A shoutout to our Volunteers!

Hey all, I’m Erin, a member of the Orangutan Care Team here at the Zoo. I want to use this opportunity to give a shout out to our Volunteers!  Working in the Primate Department can be hectic at times but luckily, we have a great group of people who dedicate their time and energy to helping us out on various days.  Some of things Volunteers do for us include cleaning animal areas, preparing habitats in the mornings, chopping diets, doing dishes, making enrichment, and helping us with smaller maintenance issues we encounter.  This allows keepers to do other things with the time they save us, such as training, working on bigger projects, paperwork, etc. 

Helping prepare our animals’ enrichment is a huge time-saver for us.  With 10 orangutans, we go through a lot of enrichment in a day!  The Zoo even has its very Enrichment Team of Volunteers who meet on specific weekends and prepare much of our enrichment and decorations for holidays and special occasions. The care teams and all of the animals are so grateful for their help and support!

Erin P.
Keeper I, Primates