LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Before the first visitors arrive and long after they’ve left for the day, a dedicated team of zookeepers is hard at work behind the scenes at the Little Rock Zoo—cleaning enclosures, preparing meals, monitoring animal behavior, and building lasting bonds with the animals in their care.
This week marks National Zookeeper Appreciation Week, and for those who work in one of the most demanding, yet often overlooked, roles in animal care, the recognition is a welcome moment of gratitude.
“We do spend more time with the animals than we do our own family,” said Chris Sauder, an animal keeper at the zoo. “We don’t get holidays off, we don’t get snow days, we don’t get heat advisory days.”
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The physical demands are intense—from early mornings spent hauling feed to long afternoons in the Arkansas heat—but the zookeepers say it’s the love for their animals that fuels them…