Lake Superior Zoo

It's National Zookeeper Week! Gosh, are we ever the luckiest zoo in the AZA! Maggie is closing out her second year at the zoo and has been hard at work taking on much of the carnivore animal area primary responsibilities with keeper Micayla. She has diligently advanced her knowledge and skills through demanding professional development courses with the Bear Husbandry workshop, Master Herpetologist program, and upcoming Felid TAG husbandry course. Maggie also created a highly useful and effective tool in Excel for managing nutrition ratios and amounts in diet creation for the animals, which has allowed us more flexibility and creativity in offering diverse and more seasonal diets for many of the animals at the zoo. She is always ready to lead a tour with a smile or help out other staff as needed, and her positive attitude and steady demeanor are always appreciated! Thank you, Maggie, for all that you do and happy National Zookeeper Week! #NationalZookeeperWeek #AZA #ZookeeperLife #ZooKeeperAppreciation #AnimalHusbandry #ZooNutrition #ZooTeam #CarnivoreKeeper #AmurTiger #AnimalTraining #DuluthMN #LakeSuperiorZoo #WeHaveTheBestStaff #TwinPorts #STEMCareers

It is National Zookeeper Week and we have so many great people to be thankful for. Jess has been in the Animal Care department for about a year now! She started working at the zoo in the Guest Experience department, then became an Animal Care intern last summer before working as a temporary zookeeper and then a full-time zookeeper or Animal Care Specialist. Jess has been a wonderful addition to our team, quickly training in most of our animal areas. She has worked very hard to learn all about the ins and outs of animal husbandry and has taken on more responsibility learning some of the primary duties in our Barn, Asia, and Native Wildlife section with veteran keeper, Jessica. Jess has helped bring new animals to the zoo on animal transports, worked on exhibit renovations, developed her animal handling skills, educated guests through innumerable tours and feeding experiences, snuggled sheep, cleaned many quarantine stalls, fed countless grapes during training sessions to our red pandas and so much more. Thank you, Jess, for all that you do, and happy National Zookeeper Week! #NationalZookeeperWeek #ZooLife #ZookeeperAppreciation #AnimalCare #ZooKeeperLove #ZooKeeperSkills #ZooKeeperLife #ZooTeam #AnimalHusbandry #DuluthMN #RedPanda #LakeSuperiorZoo #TwinPorts

Oh boy, we are so fortunate! It's #NationalZookeeperWeek and we have a lot to celebrate because we have the most incredible animal care professionals! Cassy is one of our level three, or mentor, keepers! Day in and day out Cassy has worked to make the zoo a safe and welcoming environment for our keeper staff and guests to learn, grow, and be around some really cool animals! As primary of our Australia area, she has not only continuously striven to provide research-based, cutting-edge husbandry for the animals, but has also stepped in repeatedly to support the Animal Care management and make sure everything is running smoothly in times of their absence. Cassy has not only revamped environmental protocol guidelines for the reptiles and amphibians across the zoo but turned a saltwater reef tank system into a freshwater riverine system to house an incredibly sensitive and unique species, the Hellbender. Oh, and she painted a wonderful mural on it too! Thank you, Cassy, for all that you do, and happy National Zookeeper Week! #AnimalCare #ZooKeeper #ReptileCare #AmphibianCare #Hellbender #ZooLife #ZooStaff #ZooAppreciation #DuluthMN #LakeSuperiorZoo #KeeperCassy #TwinPorts #AZooInMN #StaffAppreciation #STEMCareers

It's National Zookeeper Week and it's not a competition...but if it was we would WIN because we have people like Dan! Dan is one of our level two keepers and is likely best known in the community for his frequent and informative appearances on The Lift “In Otter News” television news program. An animal educator as well as zookeeper by trade, Dan is the primary of our ambassador animal collection and does an excellent job of sharing the interesting backgrounds and natural histories of these often little understood creatures. Additionally, Dan works in our Carnivore and Primate/Nocturnal animal routines, always offering support wherever it is needed. Dan worked hard to grow his skills this year through professional development courses including the intensive Master Herpetologist program and has worked on re-designing several of the animal habitats in our Main building. Thank you, Dan, for all that you do and happy National Zookeeper Week! #NationalZookeeperWeek #ZookeeperAppreciation #AnimalEducator #AmbassadorAnimals #CarnivoreKeeper #PrimateNocturnal #MasterHerpetologist #AnimalHabitat #ZookeeperLife #ZookeeperCommunity

It's National Zookeeper Week and we are having so much fun sharing our AMAZING keeper staff with you! Lucy is a swing keeper here at LSZ, which means she cares for the animals in multiple areas of the zoo, including our Australia and Primate/Nocturnal buildings and with our ambassador animal collection. She trains several different animals at the zoo but has done a great job of working through some unique challenges with our Prehensile-tailed porcupines! Lucy is a dependable keeper who cares sincerely for the animals in her care and has been growing in her skills as an animal care specialist. She is always willing to lend a helping hand and has a positive attitude every day! Thank you, Lucy, for all you do here at LSZ to care for the animals and help make this zoo great! Happy National Zookeeper Week! #NationalZookeeperWeek #ZookeeperAppreciation #ZooKeeperLife #AnimalCareSpecialist #LakeSuperiorZoo #DuluthMN #TwinPorts #BeardedDragon #STEMCareers #MinnesotaNonProfit #AZooinMN

It's National Zookeeper Week and we have the best keeper staff! Laura is moving on up in the world! Throughout the past year Laura has been challenging herself and pushing to advance her skills to continue to grow into the best keeper she can be! She is now trained in four of the five animal routines here (and has done an excellent job working with the large carnivores), capably managed our Australia routine while our primary keeper was on leave, took over much of our specialized raptor care for the birds of prey, expanded her work on more intensive projects, driven cross country for animal transports, advanced her skills through various professional development opportunities, and become a keeper level two on top of everything else! The list goes on and on! We are so proud of you, Laura, and impressed with all that you do to advance the mission of LSZ! Thank you and happy National Zookeeper Week! #NationalZookeeperWeek #ZookeeperLife #ZookeeperSkills #AnimalCare #WildlifeConservation #ZookeeperCommunity #ZookeeperRecognition #ZookeeperAppreciation #LakeSuperiorZoo #DuluthMN #TwinPorts

It is National Zookeeper Week and we want to take this opportunity to SHOUT our appreciation of the people who take a hands on role in the care of your favorite animals! Meet Zookeeper Kelli! Kelli is one of the newer additions to that Animal Care team but you would not know it by all that she has accomplished! Kelli is a former intern in our department who was hired on full time early last fall and has been working day in and day out ever since to continue to improve the lives of the animals who call LSZ home! She has been learning some of the primary responsibilities for our Nocturnal animal building and has wholeheartedly devoted herself to a research-based, creative approach to optimal welfare. She has a particular interest in our African spiny mice, who she can individually differentiate and has already remade over their habitat several times and has a strong passion for vultures and our resident turkey vulture friend, Morticia. Keep an eye out for the new habitat changes that Kelli is hard at work at (among other things!) and thank you, Kelli, for all that you do! Happy National Zookeeper Week! #NationalZookeeperWeek #ZookeeperAppreciation #AnimalCare #LSZ #NocturnalAnimals #AfricanSpinyMice #Vultures #ZookeeperLife #ZookeeperLove #ZookeeperKelli #EurasianEagleOwl

Thank you so much to Dr. Cameron T. Whitley for visiting the Lake Superior Zoo for the last two days! With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Western Washington University he is researching the impact of wildlife photography on conservation efforts. He surveyed guests about how they felt about incredible images by wildlife photographer, Tim Flach. Our own staff photographer, Heidi Beal, contributed some of her photos to this project as well!! What inspires you to take action for conservation? #WildlifeConservation #NaturePhotography #ConservationResearch #ZooVisit #WildlifePhotography #ResearchProject #EnvironmentalScience #ConservationEfforts #WildlifeResearch #NatureInspiration https://ow.ly/uN7l50SG56h

Today and tomorrow, July 17 and 18th, come down to the Zoo to contribute in scientific research on the impact of photography on wildlife conservation. the Lake Superior Zoo is proud to host Dr. Cameron T. Whitley, a professor from Western Washington University to assess what images work best to enhance conservation. This work is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Visit today or tomorrow to see some images and give your opinion about them! Photos by Tim Flach #conservationresearch #nationalsciencefoundation #lakesuperiorzoo

Calling all Educators! The Lake Superior Zoo School is seeking an Assistant Preschool Teacher! Inspire preschool aged children to connect with nature through play and exploration! View the job description and apply HERE; https://lnkd.in/gUD8znvi #DuluthEducators #MinnesotaEducators #TeachersofMinnesota #Preschool #NatureSchool #JoinOurTeam #NatureSchool #NaturePreschool #ZooSchool #WorkAtTheZoo #DuluthMN #Teaching #LakeSuperiorZoo #TwinPorts #TwinPortsJobs #DuluthTeachers