Wonder where many of the Zoo\u2019s keepers come from?\u00a0 A great many of them start their involvement by first volunteering at the Zoo in their teens. Night keeper Cynthia Burger started her first volunteer day in the giraffe area and never wanted to work anywhere else.\u00a0 Now in addition to her full-time position, she continues to volunteer every year during \u201cThe World\u2019s Largest Halloween Party!\u201d presented by Meijer.<\/p>\n
Years\/Hours volunteering at the Zoo?<\/strong> What is your current job?<\/strong> What\u2019s your best experience at the Zoo?<\/strong> What do you like most about being a night keeper?<\/strong> Sometimes we\u2019re there to accept a new animal being delivered to the Zoo, to help get that animal settled. There\u2019s a real sense of responsibility knowing those animals are depending on me, and an \u201cI\u2019ll take care of it\u201d attitude. And there\u2019s nothing quite as cool as being at the Zoo at day break. I\u2019ve worked in many areas at the Zoo, but at night, I get to see the Zoo in a whole new light.<\/p>\n
\nAbout six years and about 1,000 hours starting when I was fourteen.<\/p>\n
\nKeeper I, working as a night keeper and also in the Louisville Zoo Commissary.<\/p>\n
\nMy first day as a volunteer, I was taken into the keeper area of the Lion exhibit. Katie, the female, was already inside the animal holding area. Then Trapper, our male, came in, and he and Katie began to roar. Tears immediately welled in my eyes. It was a moment that changed me. I\u2019ve had a million more wonderful moments at the Zoo, from feeding a young gazelle with a bottle to hand-rearing a gorilla, but that moment with the lions remains forever in my mind.<\/p>\n
\nThe Zoo is such a different place at night. I don\u2019t know if a lot of people realize that the animals need care 24 hours a day, and at night, after all the Zoo visitors have gone home, that experience becomes very personal. We make our rounds, checking on the animals, feeding them as needed, and particularly looking out for any animals that might be sick or that need extra attention. It\u2019s really fun to tiptoe around a sleeping elephant while you stock her hay! I also discovered a baby addax antelope right after it was born.<\/p>\n