Have you ever wanted to know what being a zoo keeper is like?  Well, here’s your chance!  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 that goes on at the Zoo.  Today’s amazing keeper is Mandy Rinker, who has been a zoo keeper here for 6 years.

Zoo Keeper Mandy trains Houston Zoo elephants Shanti and Baylor

Mandy’s day starts at 7 am on the dot, when she and the other elephant keepers get breakfast ready for the Zoo’s 7 elephants.  After the elephants move inside their barn, Mandy goes out into the exhibit and cleans, sets up some delicious hay for the elephants, and puts out enrichment items.  Then, the elephants get their daily bath, and they go back into their exhibit while Mandy and her fellow keepers clean the barn.  Next is lunch, both for the elephants and keepers (separately, of course!).

But that’s just the first half of the day…and more fun is yet to come!  Afternoon is the time for training the elephants to stimulate their minds and help give them different ways to exercise.  Be sure to be at the elephant exhibit at 1:30, because that’s when Mandy and the other keepers do a keeper chat for guests!  Afterwards, Thai and Tucker, the male elephants, move inside the barn for foot care while their yards are cleaned.  What’s next?  The third meal of the day for our elephants: dinner.  Finally, Mandy helps get the elephants settled in their overnight housing.

Every day in addition to training, Mandy also does husbandry, which involves taking care of the animals to make sure they are healthy.  Elephants in particular need routine foot care in addition to skin care and trunk washes.  Mandy also draws blood each week to monitor health and for EEHV surveillance.

Mandy has wanted to work with animals as long as she can remember.  Her first zoo experience was volunteering at the Niabi Zoo in Illinois.  That was the same summer she also managed a hog farm!  Mandy loved everything about it – and what’s not to love about hogs, especially the baby ones?  She was also a zoo keeper at the Living Desert in California, where she worked with hoofed animals, carnivores, birds, and reptiles.  But elephants were always on her mind – in Mandy’s words, “they are amazing!”

When asked about her favorite experience so far at the Zoo, Mandy said it had to be watching the births of Baylor and Tupelo.  Around 5 elephants per year are born in this country, so it’s a rare and incredible experience.  What’s Mandy’s favorite part of the day?  Every day!  She loves every moment of her job, and the Zoo is lucky to have her.

For more zoo keeper features, stay tuned all week!

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