Day Twenty-Four

Conservation (Part Two)

Population is, I hope, self explanatory. With seven billion people on this planet, we are increasing at a rapid rate. I find this cartoon very accurate.

Copyright to Denise Quinn

Overharvesting is another simple one, I hope. The Center is home to many endangered species - lions and tigers to name a couple.

Why are they endangered? The stripes of a tiger and the thick, lush mane of a lion is highly lucrative. Species like elephants and rhinoceros have tusks and horns that are very desirable because of their uses in medicine and ivory.

As a result, we now have 3,200 tigers in the wild. 80% of the non-captive lion population have vanished. There is about half a million African elephants and 35 to 40 thousand Asian elephants roaming the wilds.

Rhinos... that's a sad story. The Javan and Sumatran sub-species are classified as Critically Endangered. A subspecies of the Javan rhino was declared extinct in Vietnam in 2011. A small population of Javan rhinos live on the island of Java. The Indian rhino is currently classified as Vulnerable after having its status changed from Endangered.

Southern white rhinos, in Africa, were thought to be extinct but now live in sanctuaries and preserves and is considered Near Threatened. The Northern white rhino, however, is extinct in the wild and only a few are left in a sanctuary.

Commercial fishing has left the size of our fish for consumption to be considerably smaller than in the past. I found this article to be fascinating. It is worth the read. Catching Larger Fish Leaves You With Smaller Fish to Catch

Overharvesting does not only impact animals, but trees and plants as well. Everyone has heard the sad story of the South American rainforest. Its area has declined due to deforestation. This has led to many, many undiscovered, endangered species going extinct. As a result, our biodiversity is declining.

What can I do to help?
Well, I'm glad you asked! There are some efficient ways that one can help with the conservation effort from home. Here are some helpful links.
100 Ways to Conserve Water
How You Can Help Promote Sustainability
Wildlife Conservation: 10 Ways You Can Help
101+ Ways to Make a Difference (for the folks living near water)

Please be sure to check the recycling regulations in your area. For example, where I went to college in Rochester, we had to crush bottles (soda, milk, etc) and take off the caps. Boxes had to be collapsed, and so forth. It's not as simple as rinsing out a bottle and tossing it in the recycling box anymore.

If you don't need air conditioning, turn it off and open the windows. Keep your showers short. Fill up your sink with soapy water to wash dishes if you don't have a dishwasher. It saves more water than having the water run while washing dishes. It's the little things that help. Do your research and support the organizations that do the hard work.

Day Twenty-Three

Conservation (Part One)

As indicated by the name, the Conservators' Center has a presence in conservation. There is so much you can do with it - you can conserve by "going green" or by setting up breeding programs for endangered species, or raising awareness. It is very important to be aware.

Our planet has almost 7.1 billion people. There is almost 316 million in the United States alone. The only places that are left relatively untouched in our country are national parks. Even then, barricades have been erected and trails made. There is a strong human presence in some of these parks. There are almost no places in the world that are still untouched by humans.

We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction in the last half billion years. This current mass extinction is experiencing some of the worst die-off of species since the dinosaurs were wiped out sixty-five million years ago. The difference with this one is that this extinction was caused by humans. This was a big thing that we discussed in my Tropical Ecology course during the winter. There is a list (which is also an acronym) that list the five largest threats to biodiversity (very important!) in no particular order.

I present the HIPPO model.

Habitat destruction
Invasive species
Pollution
Population
Overharvesting

Habitat destruction is self-explanatory. It is when animals and plants lose their homes due to deforestation, dredging, plowing, and so forth. Take the recent news of what happened in Greensboro. A bear cub somehow wandered onto the campus of the North Carolina A&T State University. This university is in downtown Greensboro, nowhere near a suitable bear habitat. Something similar happened almost three years ago at my college, Rochester Institute of Technology. A bear cub ended up on campus near the dorms. State wildlife officers tranquilized the bear and took it to a park. Just a few months later, the bear, now infamously the "RIT Bear," wandered onto a road and was hit and killed by an oncoming car.

Why did this happen? Again, similar to what happened in Greensboro, RIT is in western Henrietta, New York (and it's called Rochester Institute of Technology.... I know). This is an urban area. What are bears doing here?

They had no home. These bears were hungry and ended up somewhere they shouldn't have, and put themselves (and others' lives) at risk. One bear died unnecessarily because he was probably hungry.

Invasive species is a whole other story. They are species that are not native to the ecosystem but fit into a niche (how an organism makes a living in its ecosystem) and then its population booms. Since they are not native, they often have no natural predators. Take into consideration the zebra mussel of the Great Lakes. It is native to Russia, but was brought over into North America (they were found in the Canadian side of Lake Huron). They are theorized to have been in the ballast water of ships. These mussels are now everywhere in the Great Lakes, growing so densely that they are now attached to docks, the underside of boats, and the substrate. They cause damage to plumbing and are believed to have caused avian botulism that has killed thousands of birds in the Great Lakes area. They are also responsible for the near extinction of many species in the area.

Other examples of invasive species include lampreys, European starlings, fire ants, Dutch elm disease, and ambrosia beetles.

Pollution is self explanatory. There are many avenues of pollution including, but not limited to, noise, air, and earth. Think about the ozone layer - there's a  hole in it. The hole has been shrinking in recent years, but it's still there. This is due to increased carbon dioxide from fuel emissions and other sources. We experience acid rain due to power plants that burn fossil fuels. When acid rain ends up in the lakes and streams, the organisms living in these sources are hit hard. Many organisms such as salamanders and frogs have a hard time living in acidic conditions. Eggs won't hatch and trees end up with damaged leaves.

Climate change, AKA global warming, occurs due to pollution. The atmosphere traps "greenhouse gases" and the planet is slowly heating up even though we're technically still in an Ice Age. Due to global warming, the polar ice caps are melting and the sea levels are also rising.

To be continued...

Day Twenty-Two

After the somberness of my previous post, I thought this would be neat to write about!

Sounds of the Conservators' Center to a Deaf Person

I know, right. Fun posts are fun to write about! If you're interested, turn on the sound!

Tigers Chuffing

Tigers and snow leopards (of which we don't have) make a sound that Wikipedia calls prusten. It means to sneeze or snort. These large cats will often use it as a greeting to keepers, and to each other on neutral territory. Courting pairs will often chuff to each other.

Obviously, I cannot hear it as it is very breathy. I can tell when they do it, however, especially when they are laying down. Their rib cages push out as if they are letting out a couple of hard breaths.

Lions Oofing

Lions roaring (or "oofing") is a completely different story! It starts a little soft then quickly builds to a crescendo and then lets off into a series of groans. If I'm close enough I can actually hear the loudest part. The first time I remember experiencing an "oofing chorus," I was helping put a chain link ceiling on the new addition of Gryffindor and Pacino's enclosure. I was standing on their wooden den when I started feeling a rumble. It steadily got louder, which nixed my initial thought that a power tool was being used. When I looked around, I could see the lions in their enclosures oofing. They apparently "oof" when a fight breaks out and the animals involved will often do it as well, forgetting why they were fighting, among many other circumstances. They use it as a greeting or a way of communication.

In fact, once while I was kneeling and stabbing meat with a stick to feed Mufasa (under Janine's supervision, of course). Mufasa was right in front of me, Ugmo next to him, and Kiara behind me in the other shift. A squabble started over in the mixed pride.

All of a sudden, I feel a rumble. Then Mufasa and Ugmo opened their mouths. Remember - these lions can oof quite loudly. My ears were ringing and I could feel their rumblings in my chest. It was simultaneously the most terrifying and exhilarating thing I've experienced, staring into their mouths and feeling warm air blow past my face.

Some other animal videos are featured below. I cannot hear any of these, nor feel them. The best description would be to watch the videos with the sound off to get the "deaf experience."

As for servals, I can tell when they hiss, because they open their mouths and bare their teeth. That's pretty much it. Hissing is one of their main modes of communication and often doesn't mean they're angry or being insolent - they're "talking."

I recently learned that binturongs actually do make noise. They have a wide range of vocalizations when they're angry. If you're at the Center at the right time, you can hear Oliver fussing at Cole or the dogs to leave his kittens alone.

The Twilight Tour is a perfect time to hear the animals making noise! If you're interested, you can contact the Conservators' Center and make an appointment for a tour!

Day Twenty-One

I wanted to post something brief about conservation and "charismatic animals."

When you think of a zoo (I'm lumping all non-zoo types of facilities in this as well. Think of any place that has a variety of animals), what animals do you think of?

Lions. Tigers. Giraffes. Zebras. Polar bears. Wolves.

Am I right?

When you bring a child to the zoo, the child will most often be thrilled to see these animals and little of anything else.

Rochester folks: Did you know that Seneca Park Zoo has Madagascar hissing cockroaches? How about the Lake Sturgeon?

North Carolina folks: Did you know that the North Carolina Zoo is home to several types of frogs, turtles and spiders?

California folks: Are you aware that the San Diego zoo is home to not only pandas but kingsnakes?

Philadelphia folks: Did you realize that your local zoo has Victoria crowned pigeons?

Should I continue?

In the conference room of the building at the Conservators' Center, there is a plaque thanking the donors who helped make the building happen. This particular plaque has a quote that says, "In the end we will conserve only what we love." It was written by Baba Dioum, an environmentalist.

This is the full quotation:

“In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.”

This saddens me, but not because the plaque is in a place like the Conservators' Center. This is saddening because it is true.

The purpose of zoos today seems to aim to entertain. While living conditions for the animals have gotten vastly better (there is a picture floating around somewhere of a polar bear living in a very small enclosure at Seneca Park Zoo back in the 1960s), and there are educational signs in front of every exhibit, it seems to me that people still go to watch the animals and not really learn about them.

Let me illustrate.

During my internship at SPZ, I was hanging out on my break with an interpreter. We were sitting at a dining area near the wolves. My interpreter turns to me with wide eyes and says, "You see that woman?" There was a woman with two children looking at the wolves. Apparently, the interpreter overheard her telling her children, quite seriously, that the wolves were mean and she could hear their thoughts. They were supposedly devising of ways to break out of their exhibit and eating the children.

Oh my...

Another day, I was cleaning the reef tank. There is a gorgeous 560 gallon reef aquarium between the sea lions and the polar bears. Interns and keepers can typically stick their arms in the tank and use a paint scraping tool to scrape the algae off the glass. The fish really don't care because they know that soon after the arms are removed, food appears. This is a beautiful aquarium, and the reefs are more than alive. They look like they are moving, teeming with life.

Throughout this, not a single person came over to look at the fish. Not one. They entered, went to watch the sea lions frolicking, moved over to see the polar bears (if they were in the water/visible), then left. The tank was between the two doors via which they could enter and exit. When I asked the keeper, she said it was typical. The only times visitors showed interest in the fish was when they were being fed.

When you visit a zoo, there is always a gaggle of people surrounding the popular exhibits, but almost none in the nocturnal areas or lesser-known animals.

My fears. I have a fear that one day, these less-popular animals will die out in the wild and within the zoos and sanctuaries, and as a consequence the ecosystems will collapse, leading to a far more conspicuous mass extinction than the one going on right now.

My plea to you, dear reader, is to visit a zoo and learn about each animal there. Learn what they're like in the wild, and what they need to survive. All the resources are there in front of the exhibit. Please, just look.

I'll repeat it again. It's worth reading.

“In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.”

Day Twenty

A Typical Day

So this blog is titled "Days in the Life of an Intern." I decided I'd give you a peek in what my typical day is at the Conservators' Center. I included both the large and small compounds because I do alternate between the two.

3:34 AM: Wake up. Look at the clock. Groan.

3:47 AM: Look at the clock again. Sigh. Surf Facebook.

3:55 AM: Open up Netflix. Watch an episode of Family Guy.

4:16 AM: Feel sufficiently tired. Go back to sleep.

5:30 AM: Wake up again. I've only got half an hour. Go back to sleep.

6:00 AM: Alarm rings. I'm still awake. Turn it off.

6:01 AM: Surf Facebook.

6:05 AM: Check Twitter.

6:08 AM: Get up. Put on pants and a shirt.

6:20 AM: Come downstairs. Make lunch. Greet puppy.

Bonus puppy picture!

6:30 AM: Gather things. Ensure knife is in pocket, carabiner is attached to my pants, and I have socks.

6:32 AM: See my car. Decide I'm going to go through the carwash today.

6:33 AM: Pull out of the driveway, head on my way.

7:32 AM: Arrive at the Center. Realize I'm the only one here. Sit in my car and play Temple Run 2.

7:48 AM: Get out of the car, clock in, sign out a perimeter key. Put away my lunch and water.

7:57 AM: Head to the field kitchen with the other interns. Start food prep.

9:01 AM: Food prep over for larges. Head out.

9:23 AM: Food prep over for smalls. Head out.

11:24 AM: Larges/smalls rounds over. Cleanup and next-day food prep commences.

12:12 PM: Lunch!

1:02 PM: Afternoon activities commence.

4:03 PM: Janine realizes it's past 4pm and ushers the interns to the building. Cleaning commences.

4:27 PM: Cleaning over. We clock out and leave.

5:40 PM: Hit traffic. Finally home for dinner.

9:58 PM: Laying in bed. Suddenly remember I was supposed to wash my car. Decide to do it tomorrow.

Day Nineteen

If you've been reading this and going, "Oh my gosh. This is amazing! How do I get an internship like yours? Can it be at the Center?"

The answer is: Yes, it can!

Let me go in detail.

Last summer, I was laying on the floor of my apartment (it's been good, 601-5. It's been good) doing some genetics homework or something. You see, I was taking a genetics class because it was required to graduate. I had heard it was very difficult and wanted to take it during the summer, when I had no other classes to worry about.

Of course, I started procrastinating. I went on Facebook and scrolled through my timeline to read the posts I had made in the past. I saw a post about when I got the zoo internship, and started reading the comments (lots of "Lions, tigers, and bears oh my!" comments. These get old). My friend Liz, who was one of the first interns at the Center, congratulated me and told me to consider an internship at the Conservator's Center.

Naturally, because I was a sophomore (it literally means "wise fool"), I didn't think much of it, or I thought I had plenty of time to apply.

Then junior year started. Organic chemistry, physics, ecology, and my internship consumed my life.

At the end of my junior year, during my three weeks course in genetics, I came across my Facebook post. And I got excited.

And even though it was June and the summer internship had already started, I e-mailed Janine and asked if it was too early to apply for next summer (meaning: this summer). She responded almost immediately (read: the next business day. Still pretty good turnaround!) saying that, no, it wasn't too early. It would never be too early.

So I applied. Then forgot about it.

Heh, isn't that how it goes?

I got an e-mail from Janine in December inviting me to a work interview. They are typically done in February, but since I lived approximately 700 miles from North Carolina nine months out of the year, she asked me for my earliest available time. I made it just a couple days after the New Year, and off we went.

The work interview was basically a typical morning at the Center. I showed up, signed a waiver (this only happens once), and got to work checking chickens and learning how to sort through meat. I then got to go around with Carolyn, Thomas, and other volunteers in the large compound feeding and cleaning. At the end, I met with Janine for a brief casual interview before she sent me home.

If you apply and get called for an interview, trust me. Don't stress out too much. Do work, listen to the keepers, don't get out of sight and you'll be fine.

From my understanding, the internship gets more and more competitive each year, as it should. So how does someone make himself the best candidate for the internship?

I can't answer that 100%, but I can make some suggestions.

• Have some sort of experience with animals. It doesn't have to be with exotics - we had an intern this session who worked at a veterinary hospital. Volunteer at an animal shelter, work with your local vet.
• Be willing to try. Throughout my work interview, Thomas always told me I didn't have to do something if I didn't want to. If I didn't want to go in and pick up poop, I didn't have to. I didn't have to help prep chickens. However, I did. I think that was an attribute they were willing to consider. Yes, I'm grossed out by many things. But, I do try to get over it and do my best anyway. 
• Work well with others. 
• Ask questions. The keepers, volunteers, everyone at the Center loves it when people ask questions instead of making assumptions. During my interview, I was continuously asking Thomas the human, "How do I tell the difference between Thomas and Ra Lions? Why do they get skinned chicken? Why does Mufasa get a turkey and not a chicken? What is that serval doing?"
• Be honest. Seriously. Don't say you love to pick up lion poop when, truly, it makes you want to cry. If you don't want to prep chickens, speak up. Say, "I'm not comfortable doing that." Don't say you love working with computers when you actually hate it and are applying for an IT job.

The thing is: if you, at any time, tell someone at the facility that you do not want to pick up poop or touch a chicken, you will not be considered. Cleaning and preparing food is an integral part of this operation, and if you do not want to do either, you are missing out on a major part. This internship isn't all sunshine and butterflies and playing with tigers. As illustrated on this blog, there are some grisly aspects, and you have to do these to enjoy the animals.

Still interested? Hungry for more information? Here you go. Good luck!

Day Eighteen

Things to do in Mebane. 

Uh. I'll be honest. Mebane... there's not much to do. The people seem to be kind and there is a strong police presence.

Don't get me wrong. It seems like a great place to live.

However, for a 21 year old practically living alone? Not as much. Most of my friends are spread across the country (I've got a bunch in the Northeast, some in the Pacific Northwest, some in the midwest...one in Hong Kong - hi Michelle!) and I've only got a couple in North Carolina from high school. Out of these two friends, one is in Boone working at a camp, and the other has a full-time grownup job.

While I'm originally from Greensboro, during the first five weeks of my internship I'm in Chapel Hill with a coworker of my mom's.

This isn't the Chapel Hill you're probably thinking of. Carolina/Franklin Street/the big Duke rivalry is down thataway about ten miles. The area I'm staying in is the backwoods of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough. It is very remote. So remote that the doors remain unlocked at night, and there aren't curtains on the windows. There is nobody around.

Typically on my days off I go to either Greensboro to see my family and pony, or I go to Cary to see my boyfriend.

However, the more I hang out in Mebane, the more I get to know it.

1) Froyo!!! If you haven't gotten into the craze, do yourself a favor. Stop reading this blog. Get in your car. Drive to the nearest froyo place and get yourself a delicious frozen yogurt.

Back? Enjoy it? See why I do! It helps me get a sugar fix and it's slightly healthier than, say, ice cream. I usually load mine with strawberries, blackberries, and some peanut butter.

In Mebane there is a place called Icy Sweets and it's surprisingly delicious. It's not New-Agey with strange flavors such as Mango Melon or Papaya With Sparkles. It has mostly normal flavors. I usually get vanilla and chocolate swirl.

Decadent.

2) Tanger Outlets. It is literally off exit 154 on I-40/85. If you aren't from the area and are curious, Tanger Outlets is basically... an outlet? It has all these fancy schmancy stores like Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren, Saks Fifth Avenue selling their products at a reduced price.

While I still think it's very expensive and have never bought anything from there, my older sister has bought a Ralph Lauren shirt for over $50 or $75 off.

3) La Fiesta!! I think this is my Spanish/Puerto Rican heritage talking. I absolutely LOVE ethnic food of all types. My last quarter of college, I took a class called "Foods of the World" where we basically ate all types of food from places such as Africa, Korea, Vietnam, and Mexico. I was thrilled every Wednesday. Hey, free food, right?

Anyway, if you live in North Carolina for any period of time there are three places that one has to go to. Cookout. Carter Brothers. And, of course, La Fiesta (which means party!). The food is delicious. I've had better, of course, but they have awesome deals where you can get margaritas for like four bucks and it can be any flavor you want. Mmm margarita. Mmm, delicious food!

4) Sheetz. I'm not kidding. It sounds bizarre. A gas station? Now just you wait. Sheetz is like the Wawa of the south. Or is Wawa the Sheetz of the north? Is FastTrac the Sheetz of Rochester?

I digress. Anyway. Sheetz. The employees are awesome and really nice, the food is delicious for being gas station food, and it's super clean! I stop by Sheetz every week to get gas and occasionally a snack if I'm driving a long distance.

Every place has its gems. You just have to look in the right places.