Phoenix Zoo

[bgmacaw]

Lori and I decided to venture out to the zoo last Sat to see the wild people. We like to sit and watch people at the different animal exhibits and listen to things they believe to be true. Some actually listen when you tell them the real story. We normally visit a couple of Scarletts they have and the other exotic birds but this trip we found 2 more Scarletts in a different section. Upon questioning a zoo employee, we found that the 2 we have always visited are the parents to the other 5 in the zoo. They have 2 in the central area, 2 in a central american display and 2 in the kids area. The other one is used for educational visits to schools and such. They also have 3 Hyacinths in their programs dept, that only come out in the zoo for special programs. We also stumbled upon 3 other birds that we had not seen before, Golden Conures. What a pretty yellow bird with green flight feathers. They seemed to be closer in size to the mini-macaws. Lori swears one was trying to coax her to the cage. We have been members for a few years and always find the folks working there to be very enthusiastic when talking about the area of the zoo that they work. With my schedule as it stands now, I am considering volunteering for a few hours a week. My only demand will be to play with the Hys.

[Monica]

I have yet to see a golden conure, though I've heard they are very special birds! I do know though that it requires a permit to keep these birds, and the same should be for hyacinth macaws!

[Freedomoflight]

They are HUGE conures! When I saw my first one, I had to do a double take, because I had only seen pictures before! Yes, they are about the size of a mini macaw, and they are truly breathtaking birds. Loud they are! Conure sized scream in a mini macaw sized body- watch out!

[Monica]

Sounds like my first experience with Port Lincolns! I was expecting them to be around the size of a cockatiel or slightly larger, but they, too, are the size of a large conure or mini macaw! I hadn't realised how big they actually were, and because of that, I couldn't recognize exactly what type of parrot they were at first! I was amazed though when I found out for sure!

[Spinnergirl]

Hello, I vacationed in Phoenix this past spring.

I went to the Wildlife zoo?? Is that the name of it??

It was ~ what felt like way out in the boonies. Is that the zoo you are speaking of??

I think it was the best zoo I have ever been to..it had so many parrots I was in heaven esp with the Lory exhibit.

If not what do you think of this zoo i am speaking of?

We wanted to do the Phoenix zoo but ran out of time..short vacation. I did manage to horseride there, I had a blast :)

[bgmacaw]

Spinnergirl, we have never been to the World Wild Life Zoo, some day. Our visit was to the Phoenix Zoo downtown.

[Alika]

That would be awesome if you could volunteer and work with the hy's :)

You should definitely check into it before you sign on, though, if you want to handle animals. Most zoos do not let their volunteers handle, but instead use them to clean animal-less enclosures and work events and crowd control. Working around animals is risky, and a lot of zoos don't want to expose unpaid volunteers to those risks... they don't want to deal with it.

Those zoos that do allow it have strict requirements and the collection available for volunteers to handle is very limited. Many places don't like volunteers working with their parrots because, again, of the risk of injury, and also because of parrot's tendency to bond; it's not fair to them to bond with a volunteer over staff and other volunteers, especially if that volunteer mysteriously disappears one day.

My boss and a co-worker are working on a video paper (report) to present at the next IAATE (international association of avian trainers and educators) conference. It is about our volunteer program... trying to encourage zoos that don't have a program that allows volunteers to work closely with their animals to CREATE such programs, because they are very beneficial.

Not do discourage you... I think it's great if you can volunteer! As I said, there are a few zoos that have such programs. I'm curious as to whether or not your zoo is one of them. Let us know...?

[bgmacaw]

Alika, good comments. I am aware of the variety of work volunteers get used for. Phx Zoo has individual volunteer ops posted for different tasks/areas of the zoo. Actually the folks I talked to were in the animal enclosures, cleaning while the occupants were cruising free. Of course these were bird aviaries, monkey and Wallabee displays (this guy has been a volunteer for 1.5 yrs). Although being around the birds would be great, I am open to other opportunities. And with the dogs and birds I am quite accomplished at picking up poop and hosing things down.

[Alika]

I thought you would be open to poop cleaning. I just thought I'd give you a heads up on what to expect. I think you should do it. Volunteering opened up whole new worlds for me, and, oh, the stories you would be able to tell!

[Spinnergirl]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

And with the dogs and birds I am quite accomplished at picking up poop and hosing things down.

LOL

Always cleaning aren't we!!