www.readinga-z.com

An Interview with Jeff PolcenConducted by Kathie Lester

ZookeepingA Reading A–Z Level Q Leveled Reader

Word Count: 1,498

LLEEVVEELLEEDD RREEAADDEERR •• QQ

ZookeepingZookeeping

Visit www.readinga-z.com for thousands of books and materials.

ZookeepingLevel Q Leveled Reader© 2002 Learning Page, Inc.An Interview with Jeff PolcenConducted by Kathie Lester

ReadingA–ZTM

© Learning Page, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Learning Page1630 E. River Road #121Tucson, AZ 85718

www.readinga-z.com

Zookeeping

www.readinga-z.com

An Interview with Jeff PolcenConducted by Kathie Lester

Photo Credits:Front cover, title page, pages 3, 4, 5, 21: © Mark Silverberg;back cover, pages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,17, 18, 19, 20: Courtesy of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo andCleveland Zoological Society.

CorrelationLEVEL Q

Fountas & Pinnell NReading Recovery 21

DRA 30

43

Jeff Polcen is a lead zookeeper at theCleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Interviewer: How did you become interestedin being a zookeeper?

Jeff: I was working for the Metroparks (thecity park system in Cleveland, Ohio) at thestables when I heard about a position at thezoo. I started working at the Birds of theWorld building and later transferred to theAfrican animal area, where I’ve been for 17years. Growing up on a farm, I’ve alwaysliked working with hoofed animals. Cowsand horses are related to giraffes and zebras,so their behaviors and body structure aresimilar. But there are also a lot of interestingdifferences. I learn new things every day.

Interviewer: What skills do you need?

Jeff: Observation is the most important skill.You have to be able to look at a group ofanimals and figure out what’s happening.Maybe they’re getting sick, or one is going togive birth, or they’re not all getting along.These are wild animals that can be dangerous,so you need to use a lot of common sense.

Main entrance to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Jeff Polcen scratches a friendly zebra behind the ears.

65

Interviewer: What do you like most aboutyour job?

Jeff: I get to work independently withoutsomeone telling me what to do. Everyonefinds the position they enjoy most in the zoobusiness. Some people enjoy working withthe monkeys or birds. The hoofed animals aremy favorites. We’ve had many giraffe babiesborn here, and I enjoy working with them.

Interviewer: Which kinds of animals are youresponsible for?

Jeff: I’m a lead keeper—a workingsupervisor—over our African savannah andthe rhino/monkey island area. I overseemany animals, including giraffes, zebras,antelope, ostrich, vultures, and native Africanbirds. We run mixed species exhibits, wherewe have birds and mammals that are safetogether in the same yard.

Jeff cares for zebras as well as many other animals.

This adult femalegiraffe, namedNova, was bornin the wild andhas had fourbabies. She isone of onlyabout 50 Masaigiraffes in North America.

7

Interviewer: What’s the scariest thing that’sever happened to you?

Jeff: I was run over by a giraffe. We werebringing them in, and one of the femaleswheeled around and started running backtoward me. I barely had time to turn aroundand try to get out of the way, but she ran intome, over me, on me.

Interviewer: Were you injured?

Jeff: A little, but mainly just sore. I gotstepped on a few times, but nothing major.

Interviewer: How much does a giraffe weigh?

Jeff: A giraffeweighs 1,500 to 2,500 pounds(680 to 1,134kilograms),depending onwhether it’s maleor female.

Interviewer: Do you come to care a lot abouteach animal, as you would with a pet?

Jeff: It’s hard to avoid getting attached tocertain animals. Zoo care has progressed a lot,so animals live longer than they used to. I seeillness and other problems developing as ananimal gets older, and I have to makedecisions about how to care for an olderanimal. Sometimes the animal is suffering,and it’s best to put it to sleep.

8

Giraffes are huge!Carl, an adult male zebra

10

Interviewer: How do you provide medicalcare? If you have to work on a large animal,do you give it a shot so that it sleeps whileyou work on it?

Jeff: On most of the big animals, the vets usea blowpipe or an air gun to put them underanesthesia. If it’s a long enough procedure,they keep the animals under with gas. Puttinga giraffe under anesthesia is risky, so we wantto make sure it’s really necessary. We need tobe sure we have all the necessary people andequipment in case complications arise.

Interviewer:How do youmanage agroup ofgiraffes?When youmove them,do you movethem one ata time?

Jeff: No. Most of the hoofed stock are herdanimals—they do everything as a group.Once you teach them a certain routine, they’ll keep doing that. As a keeper you haveto follow a routine, because changing it confuses them. For example, each giraffeknows which stall to go into. We give orderswith our voices, and sometimes we’ll use along stick to tap them; it lets us keep a safedistance.

During a checkup, aveterinarian monitorsthe breathing of afemale zebra namedChiora.

A group of giraffes at the zoo

9

Interviewer: Do they ever lie down?

Jeff: Yes—every night. They lie with theirlegs tucked under them. They don’t sleep forhours like we would; they take naps for ten to fifteen minutes at a time, and then they getup again.

Interviewer: Are their heads up?

Jeff: They often lay their head on their hip if they want to go into a deep sleep.

Interviewer: Oh—like curled. It must bequite a sight.

Jeff: Yes—it’s neat to see them all lying downwhen I arrive in the morning.

Interviewer: What happens to a giraffe whenyou anesthetize it?

Jeff: We have to watch how they go down so they don’t hit their heads. When they’relying on their side, they might have troublebreathing, because they’re so heavy.Sometimes the anesthesia makes them havedifficulty moving the muscles in their necks.We have to think about things carefullybefore we do procedures.

1211

Monitoring agiraffe’s health is a big job.

This young giraffe is resting and having a quick snack.

Interviewer: Aren’t ostriches dangerous?

Jeff: The males can be during breedingseason. Their kick has the potential to kill, butthe females are usually pretty good. They canbe a challenge sometimes, but it depends onhow you work with them and what kind ofrelationship you build with them. Everyanimal can be dangerous. But that’s wherethose observational skills come in. You haveto watch what’s going on so you know whento get out of the area. All the animals havedifferent personalities.

Interviewer: Can you think of somethingfunny that’s happened to you working at the zoo?

Jeff: A few years ago, we had ostrichesoutside in the winter. They were in an icypatch of the yard, and I was trying to getthem in. They had lain down, but it was tooslippery to get back up. There was a spotalong the doorway that had melted enough towalk on. I sat with my back against the fenceand put my feet on each ostrich and pushed itlike a hockey puck across the ice. They slidpretty well over to the thawed area, and thenI prodded them to where they could get upand I was able to walk them in.

1413

This just might be the silliest face in the animal kingdom.

Ostriches at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Interviewer: What’s the most difficultanimal you care for, and why?

Jeff: We have a type of animal called theslender-horned gazelle, native to NorthAfrica. There aren’t many of them in captivityand they’re inbred, which means they’ve hadbabies with their close relatives. So theirimmune system is not as good as it should be, and they’re more likely to get commoninfections. They’re easy to manage, but theyhave medical problems sometimes.

Interviewer: What do you think aboutkeeping animals in cages?

Jeff: I think we’ve come a long way from ironbars—most of our exhibits are interactivenow. We work hard to allow animals naturalbehaviors that keep them from getting bored.The exhibit yards are bigger and include whatwe call “furniture,” like rocks and logs. Mostzoos have a team of people who work ondeveloping interesting environments for theanimals. Zoos share ideas, and there are zoomagazines that say “we tested such and suchwith this animal and it worked out well.”There’s a good network among animal-careworkers.

1615

A howling wolf stands next to some exhibit “furniture.”

Two adult female slender-horned gazelles; the one on the left isjust beginning to grow horns.

Interviewer: Do you have any special storiesor moments to share?

Jeff: We had to deliver a giraffe calf back in1998. This was the mom’s third or fourthpregnancy, but she was having trouble withthis one. The calf wasn’t moving through thebirth canal. I reached inside her and helpedpull the calf until the head was out. Then thevet and I pulled her out the rest of the way.The calf must have had her oxygen cut off in the birth canal, but we got her breathing.

Interviewer: What’s the most dangerousanimal you care for?

Jeff: Any of the hoofed animals. Giraffes arethe most dangerous—their kick can be theworst. Right now I have four of them. We’vehad as many as eight, including the calves.

1817

A female giraffe with a baby in a birthingstall. Since the babyfalls 1.8 meters (6 ft.)when it is born, thebottom of the stall isfilled with sand and then covered with strawto cushion the fall.

A giraffe stretches to reach some leaves in a tall tree.

Interviewer: You found out that if youhandle a baby that much at the beginning, itbecomes much more manageable. Why don’tyou work with all of the babies that way todevelop them into that kind of an easy-to-handle animal?

Jeff: We don’t do any hand raising unless weabsolutely have to. The mother-reared animalis better because it knows how to behave likethe animal it is. Animals that are human-oriented forget to act like a zebra or a giraffe.

The baby didn’t want to nurse for a few days.We kept her with the mom, but we tube fedher. Then on the third day she started nursingon her own, and she turned out to be a reallynice animal. She bonded with us too, so shewas really easy to handle. She’s in KansasCity, and she’s one of their best giraffes. She’salmost four years old now.

2019

A young giraffe nuzzles its mother.

This baby zebra,Elmur, begins to notice hissurroundings.

INDEX

cages, 15

“furniture,” 15

giraffe size, 8

giraffe birthing stall,18

giraffes and danger,8, 17

hoofed animals, 3, 9

medical care, 7, 10, 11

mixed speciesexhibit, 5

ostriches, 13, 14

slender-hornedgazelles, 16

Interviewer: Do you see yourself staying inthis job for the rest of your working life?

Jeff: I would say so. I’ve had a lot ofsuccesses here, and there’s still a lot I want to accomplish. Besides, I find caring for theseanimals very satisfying, interesting, andchallenging.

2221

Jeff hand-feeds a friendly giraffe.

Giraffes usuallyeat standingup, butoccasionallythey need tobend downto drink. Theytake a longtime to slowlyinch down andspread theirlong legs forbalance. In thewild, this putsthem in a veryvulnerableposition.