Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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FLAPPING AND fluttering, an owl held by Sunset Zoo intern Craig Zernickow, sophomore in pre-med, adjusts it ' s footing while Sunset Zoo Education Curator Don Wixom talks about how an owl sees. (Photo by Gary Lytle) CINDY BOLTE, junior in life sciences, holds a boa constrictor for the fourth grade class at Marlatt Elementary School to touch, if they want to. (Photo by Gary Lytle)

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HAYMAKER ESCORT SERVICE ALL THE escorts are req uired to wear a button signifying that they are an escort. (Photo by Assaf) HONIG AND Klause converse about their as they walk across campus. The two had never met before. (Photo by Christopher Assaf)

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by TOM ALBERG idea of taking a three hour class that offered no credit was something most people wouldn ' t even consider. However, a few select students chose to work with the Sunset Zoo intern program. Six hundred hours of work and they received no credit what- so-ever. I think the school tends to be a little closed-minded at times. They have ideas of what the zoo is, said Kale Bedinghaus, full-time keeper and former intern. The 600 hours they spent were full of learning every aspect of the zoo. They spent one week, 40 hours, with each keeper learning everything the keeper did on his string. A string was the individual branch to which each keeper was assigned. The strings were hoof stock, children ' s zoo, primates, and top and lower tier animals. With the primate keeper they also learned to plan the diets of all the animals. By the end, they had to be able to do each string on their own. During the year of their internship, the interns spent one and a half hours in a class each Sunday. The people who do this (the intern program) have a tremendous commitment, Don Wixom, zoo education curator said. They have to make a big investment because it takes a lot of time. Each intern was also required to do an individual project. The project had to be something that would benefit the zoo even after the intern left the zoo, said Cindy Bolte, junior in life sciences. Her was to train birds of prey. Craig Zernickow, sophomore in fisheries and wildlife biology, wa s building holding facilities for the birds of prey that go on tour. Another intern, John Davis, senior in fisheries and wildlife biology, was observing and doing research on the spider monkey. Sheri Leavitt, sophomore in life sciences, took over the organization of the zoo library. During the school year, the program had nine midway through the year two of them were made staff members. This happened quite often at the zoo. Most of our staff was hired from interns we have had over the years, Wixom said. This is one way the zoo could pay back the interns. Along with no credit, they received no money for what they did. The students aren ' t paid salary and we don ' t charge Wixom said. Sunset did try to help the interns in many ways. They (the interns) get a chance to apply what they learn at the University, said Mike Quick, zoo keeper and former intern. The program offers many learning such as working with exotics, which is hard to teach in the middle of the United States. Just the opportunity to work so closely with the animals was important. There is something about an eagle flying and then one sit on my arm that is a natural high for me, said. Or, when a chimp or tiger responds to you is pretty incredible. Each intern was allowed to pick a staff member as their adviser. The adviser ' s job was to evaluate them, give them feedback on how they were doing, advise them and keep track of them throughout the program. If you want to get into zoo keeping, this is probably the best way, because if you are ever hired somewhere, you are required to perform. If you don ' t like the j ob you have, you have to quit, but as an intern you can explore and decide whether it ' s for you or not, said Tim Marshall, zoo keeper and former participant in the intern program. JOHN DAVIS, senior in wildlife notes the various behaviors of Spider Monkeys. (Photo by Gary Lytle)