Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?
A fun thing about zoo keepers is that each person has their preferences when it comes to the animals they take care of. Some keepers prefer primates, some prefer hoofstock, or carnivores, or birds. I’m a big felid/carnivore keeper, myself.
In meeting these different types of keepers, you start to notice that they take after the animals they care for. Primate people can be social and pay attention to group dynamics, hoofstock people keep to their own “herd” so to speak, and bird people aren’t afraid to use their voice.
I like to think I take after cats, more specifically, the cheetah. Female cheetahs are solidarity. They raise their cubs on their own and hunt on their own. They’re independent animals and what I hope to see in myself. I feel like my work life reflects this. I like handling tasks on my own and keeping to myself.
This independence is one of the reasons I really like cheetahs. The female handles everything on her own when she reaches maturity. It’s a hard life when facing predators or trying to take down prey to feed a family of 4-6, but she does it. She makes it work. I believe it shows how tough a girl can be when she’s put to the test.
Everyone knows that more hands lighten the load. Same goes for paws in the cheetah world. Males form coalitions and work together to survive, but the female stands alone. This is why these cats need our help. Females can’t always defend themselves or their cubs from lions, hyenas, or disease and even starvation. They face habitat loss, poaching, and the ignorance of the human race blaming them for crimes they didn’t commit.
The good news is that there’s people out there fighting for these animals, these amazing, fast cats. The Cheetah Conservation Fund is at the head front and I hope to help them myself by educating the public that comes through my zoo on how important these cats are. You can help too. Just check out http://www.cheetah.org.
Maybe you’ll find you can relate to the cheetah too?
nikki diekemper 