GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — John Ball Zoo is giving guests an opportunity to have an inside look at animal feeding and training with their Daily Animal Programs.
“We want to inspire hearts and inform minds every day at John Ball Zoo, and providing additional opportunities to see animals exhibiting their natural behaviors gives guests a chance to connect with our mission of saving wildlife and wild places,” said Rhiannon Mulligan, education manager at John Ball Zoo. “There are many opportunities for guests to see these programs in action and learn from our expert animal care team.”
The programs are an opportunity for guests to see the work the animal care team does every day. As guests make their way through the zoo they'll be able to catch these experiences as they're part of the animals regular feeding or training schedules.
The zoo's education coordinator, Nick Milbratz, said the zoo tries to give guests this opportunity with as many animals as possible. Some animals included in the programs are the hippos, bears, otters, penguins, sloths, coati and meerkats. He added that the meerkat trainings are one of the most high-profile.
"Because there's a couple of the meerkats, there's a lot of activity there," Milbratz said. "It's actually a lot of fun to watch."
With the meerkats, Milbratz said the training is a way for the animals to participate in their own health care. The zoo said this is a part of their positive reinforcement techniques. They utilize the animals favorite food items or toys to help the behaviors being trained.
"It's a lot easier to ask an animal to do something than to make an animal do something, so we don't want to do that," he said.
Milbratz explained that a part of the meerkat training is "target training," or making the meerkat go from one place to another.
He added that watching the meerkats could also be relatable for some pet owners.
"If you have a cat at home you might experience, when I get that carrier out they kind of don't like seeing it because they associate that with the vet," Milbratz said.
Milbratz said his personal favorite animal in the program is the spider monkeys.
"Primates are just, they're smarter," he said.
Milbratz explained that because they're smarter they require more of a challenge when it comes to feeding time. And as zookeepers, they like to make sure they provide that challenge so the monkeys don't get bored.
"We scatter and hide their food because they're foragers," he said. "We want them to go looking for their food and finding their food. And sometimes in the wild, it would be hard to get that food, it would be just out of reach or it's in a hard to crack nut or fruit that's hard to get out."
Milbratz said the zoo uses puzzle feeders to help provide that challenge as well. And with the spider monkeys having a large island exhibit, there's a lot to watch come feeding time.
Ambassador animals are also a part of the program. These are animals that come out of their enclosures where guests can see them up close. Some of them are even touchable, such as the snakes, turtles and tenrecs. The zoo said its ambassador animals demonstrate a desire to be around people and are specially trained to feel comfortable in new spaces and around new people
“Our team works directly with the animals daily to foster these behaviors that ultimately help our animals receive the best quality care,” Rhiannon Mulligan said. “We love that guests are interested in this aspect of our work and encourage them to seek out Daily Animal Programs to learn more.”
If you're wanting to catch all of the animal programs Milbratz said it'll take you more than one visit.
"There's no way on one day at the zoo you'll see all of them, there's just too many," he said. "And some of them happen too close together."
Milbritz said coming on different days of the week will also help you catch different things since different programs or different interactions are more likely.
"Basically just come to the zoo!" Milbritz said.
For more information on the daily animal programs and when you can catch different feedings or trainings you can visit jbzoo.org.
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