4 WILD Years of Zoo-ventures

Since moving to Texas in November 2012, one of my FAVORITE places has been the Houston Zoo. We’ve been regular visitors, and I’ve really bonded with the animals over the years as I have watched them grow up.

In 2014, we discovered a Houston Zoo program called Zoo Crew. ZC is a program for ages 13-17 that involves volunteering in many different zoo roles while exploring zoo careers. One visit, we were at the elephants’ exhibit and saw a volunteer. Because my mom knew I would love nothing in the world more than to work at a zoo, she asked her how one could be a volunteer. The volunteer told us about Zoo Crew and how its a teen volunteer program. My mom said, “My daughter is a teen and she LOVES the zoo”. That sounded pretty amazing to me, but we were too late for 2014. We decided to look into it a little more in 2015. 

2015 brought a lot more knowledge of the program and determination to try it. We quickly found out that Zoo Crew was a competitive program with a multi-step process. 1^st step was the application process. That process entailed filling out an application to let them know more about me, and why I wanted to do Zoo Crew. I couldn’t work with animals, though, as that required being in at least your second ZC year. However, I could potentially work in 1 of 3 areas that were open to first year ZC. 1^st was Education: where I could tell guests about animals and show biofacts. 2^nd was Theater: where I (and other ZC) would put on little plays that tie into the zoo’s important conservation work/messages. 3^rd was Camp Zoofari: where I could help with the zoo camp. 

For my application, I put Education first, CZ second and T third. I filled out my application using clear sentences and punctuation and tried to be as honest as possible when talking about myself. I didn’t shy away from the truth about my Aperts Syndrome. In fact, I owned it. We had to write an essay about how we were like an animal. I chose the Andean Bear (or spectacled bear). These bears are different than other bears (smaller, look like they have glasses on, and have different habits), but they are still beautiful and interesting creatures. I submitted the application and kept positive. There were over 500 applicants for the program.  

Soon after, I got notified that I had qualified for an interview for a possible placement. I had never had an interview before. After receiving that email, my family practiced the interviewing with me. That helped me speak clearly and not mumble (Because my mouth isn’t formed the same way as most people’s, I can sometimes be hard to understand. This gets worse when I am nervous, so I needed to focus on clear speech.) It also helped me get a feel for what the interview was going to be like. Also, it gave me confidence on what to say. Interview day brought a nervous Claudia because this was something I was really interested in. I was interviewed by one of the camp leaders and focused on speaking clearly. Soon after interview day, an email came and it was official. I got in ZC and placed to help with Camp Zoofari! I couldn’t wait to see what it had to offer. 

On my first day, I was with 6 & 7-year old campers. I was a little nervous as kids these ages notice that I’m different straight away, and it bothers me when people stare at me sometimes. These kids noticed I was a little different and were ok with that. They asked about my hands occasionally, but I knew they were just curious. None of them were mean about it. I told them that I was born like that, and they accepted it and moved on. By my 3^rdday, I was watching them and asking them questions like all of the other camp counselors. I loved it and they did too – at least I think they did. We had fun playing games with the campers. On my last day, I was evaluated by one of the Camp teachers. This is a process for all Zoo Crew team members.  She said that I did a good job, but that I needed to improve my initiative. I took what the 1^stcamp counselor said very seriously and stepped up my initiative game.  I really wanted to do well with this program, so I worked with my parents to come up with ways that I could show more initiative at camp.  The following week, I did those things and was just more comfortable with my role at the camp, and the initiative wasn’t a problem again. After my third week of camp, I had finished my 2015 Zoo Crew duties and I couldn’t wait to apply again in 2016.

2016 was a big ZC year for me. That was my first year ELIGIBLE for an ANIMAL section. This time, the application process was a little different, since only a few animal spots were open. Another big difference was that I was a returning ZC member. My mom had the idea to make a resume about my experiences with animals/people. That was an amazing idea and it’s still growing today! I applied again, and then the e-mail came, and I got an interview for Hoofstock. Hoofstock is the animal category that covers animals with hoofs: Giraffes, Zebra, Okapi, Tapirs, Capybaras, Red River Hogs, Giant Anteaters, Duikers, and many S. American and African bird species. I printed out the application with my answers and the resume. I took those with me to the interview. Memory, a keeper in Hoofstock, interviewed me and asked me why they should have me as a volunteer. I spoke very clearly and showed her my resume. I was very nervous, since I had been working towards this since last year. After the interview, all we could do was stay hopeful and keep our “hooves” crossed.

We got an email the day after the interview. I looked at the email and saw I was in ZC again. However, more importantly, I GOT HOOFSTOCK!!!! I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait for that summer to begin. It was soon time for my first week. It was very different from Camp Zoofari, since instead of being there by 8:00 am, I had to be in the keeper trailer by 7:00. Good thing there’s an early riser in the family, ME! Working in Hoofstock is a physical job. I should put here that sometimes I struggle with carrying things that are too heavy and I can get tired. That didn’t stop me from giving all my effort to help the staff. On my first day, the old hose disconnected 8 times while I was trying to rinse the night area for tapirs, rhea (they’re like mini ostrich, but a different species), giant anteaters, and capybara. I think I got soaked more than the area I was intending to wash. Oh, the life of a Zoo volunteer! One of the challenging parts was cutting up banana with the peel. I had no trouble cutting up everything else, even when I had no experience cutting up things other than butter. 

The hoof-stock team brought so many memorable moments. I took many pictures, but I can’t share them since they’re mostly behind the scenes. One of my favorite memories was seeing how long 18in tongues really are. In other words, I got a licked by our male okapi Kwame (kah-wah-may), in the EAR (Giant Wet Willy!)! I wasn’t even right next to him! It felt like sandpaper and similar to a cat’s lick. That was something I wouldn’t forget anytime soon. I also quickly established my favorite areas: Giraffe and Rhino barns. We would get to feed the giraffes whenever we had a presentation. That was pretty fun, and the giraffes enjoyed the extra snack. I would always stick the lettuce, yam, or carrot, a little out of reach, so the guests could see that black/purplish 18in prehensile tongue. The tongue has that coloration to keep it from getting sunburned. An okapi fact is they share the same tongue trait and are a close living relative to giraffes. After this year of Zoo Crew, I decided to try to get stronger, and I started working with a trainer at the gym along with the running I was already doing.

Between the summers of 2016 and 2017, the Zoo Crew program underwent some big changes. Summer 2016 brought 3 new staff members to the Volunteer group. In October 2016, we welcomed our current teen supervisor. ZC was now a year-round program, and not just a summer program. For summer 2017, I applied for Hoofstock again. I then hoped again, and what comes up? HOOFSTOCK again. 5 days before I was interviewed, a giraffe calf was born. A few days into getting chosen, ANOTHER giraffe calf was born. The Hoofstock area had undergone a HUGE baby boom! I couldn’t wait to meet those “little” baby girls, a male tapir calf, an ADORABLE warthog piglet, and 2 ADORABLE female Red River hog piglets (born while I was traveling in Europe, of course). I had to replace my cuteness meter more than a thousand times! I loved working in Hoofstock again that summer.  I’ll never forget those two summers with the animals and keepers.

In 2018, I was a little sad when applying. That was my last year eligible for Zoo Crew. I was a little late filling out my application, because I was recovering from a January jaw reconstruction surgery. We hoped, and a new position came for me: Naturalist. I was interested to see what Naturalist ZC do. That gave me some new challenges as I interacted with guests and answered their questions. Other days, I shared facts about the animals with zoo guests or ran games to teach guests about the animals in a fun way. As a naturalist, I was partnered with one or two other teens for the week.  I loved seeing the guests’ reactions when they learned something. Working as a naturalist challenged me, as I worked extremely hard to speak clearly, and it worked. My last Friday was sad, as a big life chapter closed.

I’m very thankful that I got to volunteer at an AMAZING zoo for 4 straight years. In my 4 years at the zoo, I worked for 536 hours, and have learned so much about animals. Thank you, Houston Zoo for inspiring me to volunteer! We still go to the zoo quite often, and I love seeing all the animals I used to work with and the elephants. I am now about to start college, and once I know my schedule, I will be applying to be an adult volunteer so that I can keep working with such an amazing place.

My last Zoo Crew day wasn’t the end of my relationship with the zoo, however. August 2018 brought something BIG!  I’ll cover that in a future blog.