Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

A Day in the Life of a Reptile Keeper

This week we met Ken Morgan, a senior reptile keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Being a reptile keeper is not an easy job. You are working in an environment similar to that of the reptiles you work with and, depending on the species, it can be very hot and humid like in the tropical corridor, or even cold and dry such as in the tuatara breeding house. Nevertheless, you must be able to work in these conditions to keep the animals comfortable and in an environment that mirrors their natural homes.

In addition to the wide-ranging physical conditions, as a reptile keeper you must have a wide spectrum of knowledge about every animal under your care. Some of the information is vital for the animals’ conservation in the wild, other things are important for keeping the animals alive and well at the Zoo. Mr. Morgan easily transitioned through all of this information as he toured us through countless reptile exhibits. It is important that you are able to handle the reptiles (and in some cases amphibians) and their food. Normally their diet consists of crickets, mice, and other frozen foods. Some of the other interns were totally okay with being surrounded by venomous reptiles, but they cringed at the sight of a cricket!

Another important thing you should know is the breeding habits and the natural environment of each animal under your care. This will allow you to be better able to breed each species. You also must be able to work well with others. You are part of a team and everyone plays an important part. As a reptile keeper you should also be comfortable using binomial nomenclature. This means using the animal’s scientific name rather than their common name. This helps with clarity.

Mr. Morgan earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Saskatchewan and is hoping to pursue his master’s degree working with tuataras. As a keeper you must be willing to move to a Zoo where they have job for you, and work with many different people. You also must be trained to use the protective gear such as a snake hook and a protective facemask. You also must be trained to safely handle the animals you work with.

-Justin, Zoo InternQuest Animal Careers Team

Aliens Invade Guam

I have never been someone who enjoys being around reptiles, but Ken Morgan, a senior reptile keeper at the Zoo, helped me to see that they are not as scary as I thought they were. Mr. Morgan is in charge of a tropical reptile corridor. His corridor was extremely hot and so humid that there is a de-humidifier running all the time. Besides knowing how to care for the animals, Mr. Morgan had a story for all of the reptiles he showed us.

For example, a brown tree snake was confiscated from a private party who had it and brought to the Zoo. The species got onto Guam by Navy transport way back in the mid-20th Century and essentially ate all of the birds on the island. The only reason that there are birds there now is because they are protected by fences and other measures to keep the snakes out. There are also populations of birds such as the Guam rail and the Micronesian kingfisher that live here at the San Diego Zoo even though the species are essentially extinct in the wild.

The reason the snake species was so successful on the island of Guam is that there are no natural predators for the snake on that island so they basically landed in a place with an all-you-can-eat buffet and nobody to tell them that they have had enough! Well-fed snakes are also successful breeders, so the population was able to grow in number. There is a brown tree snake eradication plan on Guam. When the snakes have been eliminated from this island, the Guam rails can come back. This was an interesting story to hear from a reptile keeper. Mr. Morgan didn’t seem to be defending the snake or anything like that. The whole point was to look at the habitats and niches of animals and how the whole balance of things can be thrown off when people move animals around.

Not only does the Reptile House have reptiles, but it also has amphibians! There were several frog species being bred to increase their faltering populations. One species is called the tomato frog. The name fits because it really looks like a tomato when it is standing still. I have lived my whole life staying as far away as possible from reptiles, but our personalized tour of the Reptile Department has shown me that they are friendly and less intimidating than most animals.

-Kati, Zoo InternQuest Photography Team

Working to Save Our Reptile Friends

The Reptile Department at the San Diego Zoo is dedicated to protecting endangered species of turtles, snakes, and iguanas, and the list goes on and on to include both reptiles and amphibians. As Ken Morgan, senior keeper at the Reptile House, showed us, sadly much of the collection features endangered species like the Galapagos tortoise and the tuatara. Besides these exotic species, we encountered some species native to the U.S. that face extinction as human encroachment continues into previously wild places.

Mr. Morgan showed us many animals that are currently endangered, but one group that caught my attention was the Asian fresh water turtles. Humans have been exploiting the Asian freshwater turtles for food and have thus depleted the numbers to the point where if the Zoo’s conservation efforts are not successful, the population will go extinct. An animal that is a neighbor to the Asian freshwater turtle at the Zoo is the gharial, which is an endangered species of crocodilian. It, too, is facing increased pressure in the wild due to human encroachment on their habitat in India. The Zoo is working to increase the number of gharials and Asian fresh water turtles, but because of the mining of beaches for sand and the disruption of the migratory patterns due to fishing lines (also a common problem for sea turtles) their numbers in the wild still dwindle.

In addition to foreign endangered animals, we learned that there are species right here in California being threatened by human activity. These include the San Francisco garter snake and the mountain yellow-legged frog. The San Francisco garter snake is so close to becoming extinct because of its small range and human destruction of their habitat. Due to predation by introduced trout and nonnative bullfrogs, pesticide and nitrogen deposition, water diversion by dams and reservoirs, human recreational activity, and diseases including chytrid fungus and viruses, the number of adult mountain yellow-legged frogs has been reduced to about 75.

-Keesha, Zoo InternQuest Conservation Team

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