His influence in designing world-famous exhibits can be seen at both the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. Mr. Fobes was on the design team for both the Heart of Africa and Condor Ridge, major highlights of the Park. Currently, the graduate of California State Polytechnic University at Pomona is focusing his attention on the $45 million Elephant Odyssey Exhibit.

But how would he know how to design an exhibit with his background in commercial buildings? “Working with Zoo staff is similar to working with any client. Both have specific needs and knowledge of what is required,” says Mr. Fobes. Keepers inform Mr. Fobes of requirements for the health of the animals and work area requirements for the health and safety of the keepers. For this exhibit, the steepness of the terrain is the biggest factor. The seven-acre exhibit will feature gradual topographical grade changes to make a nice gentle slope for the animals and a visually interesting landscape for the Zoo visitors. Also, there is little hard ground surfaces such as concrete because the elephants don’t like to lie down on hard ground.

From the design aspect, “looking as natural as possible,” Mr. Fobes noted “is most crucial.” With all his projects he hopes to capture the feel of the animal’s native environment. For this project, the landscape architects are looking to incorporate native California plants, since the project includes a look at large animals, like the mammoth, that used to inhabit Southern California. They will also include several artificial trees to provide shade for the elephants. They use artificial trees because elephants tend to eat the real ones. Mr. Fobes’s office has massive blueprints laid across tables as well as a 3-D model of the Elephant Odyssey Exhibit. The model allows keepers, animal care managers, operations managers, and facilities maintenance people who will be impacted by the final outcome of the project to better communicate their needs up front before the project is too far along.

Few zoos have in-house architecture and planning departments, and this is such a specialized field, it’s not really easy to find a “zoo architect” job. There are several independent firms that focus on the creation of exhibits.

The Elephant Odyssey is scheduled to be completed in spring 2009. Until then, Mr. Fobes and his team will continue to fuse animal needs with functional design. Curious visitors can see the site’s development by taking a ride on the Zoo’s Skyfari.

Lindsay, Careers Team

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In the behind-the-scenes area of the koala exhibit at the Zoo, Educator Stephanie Burns told us about koalas, koala husbandry, and koala conservation. Afterwards, she took us to feed Bactrian camels, and Ms. Burns answered our questions, right and left, ranging from the history of the Zoo to funding at the Zoo’s conservation center to why the male Visayan warty pig grew a mohawk. We admired both her depth and variety of knowledge.

The Real World Connection: As we look onward to future careers, it concerns us to see some people sacrifice passion for their occupation, with the belief that passion and profession cannot go hand in hand. However, Ms. Burns was able to find a job that included both her love for animals and for spreading conservation connections, ethics, and actions. Although most of her career has concentrated on animal handling, from domestic to exotic, Ms. Burns found her perfect niche, her dream job, in education because it encompasses so much of what she believes in. Some positions are worth striving for because they do not require the sacrifice of certain joys for work. Ms. Burns’ satisfaction as an educator inspires us to persevere in our search for a position that captures our sincere passions. In short, perhaps the dream job is out there for all of us!

Natalie and Ronit, The Real World Team

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This Queensland koala is snoozing on a eucalyptus tree in the middle of the afternoon, which isn’t uncommon for an animal that sleeps up to 20 hours a day! Educator extraordinaire Stephanie Burns taught us about that koala trait during our Zoo tour.

Three hungry Bactrian camels munch on chopped celery treats. An exciting part of working at the Zoo, and being in Zoo InternQuest, is getting up close with the animals.

Siamangs observe Zoo visitors while swinging from tree to tree. Who knew that they’re as interested in us as we’re in them!

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Every year the Zoo identifies ten of its most important and high profile projects and informs the public about them. (There are over 100 projects and programs supported by the Zoological Society of San Diego each year.) Along with monitoring elephant populations in Thailand and studying wild giant pandas with radio telemetry, there is a Species Survival Plan (SSP) that works as a dating service for animals, such as koalas, in zoos. The San Diego Zoo plays an important part in the reproduction of these animals, as they can be extremely picky! For example, koalas only eat certain kinds of eucalyptus leaves and change their preferred type frequently. As if that wasn’t enough work for the Zoo employees charged with managing groves of eucalyptus trees just for these fuzzy creatures, koalas only eat the new growth on each branch. When mating season comes around, the SSP manager uses the family tree of all of the koalas available and chooses three potential bachelors per female (because she often rejects the first and second male she comes across.) The SSP manager makes sure that these matches are from new or under-represented genetic lines to ensure the most genetically diverse koala population possible.

Even though breeding and caring for koalas is no walk in the park, maintaining a healthy population in zoos is important because of the pressure they face in their native homeland of Australia. Wild koalas are threatened by factors such as drought, deforestation, and predation by dingoes. Thanks to the Species Survival Plan, guests can be “edu-tained” by watching the koalas, reading the signs nearby, or asking an animal keeper about these choosy marsupials.

Lauren and Amelia- Conservation Team

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Ms. Burns took us on a wild adventure through the Queensland koala barn, currently holding 20 koalas. Surprisingly, koalas are isolationists that enjoy having their own space. These marsupials have a scent gland on their chest, used to mark their territory on the tree in which they reside. The reason we know all of this now? Ms. Burns, Zoo educator, used her conversational style to teach us about koalas. There were a few show-and-tell moments thrown in too, such as touching the fur of a koala (a taxidermied specimen, not a live one) and getting a close up of a replica of a koala skull.

Did you know that eucalyptus leaves are poisonous to most animals? Koalas can smell or taste (scientists aren’t really sure) how toxic the eucalyptus leaves are, and they won’t eat it if it’s too toxic. Because the animal keepers do not have the same ability, they have to present the koalas with a variety of eucalyptus species each week to let the koalas choose. In doing her job of an educator, Ms. Burns gave us some insight into the job of a koala keeper. The keepers have to be good observers of animal behavior. For example, the koalas normally get all the hydration they need from the leaves they eat, but if they start drinking from the bowls of water given to them, something could be physically wrong with the koala.

Later on Ms. Burns led us through the Zoo’s manicured grounds to the Bactrian camel exhibit that features three camels. Mongo, a 1,700-pound cocky male with a large appetite, caught our attention quickly over the others while we were feeding the group celery and elephant pellets, an herbivore treat. He shoved his way to the front of the pack to remind us of his presence. His two female companions exercised common camel behavior by spitting back at the gutsy male. Two-year-old Heidi later won our attention by nudging Ms. Burns every so often. Keepers are waiting for Heidi to turn six years old, when she will reach sexual maturity, so she can mate with Mongo.

Our encounters with these fascinating animals left us envious of Ms. Burns’ job and excited for the weeks of exploration to come. We can’t wait to learn more about the other 8,000 animals cared for by the Zoo, the 6,000 plant species that beautify the grounds, and the different jobs here at the Zoo.

Dana and Lindsay – Careers Team

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