Zookeeper Updates

Good Morning! We have some exciting news in the Brookgreen Gardens zoo department. First off, we are sad to say one of our very own is leaving, but he is moving on to bigger and better things. Matt got a job offer at the Duke University Lemur Center. He will be helping with husbandry and research done to help these endangered mammals. Matt began his zoo career at the Chahinkapa Zoo, and interned with the big cats at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species.  We are very proud of him and sad to see him go.

 Matt feeding four baby deer at once

The second bit of news is that Kevin, one of our zookeepers, has a chance to be part of a new web based TV show! He entered the Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Wild Guide contest. There were over 180 two minute videos sent in that explained why they should be chosen. His was picked along with eleven other semi-finalist by a panel of judges!

The next phase in the competition is the voting stage. It is free and easy. If you would like to help him out, just click the link  http://www.wildkingdom.com/nextwildguide and find Kevin’s video. If you click on it, on the lower left hand side of the video it says vote. Just give that a click and your done! You can even vote once a day until the 24^th of May if you like the video! If he scores well in the voting stage, then he can be selected as the top three winners and will be flown to Omaha, Nebraska to compete for the final prize of being part of a Wild Kingdom webseries and a cash prize of $10,000.

 Kevin relocating a wild copperhead

Brookgreen is happy to support Matt’s exciting new career and Kevin’s creative talents!

 

Kevin and Matt defending our intern from our male alligator

Elvira's Visit to the Dentist

I would like to introduce you to our large animal vet, Dr. Bolton. 

She monitors the health of our horses, mule, sheep, cows, and goats.  We call her in for medical care and also for routine health checks.  You may remember that she did an ultrasound on one of our goats last year.

 

 

On April 16th, Dr. Bolton visited to give Elvira the mule some routine dental work.

Even though the procedure does not hurt Elvira, we sedate her a bit in order to work in her mouth safely.  The first step is a mouth cleaning.

 

 

Dr. Bolton examined her teeth.  Older mules and horses get rough places on the outside of their teeth that rub against the inside of their mouth.  This can be uncomfortable or even painful.

 

 

The vet needed to grind her teeth smooth.  This process is called "floating her teeth."

 

 

The tool does not hurt Elvira.  It just grinds away the extra growth on the outside of her teeth.

Elvira discovered that she was awake enough to snort and sneeze on the vet.  She did it five or six times, and I imagine she found it very funny!

 

 

Dr. Bolton cleaned her front teeth, and then admired her work!

 

 

Our mule and Marsh Tacky horses can be found at our Domestic Animals of the Plantation area of the Lowcountry Zoo.