Jul
15
Meet the Zoo Keeper: Ashley Roth
By - Jul 15, 2012
Posted in Behind the Scenes,Hoofed Stock,Meet the Staff

This week is Zoo Keeper Appreciation Week, so we’re featuring a zoo keeper each day to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at the Zoo!  Today’s superstar zoo keeper is Ashley Roth, who works with our hoofed stock.  Hoofed stock includes all animals with hooves, like rhino, giraffe, okapi, ankole cattle, tapir, kudu, zebra, and so many more.

Ashley feeds a sweet potato to one of the Zoo’s okapi

From the very beginning, even when she was young, Ashley always wanted to work with animals.  From interning with a vet in high school to her later volunteer work with the John Ball Zoo, Ashley did it all!  And yes, “all” does include one of the main jobs of a zoo keeper, cleaning exhibits.  She worked with many different kinds of animals while she was at the John Ball Zoo.  One of her favorite memories was helping with the ultrasound of a komodo dragon to find out why he wasn’t feeling well.

After a fateful trip down to Texas, Ashley realized that she loved the heat more than the snow.  She moved to Houston and got a job here at the Houston Zoo.  She has now been at the Zoo for two and a half years, and she loves it!  The most fulfilling part of her job, according to Ashley, is building relationships with the animals, especially the rhinos.  She has worked with them since the first day all three of them arrived at the zoo.  In the beginning, the rhinos used to be nervous around the keepers and in their new environment, but now, she says, they actually seek out attention from the keepers.

As for the biggest challenge, Ashley admits it’s getting the animals to shift – move in and out of their exhibits.  This is because keepers do not force animals to do anything they don’t want to do.  Keepers train them, give them rewards (think delicious treats), and encourage them, but in the end, it’s up to the animal.  And just like people, they all have good and bad days.

Ashley’s funniest moment as a keeper happened one day when it was time to clean the mud wallow in the rhino exhibit.  A fellow keeper was deep into the muck and his boots got stuck!  Ashley tried to help, but ended up pulling him straight out of his boots.

What’s Ashley’s advice if you want to become a zoo keeper?  Get as much hands-on experience as possible: start volunteering as soon as you can.  It’s a very competitive field (a Bachelor’s Degree is essential), so experience can make or break you in the running for a job.

Stay tuned for more great keeper stories as the week continues!

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