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Published: June 22nd 2006
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My Boy Marv - Asian Clouded Leopard
The first animal to teach me a lesson about safety and trust. Yes, it’s true. Before embarking on my corporate career, I was in fact a zookeeper. I spent most of my career working in the rainforest exhibit at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. The exhibit covers 1.5 acres and is about the size of an 8 story building. They don’t call it the world’s largest indoor rainforest for nothing!
The animals I worked with at the zoo are the same ones I’ll be seeing in their natural habitat in Costa Rica. Our hope is that we can give educational tours to our B&B guests (hopefully on horseback) and be able to help folks appreciate these animals in the wild. I truly believe that education is the only way to ensure these animals have a place in our future.
No matter how many times I go to Costa Rica, I’m always amazed at the amount of flora and fauna that cover this small country. It’s a familiar sight to see monkeys in the trees, iguanas on the ground and birds everywhere.
Even a zookeeper can be amazed here. I’ve seen my first hummingbirds close up in Costa Rica, the most colorful butterflies, the infamous Howler monkey, Capuchin monkeys
in the trees, lizards having lunch right next to me and something I had never seen before - a Kinkajous (amazing animal).
At times, it seems like life has come full circle. All those years of Spanish classes in high school and college are now paying off. All those years in college studying animal behavior research, mentoring at the zoo in Philadelphia, my career at Henry Doorly - it has all come back around.
People have often asked me why I left the zoo ~ why I turned my back on something I felt so strongly about and decided Corporate America was for me. That’s usually a hard conversation for me to have.
Losing animals you care for is never easy. This is part of your job as a keeper. However, losing them due to humans making bad decisions is even harder.
In 1999, while working at the zoo, someone decided it was a good idea to throw pennies into the enclosure of our family of Celebes Apes. Our lead male ape, Butch, ingested the coins and died in my arms 2 days later. It's something I've never really gotten over and something I know I'll
never forget. The vet on duty said it best, "Butch died for 3 cents".
At times, I don’t think his family ever forgave me for taking him away from them that day. I remember telling his lead female that I was going to bring him right back just as soon as we figured out what was wrong with him. Returning that evening with an empty crate and seeing the anxiety and sadness in her face was something I can never truly explain. I just know that it impacted me greatly.
It was then that I knew I needed a change and a next door neighbor offered me a job with Ameritrade. The rest is history. I walked away from something I care deeply about and I cannot wait to embrace this passion once again… but this time, in a way that I feel is positive and natural.
I have to say that being a keeper, at times can really make you see the worst in our fellow human beings. So many times I've asked folks to please not tap on the glass to enclosures, please do not use flash photography with certain nocturnal animals. I even had
to ask someone to please not spit on one of our Tapirs to which I got the reply "I'll do what I want, I paid at the gate" (this person was escorted out shortly after this comment). And when I think about what went through the person's mind that threw those coins into the Celebes Ape enclosure, I simply shake my head. These animals deserve dignity, compassion and respect.
The memories of my little ones who have passed have never left me.... Wally, the Ring Tailed Lemur that simply got too old for the zoo environment, Stella the Indian Fruit Bat that couldn’t be saved by the advances of science when she tore her wing, Stan, the Brazilian Tapir that collapsed while out on display for all to see, the two baby Moustache Tamarins that fell victim to their inexperienced mom and finally Butch, who was an amazing dad, fierce protector and beautiful ape. I will always miss him bearing his teeth at me during dinner time. These animals all lived in captivity to teach us something about our fragile world and about ourselves as human beings.
Considering the wildlife I'm about to encounter first hand, I am
truly excited about moving to Costa Rica. I can’t wait to once again learn from these animals and watch them in their natural habitat, enjoying their lives, free. Many zoo animals have sacrificed in order to educate the public so that their wild kin will be protected. I am looking forward to working on the conservation efforts of the rainforests in the hopes to preserve the habitats of these animals and ensure they have a future. Should you be interested in doing more, please feel free to contact me for ideas.
My hope with starting this blog before leaving for CR was to give folks a better understanding of why Mike and I are making this move, what we've been through to make it happen and to show people what Costa Rica means to us. We are heading to CR on Wednesday in the hopes of wrapping up our residency process so my next blog entry will most likely be from Heredia and San Jose. Please keep us in your thoughts and send lots of positive vibes our way. Stay tuned...
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John Kennedy
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Good luck...
...in CR and thanks for helping teach the boys a litle bit about themselves, and about life, through Rugby. Maybe someday Suzy and I will pay a visit!