Being a field keeper at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park may sound like the best job in the world. You get to work hands-on with all sorts of animals from all around Asia and Africa and experience their wonders as if you were right there with them in their natural habitat. Tammy Batson and Rebecca Schafer, Wild Animal Park field keepers, remind us, however, that the only thing separating you and the animals is a truck. This can seem like nothing but a flimsy cardboard box when an angry gaur (wild cow) decides it is not happy with you, or a protective mother rhino thinks you are too close to her baby. Despite the constant dangers, both Ms. Batson and Ms. Schafer think that they have best job because they have the opportunity to give the animals the type of environment that best simulates their natural habitat.

So how can you take care of these animals, some of which would rather kill you than look at you? Carefully. To me that sounded pretty uninformative; just watch your back and hope nothing comes running out of nowhere. An extra-mandatory precaution is to have another pair of eyes watching your back. As a field keeper, it is important to travel in pairs so that in an emergency, one can radio for help, get an emergency kit, drive the truck to get away from a rampaging animal, or drive an injured one to a vet. But is there anything else to the job, apart from running away from dangerous animals? Of course.

Keepers like Ms. Batson and Ms. Schafer have to care for hundreds of animals each day. Their job is to feed the animals and clean the exhibit, a task that can take seven hours itself, make sure all of the animals are in good health, and look out for any newborn animals that may need ear notching (a way to identify individuals), a health exam, or special care because they have a negligent mother. Two animals that need special care when pregnant are giraffes and rhinos. While they are still pregnant, and for a short time after giving birth, they are separated from the other animals in a protected area of the exhibit called a boma.

This may seem like a lot of stuff for a keeper to keep track of, but there is still more. They must also work alongside vets who need to conduct exams or procedures, watch all animals for behaviors that merit further investigation (such as solitary behavior or cessation of eating), and record all of their observations and activities. These tasks may seem like some ordinary jobs that most other keepers do, but just imagine picking up the poop of hundreds of animals, counting all of them while they run throughout a 70-acre (Asian Plains) or 100-acre (East Africa) enclosure, anesthetizing an animal while it runs off at the sight of the vet coming, and searching every rock, ravine, and crevice for newborn, injured, or deceased animals. Even though it seems like so much work, and it is, both Ms. Batson and Ms. Schafer feel that the new and exciting adventures that come with being a field keeper makes up for it all in the end.

Ms. Batson, having worked at the Wild Animal Park for four years, seemed to start off her animal career in the perfect way. Growing up on a cattle ranch in Hawaii, Ms. Batson was exposed to animals her whole life. From a young age she knew that she wanted to work with animals, but at the time, thought that being a veterinarian was the only field she could enter. After attending the University of California, Davis, she discovered there was a wide range of jobs open to her, and she finished off her education at Davis with a degree in animal science and was later certified as an exotic animal trainer. After taking jobs at the Los Angeles Zoo, Santa Barbara Zoo, and a zoo in Seattle, Ms. Batson decided to apply for a position in San Diego and got a job driving tour buses at the San Diego Zoo. After three months, a job opened at the Children’s Zoo, and because of her amazing background, she got a job as a keeper. Later, she moved to the Wild Animal Park to become a field keeper. One of Ms. Batson’s favorite things about the job is the fact that there is no such thing as a normal day as a field keeper. Something new and exciting is waiting for her in the field every single day.

Contributed by Lindsey - Zoo InternQuest Careers Team

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