Wildlife Wizards
Marta Malueg
Title: Supervisor of TMC
Age: 28
How long have you worked as a zookeeper? 5 years
If you could work with any animal in the world, what would it be and why?
I would love to work with African elephants in their native habitat. They have incredibly intricate social structures, memories, and emotional intelligence, which I would love to observe personally — and maybe even contribute to their conservation in Africa.
What is the craziest encounter you’ve had while working with animals?
Animals will always surprise me. Everyday is unique. One of the animals I care for at Tanganyika is the two-toed sloth. One of our sloths, Molasses, likes to pretend to be a ground sloth and seems to have adopted the three-banded armadillo living in her enclosure as a "pet" of sorts. Molasses frequently climbs down to the ground, drags herself across the floor, and sticks her head in the armadillo tunnel searching for her friend. It is incredibly cute and quite funny.
Frank Hollo
Title: Hoofstock coordinator
Age: 29
How long have you worked as zookeeper? 7 years
If you could work with any animal in the world, what would it be and why?
It would be rhinos, but I already get to do that every day!
What is the craziest encounter you have had while working with animals?
The craziest encounters would definitely be animal knockdowns and transports. It is always guaranteed to be an adrenaline-pumping and thrilling experience.
Cadence McGary
Title: BREZ lead keeper
Age: 26
How long have you worked as zookeeper? 3.5 years
If you could work with any animal in the world, what would it be and why?
I am obsessed with capybaras and walruses. Capybaras are my favorite animals, as I think they have a ton of attitude. As a child, I loved the movie "50 First Dates," most especially the walruses that “act” in it. They make my inner child so happy!
What is the craziest encounter you have had while working with animals?
I am not a bird nerd, as we affectionately call our bird super fans. I actually never wanted to work with them, so the craziest thing to me is how I have fallen in love with the birds in our care. Our first non-penguin bird to be hand reared is my pride and joy: her name is Lizzo and she is one of my best friends. My favorite animal I have worked with in my career is Mae the gray crowned crane. She taught me so much, both as a zookeepeper and a trainer.
Karen Tracy
Title: Primate team supervisor
Age: 31
How long have you worked as a zookeeper? 6 years
If you could work with any animal in the world, what would it be and why?
Sifaka lemurs! I love the way they jump, and their little faces are so expressive. I'm also super passionate about lemurs in general, so any lemur species I don't already work with would be a dream animal.
What is the craziest encounter you’ve had while working with animals?
Recently, a guest dropped her phone in the moat right by our Gibbon Island. I tried to bring the gibbons in, and in true lesser-ape fashion, they refused. So I got waders from maintenance and got into the moat while the gibbons screamed at me from the island. I sifted through a bunch of mud and sand and still did not find the phone, but didn’t realize until after that there was a giant hole in the waders. So I came out of the moat completely soaked from shoulders to toes, but with no phone.
Being a zookeeper isn’t a 9-to-5 job. Feeding animals, providing veterinary care and even scooping poop has to be done every day — even weekends and holidays — and in the most extreme weather conditions. “A couple winters back when we had negative 30-degree weather, our keepers were walking around with icicles on their eyebrows to make sure our animals have what they need,” said LynnLee Schmidt, COO at Tanganyika Wildlife Park.
In the four years Schmidt has been at the helm at Tanganyika in Goddard, she has found herself caring for animals even in her “off” hours, taking home all sorts of critters who needed extra care: binturongs, cavies, kangaroos, goats, otters, lemurs and gibbons, to name a few. “I have them at work with me all day and they go with me in the car ride home,” she said. It’s made for some interesting and comical stories — ones her children, ages 8 and 12, cherish.
Being a zookeeper means going above and beyond what a normal job might entail. “Animal care is hard. Animals die, they leave us, they get sick, and you spend every day pouring your guts into them,” Schmidt said. “It’s a tough job. It’s physically demanding, emotionally demanding, and our team is just bar none. They’re the biggest, baddest team on the planet.”
Who are the zookeepers of Tanganyika? In light of National Zookeeper Week, let us introduce you to a few of them!
Ben Valencia
Title: Lead carnivore keeper
Age: 33
How long have you worked as zookeeper? 10 years
If you could work with any animal in the world, what would it be and why?
I would do almost anything to work with sun bears again, because they look like a person in a bear suit and have such fun personalities. An animal I haven’t worked with but would love to is Pallas's cats, because they look so grumpy all the time and I think I would have a blast with them.
What is the craziest encounter you’ve had while working with animals?
As silly as it sounds, one of my craziest encounters is having an argument with a giraffe in the middle of a storm, to convince him to go inside. He didn’t understand that being outside when you’re 18 feet tall is not ideal when there’s lightning around. Now, this happened many times, but what makes it crazy is how much I loved this giraffe, when cats are by far my favorite type of animal. He was rude, stubborn, had selective hearing, didn’t like to be touched, went by the wonderful nickname “Weather Witch,” and was essentially a cat in personality. Obviously, these are all the qualities you look for in someone you love, but I was lucky enough to be someone he trusted and trained with. He even allowed me to touch him, and I miss him and his cat-like attitude every day.
Dr. Samantha Russak
Title: Curator of research and welfare
Age: 38 years old
How long have you worked as a zookeeper? 12 years (two years at Tanganyika)
If you could work with any animal in the world, what would it be and why?
Orangutans. I have always been fascinated with primates (monkeys and apes) because of how similar they are to humans, but yet also so different. Orangutans are critically endangered, so maintaining populations in human care is very important for the survival of the species, and it would be amazing to be a part of that.
What is the craziest encounter you have had while working with animals?
One of the craziest (and sweetest) encounters I’ve had was while working on an undergraduate research project at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I was there observing some mixed-species exhibits of monkeys, and walked by the gibbon exhibit every day. After about a week, one of the male gibbons would follow me from one end of the outside exhibit to the other and then run inside to watch me go into the building. I was there for the entire summer and he did this every day. He would also “whoop” back and forth with me to say “hi.”
Kiana Lucero
Title: Animal experience specialist
Age: 35
How long have you worked as a zookeeper? 14 years
If you could work with any animal in the world, what would it be and why?
Sea lions. They are so smart, fun to train and have huge personalities. I also like that they can be worked with in the water as well as on land.
What is the craziest encounter you’ve had while working with animals?
While doing marine mammal rescue, my team got a call for a stranded sea lion at the bottom of a few hundred-foot cliff. When we showed up, there were actually three sea lions: an adult female and her two pups. They were all emaciated and needed help, and there were only two of us. We had to tag team the rescue; I netted the adult while the other rescuer grabbed the youngsters and we got them in crates. Then we had to enlist some bystanders to help us carry them back up the cliff!