks where we could hide their food. This allows them to use their problem-solving skills to sniff out and find their food. 

Cascade the mountain lion was rescued
at 4-weeks-old with her sister Canyon
 after their mother was sadly killed.
 Photo by Melissa Ellis

I also was able to rake inside of the bear den and bobcat habitat, while the animals were safely in their holding areas. It was very interesting to help the animals in this way and clean up their habitats. I also enjoyed being close enough to the mountain lions to hear them meow and purr just like a domestic house cat. It was incredible to see how docile Bailey the mule deer was and how curious he is. 

Aurora Borealis is an arctic fox who was rescued in 2012.
Photo by Melissa Ellis

I can’t believe I was so happy to be working and raking but my love for the animals and being able to improve their habitats in this way made it completely worth it to me.

Melissa Ellis

WHAT IS MY FAVORITE ANIMAL?

Ever since I first came to the zoo I’ve always loved the snowy owl, Cyrus. I remember the first time I saw him...I immediately fell in love. It was my freshmen year in high school, and I decided to do a research paper on snowy owls. I came to the Big Bear Alpine Zoo to find more information about this type of owl. Every since that first visit, the zoo has just been getting better and better for me.

Tutu is a grizzly bear that ave birth to Ayla and Harley.
She was born in 1984 and rescued in 1996.
Photo by Kelly Mount

By participating in The Zoo Experience, I’ve learned how the zookeepers care for Cyrus along with the other animals. The zookeepers clean, feed, and enrich the animals' senses. The zookeepers make boxes and other things filled with treats for the animals to problem-solve. They also play different sounds and give them things that normally wouldn’t be in their diets or natural habitats to see how they will react and nurture their natural curiosity.

Kelly Mount

Pippin is a male red fox born in 2007.
Photo by Kelly Mount.

Thank you to the Clubhouse Grill for providing lunch to our students, mentors and staff.

The Zoo Experience Day Three

Melissa and her mentor, Lindy, Kelly and her mentor, Linda.

DO YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC TO WORK AT THE ZOO?

Cascade is a female mountain lion. Her and her sister,
Canyon, were rescued at about four weeks old after their mother was killed.
They were hand-raised and imprinted on humans. Photo by Kelly Mount.

Today at the zoo, Melissa and I interacted with the public for over an hour. Melissa and I spoke with the guests while we were doing our bio facts work. We mostly talked to kids that were interested in the felid skulls. Felids are cats, such as mountain lions, bobcats, and snow leopards. We were able to learn where some guests were from and they learned more about the animals.

Cyrus is male snowy owl. He was rescued in
in 2007. He can not return to the wild because
he had a major wing injury, which led to his
 wing being amputated. Photo by Kelly Mount

We also watched the zookeepers and interns give presentations. We watched a presentation on the snow leopards. Summer, the lead zookeeper at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, and Kat, an intern, gave the presentation. They answered questions and gave information, but they didn’t just throw facts at you. Everything was very fluid, and they both knew what they were talking about. I hope that I can become that good at speaking and make it part of my future career.

Kelly Mount

ENRICHMENT ALLOWS ANIMALS TO DISPLAY NATURAL BEHAVIORS

Shakespeare is a male bobcat that was born in 2012 and
was rescued from two dogs who trapped him in a yard.
Photo by Melissa Ellis

My amazing day today consisted of making enrichment boxes for many of the animals. Enrichment boxes are very useful in zoos because it allows the animal to display natural behaviors that they would perform in the wild. It also lets them problem solve. Problem solving with these boxes includes the animals being able to think of ways to open the box to get to the food, and allows them to use foraging skills and their sense of smell along with other natural behaviors.

I had the opportunity to make these boxes for two of the raccoons and the black bears along with helping with coyotes and big cat enrichment boxes. Today was the most fun day I’ve had so far this week with all of the hands-on activities I was able to experience.

Melissa Ellis

Barbie is a female Great Horned Owl who was rescued in 1997,
with a wing damaged by barbed wire. Photo by Melissa Ellis

Thank you to Gaby's Latin Flavors for providing lunch to the students, mentors and staff.

The Zoo Experience Day Two

Melissa, Big Bear Alpine Zoo curator, Bob Cisneros, and Kelly
with items from today's bio facts box.

BIO FACTS, MEALS AND SPECIAL GUESTS

Two of the coyotes were rescued after being kept as illegal pets
and the other coyote here was rescued near death at
only a few weeks old, due to multiple problems.
Photo by Melissa Ellis

Did you know that wolves are able to glide over snow due to a more even distribution of their weight on each of their paws? This allows them to catch up to animals such as deer who have hooves that sink into snow. This sinking causes them to lift their legs high in order to escape, which takes a lot more work than gliding like the wolves do. Learning this was the most interesting part of today, along with being able to educate zoo guests using this information and more from our bio facts lesson. Today we focused on canids, which include wolves, foxes, and many other canines. We showed the guests different paw prints and canid skulls while also sharing the importance of their jaws and paws while hunting.

Noelle, is a female wolf, born at the zoo in 2009.
Photo by Melissa Ellis

In the morning I was able to watch the many animal diets being prepared, which was very cool because of the variation in each animal’s diet. One of the diets consisted of this special meat mixture that they feed to the carnivores. This mixture has a large variety of all the proteins that they require in their diet. After this I was able to see a skunk named Manson who is gentle, crate trained, and currently being trained for other behaviors.

Today was filled with many different experiences including an amazing talk with two San Diego zookeepers, learning about bio facts, and seeing all the different diets for the animals.
Melissa Ellis

TRAINING DOGS IS DIFFERENT FROM TRAINING ZOO ANIMALS

Blair is a male wolf, born at the zoo in 2009.
Photo by Kelly Mount

This morning, Melissa and I, along with the rest of the zookeepers, watched a presentation by two San Diego Zoo zookeepers, Nicky Boyd, curator behaviorist husbandry, and Kim Caldwell, animal trainer supervisor. This presentation was about how to train the zoo animals. These women talked about positive and negative reinforcement and different ways to train animals besides using food. For example, instead of just hitting a dog on the nose when it goes to bite, the zookeepers want to move away from these habits. If an animal does something wrong, the zookeeper will stop what they’re doing and move onto the next command. This is safer for the animals and the keepers. Instead of using food like you might for a dog, the zookeepers will use targeting. Targeting is when you give the animal something and you put a target for the animal to go to.

Speedy, a male tortoise, was born 1994, and donated to the zoo in 2002.
Photo by Kelly Mount

The zookeepers from San Diego also talked about how the animals need to trust their zookeepers and vice versa. When working with my zookeeper for the day, Ashley, she talked about how there were some animals that she’d love to have a better connection with and to have them trust her more. I believe that the two zookeepers from the San Diego Zoo helped Ashley learn how to get a better connection with the animals she works with daily.
KellyMount

Thank you to Mountain Munchies for providing lunch for the students, mentors and staff.

The Zoo Experience Day One

Day One of the Zoo Experience
Melissa, Kelly, and their afternoon mentors, Karen and Melinda.

DID YOU KNOW THAT BEARS CAN GET ARTHRITIS, TOO?

In the Alpine Zoo, there’s a bear named Huckleberry. He came to the zoo when he was a few months old because he got hit by a vehicle and they had to remove his front right leg. Since he’s a 458-pound bear, all of his weight is supported by only three legs instead of the usual four which, causes him to have arthritis. He will use his nose (as a forth leg) to help him walk when he feels stiff.

Bald Eagle, Valentine, is a female and almost blind due to
cataracts. Valentine was rescued in 2004.
Photo by Kelly Mount

For now, Huckleberry is separated from the other two bears in his enclosure because he had two teeth removed and can only eat soft foods. They must give certain animals certain medications for everything from arthritis to flaky skin.

We also learned about carnivores along with omnivores. The zookeepers will create certain activities for the animals. Today, they did a taste enrichment activity. For this the snow leopards were given mice and the bears got raisins. The snow leopards smelled the mice and then walked away, while the bears ate the raisins.   

Kelly Mount

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RAVEN AND A CROW?

The acorn woodpecker is one of the zoo's
most recent rehabilitation patients,
rescued in late 2017, due to a broken
wing. He currently has no official name
but is sometimes called Narwhal.
Photo by: Melissa Ellis

Do you know how to tell the difference between ravens and crows? I didn't until today. Other than their size, they have multiple differences. I discovered that ravens have a much broader beak than crows do, and they typically are seen soaring rather than flapping their wings. Crows have rounded tail feathers rather than a raven’s more v-shaped tail.

It was very interesting to me to learn about them since I’ve always been fascinated by these birds and wondered how to differentiate the two species. I was able to observe two ravens, George and Gracie, who were great additions to my day.

I was also able to see a beautiful (and very active) acorn woodpecker up close. Other amazing parts of my first day in this program were being able to see the coy arctic fox and kit fox. 

Melissa Ellis

Thank you to Amangelas for providing lunch for the students, mentors, and staff.

Melissa Ellis and Kelly Mount Selected for 2018 Zoo Experience Program

The Big Bear Valley American Association of University Women (AAUW) has selected two Big Bear High School students, Melissa Ellis and Kelly Mount, to participate in the first-ever STEM program, “The Zoo Experience,” to take place at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo.

“The Zoo Experience” is a one-week, internship-style day camp to be held July 16^th – 20^th at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, which coincides with National Zookeepers Week. Ellis and Mount will have the opportunity to work with zookeepers, learn animal science, as well as journalism and photography for a daily blog, during their camp.

Melissa Ellis

“Ever since I was very little, I’ve always loved being around animals, and have wanted to do something to help them,” said Melissa Ellis, in her admissions essay. “Animals have always been a huge part of my everyday life. I’ve been fascinated by all different kinds of animals even some that are more uncommon such as rodents and insects. My family has helped encourage my love of animals, even at birth, by getting me a baby African Spurred Tortoise right around the time I was born.”

Kelly Mount

“The animal experience that has had the most impact on me was seeing the new habitats created at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo,” shared Kelly Mount, in her admissions essay. “Before Cyrus (the snowy owl) only had a small igloo that he spent most of his time in. Now it looks like they took Cyrus and his natural habitat and put it on display. He now has branches to climb on, a log to sit on or in, and it is incredibly better than it was before.”

“The Zoo Experience” program seeks to break through barriers for women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math, while exposing them to careers in the field of zoological sciences. Currently, women account for only a minority of managerial positions in zoos. AAUW is dedicated to inspiring women to become leaders and opening their minds to STEM fields that they may have not considered as viable careers.

The community is invited to “tag along” by checking out Ellis and Mount’s daily blog posts about their experience July 16-20, after 6 pm each day.

The public is also invited to the Culmination Event on Friday, July 20^th, from 3 to 4 pm at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo. Zoo admission is required, so come early, or stay late to enjoy the Zoo as well.