The animal keepers are the lucky ones who get to work with the animals on a daily basis. Every day, they are responsible for overseeing the cleanliness of each species’ habitat. They must feed their residents and the laziest ones must be tricked into physical activities to stay fit. Most importantly, the behaviour of each animal must be observed to make sure that it is in good physical and mental health.
The team
Enrichment
Animal Habitats
Nutrition
The team
About 25 persons work towards the animals’ wellbeing.
The animal health team at Granby Zoo consists of the following professionals:
- a director/veterinarian/curator
- a coordinator of animal health care / assistant curator
- a technician / veterinary assistant
- a registrar / assistant to conservation services
- about twenty full time animal keepers who work in relays 365 days a year
- seasonal keepers
- seasonal camel herders
Enrichment
Nature sharpens the senses of the animals through sounds, odours, visual effects or specific textures. Animal keepers work hard to reproduce stimulating and natural environments in ways that are extremely clever. Their imagination knows no bounds when it comes to awakening the senses of their charges. This is what we call enrichment.
For example, the keepers place obstacles in certain habitats; this forces an animal to leap over, go around or avoid the object. A big branch is the perfect example and it can also be used as a scratching post! Rain season is recreated for some species. For others, their universe is enriched by wilderness sounds. Very fragrant herbs and spices are also hidden a little bit everywhere to enrich the animals’ environment. Also stimulating are unusual objects occasionally placed in the living quarters: cardboard boxes, plastic containers, phone books, tires or balls. Lastly, to vary the dietary routine, animals are occasionally allowed some treats such as nuts, lollipops, popcorn and even fruit gelatine! Cherry happens to be the elephants’ favourite flavour.
Animal Habitats
The daily wellbeing of the Zoo’s charges is ensured by the animal keepers. Every morning, they do the rounds of their sector, count their charges and make sure the night was without incident. They then do a thorough cleaning and distribute the food. In the course of the day, they also note the particular habits and reactions of each animal.
Each time they get the chance, the animal keepers invest a lot of effort into enrichment and conditioning. This form of training teaches the animals some routines for particular procedures; this helps to considerably reduce stress. For example, conditioning makes transfers between enclosures much more pleasant for the animal while facilitating the keeper’s work. Some animals, such as the elephant, are even trained to receive certain medical treatments without anaesthesia, which would have been unthinkable in the past. Animals are even trained for educational purposes, making their contact with the public more natural and pleasant…to the delight of visitors!
Nutrition
The animals at Granby Zoo are fed a healthy diet. They even enjoy the services of a nutritionist. Each animal eats a balanced diet in accordance to its age and needs.
The specialist mixes nutritional elements into appealing foods. He even keeps the animal’s preferences in mind. For example, the « Bat-Jell-O » assembles all the ingredients into a fruit gelatine destined for the frugivore bats. This is the best way to make sure that the animal eats everything and that the vitamins are not left at the bottom of the plate. Ingenious!
All the recipes and special diets are included in a Granby Zoo recipe book. Guided by this book, the cook prepares the exact quantities for each ingredient and then puts them in a bowl identified to the animal’s name. The bowl is then given to the animal keeper in charge of that sector.
The animal keepers feed the animals and, at the end of the day, indicate on their report if they ate well. The veterinarian brings changes to the diets on a regular basis according to the seasons, the animal’s age and its state of health.
What’s On Today’s Menu?
Imagine a banquet with 1,000 guests from all corners of the world… Some like meat, while others are strict vegetarians. That is the challenge facing the Granby Zoo chef every single day.
A fauna nutritionist, an expert on animal nutrition, fine tuned each diet. For each species, a meal had to be created to fulfill its needs. Since animals cannot always be fed what they eat in the wild, the nutritionist finds other foods that contain the same nutritional values. The exact quantities of each ingredient are also calculated to appease the animal’s hunger without encouraging obesity. Lastly, each meal is enriched with the necessary vitamins and minerals.
The Kitchen
There’s hearty eating at Granby Zoo! And the ingredients list is very long to make sure that the needs of all are met. Nothing is too good for our residents!
Like everyone, Granby Zoo shops at the corner grocery store and the vegetable market where top quality food is selected. When it comes to finding special products, Granby Zoo buys from specialized vendors.
The kitchen’s two refrigerators contain fruit and vegetables, eggs, powdered milk, honey, fruit salad, molasses, yogurt, dried fruit and leftover couscous. Yummy! There are also food supplements. Animals do have to take their vitamins and minerals!
What’s in the freezers? What would you say to a delicious raw herring or smelt filet? Some prefer mice, rats and chicks - to each his own! Felines enjoy the sausages made especially for them. There is also white and whole wheat bread, sometimes even raisin bread, and, of course, the gorillas’ cake.
The Grocery List
A lot of food gets eaten when a thousand animals are at the buffet! And the grocery list has to be very long to satisfy the tastes and needs of each one. With so many mouths to feed, Granby Zoo’s grocery bill, unlike yours, exceeds $140,000 each year. A snake will eat 50 cents worth of food in a week, but the gorilla will ingest at least $70 worth of groceries.
$15,000 goes toward satisfying the appetite of our animals for fruit and vegetables. The quantities purchased are impressive: 800 kg of citrus fruit, 950 kg of apples and over a ton of carrots!
Each year, 48 tons of dry food and nearly 95 tons of hay are needed to feed the livestock.
Over 14 tons of horsemeat is consumed each year by our carnivores.
Live Food
Live food? Indeed! Some of the animals must eat live prey. Granby Zoo breeds some animals to feed others. Animal keepers are in charge of breeding crickets destined for frogs and lizards, white mice for the snakes and birds of prey, of mealworms for the birds and bats, fish for certain turtles and lastly of rabbits for the carnivores.
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