FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – In honor of National Zookeeper Week, WANE 15’s Alyssa Ivanson and Fort Wayne Zoo Director Rick Schuiteman donned the green keeper polos and took on the tasks of zoo keepers.
Watch the video above to see how they helped care for orangutans, goats, red pandas and helped with the Coastal Cove Keeper Chat.
Orangutan Training
First stop was in the Dome with the orangutans for some training with keepers Cameron and Emily as the guides. Holding a target up to the window, the orangutans will hit the window on the target.
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“Emily slaps the window when they successfully hit the target and that is their reinforcer to go up and get some more food at the drive through window, which we’re able to feed from our indoor holding area. We have a lot of different things that we use for training purposes, but Craisins seem to be very high value for our Sumatra orangutans,” Keeper Cameron explained.
Other hand signals can signify the orangutan showing his or her hand or foot or opening their mouth or putting their forehead on the window.
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“It’s just so much fun to do. It’s it’s an amazing part of our job, absolutely,” Cameron said.
Walking Goats
From animals that did a good job listening to some, that, well, didn’t.
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“We have 14 goats, and throughout our days, when we have time, and we can take a couple, two or three on a walk. It’s really good for their overall body health and body and their hoof health,” Keeper Maryssa Breininger said.
Alyssa walked goat Jacques and Rick walked goat Henry. It was more of a stop, redirect, try to walk, walk a little, stop again journey.
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Coastal Cove Keeper Chat
The zoo has several keeper chats throughout the day with various animals. They’re a chance for guests to learn even more about the animals and ask the experts questions.
Alyssa helped start the Keeper Chat at Coastal Cove where three other keepers demonstrate training with the zoo’s two sea lions and new Harbor seal.
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Red Panda Enrichment
For their last duty, Alyssa and Rick prepared forage PVC cups for Red Panda Nima…