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Lions, tigers and bears
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| Sara Caruso has an affinity for cats, from her feline pal LT to the big cats she cared for as an intern at Black Pine Animal Refuge. (Photo by Tom Campbell) |
The young visitors that Caruso interacted with at Animal Kingdom are not so different from herself as a child. Family vacations were spent visiting zoos—from small, Indiana facilities to the top zoos in the nation, including Animal Kingdom. “My family was into exotic animals,” she says. “Instead of a dog or a cat, we had iguanas, turtles and birds.”
Caruso is part of a group that animal sciences' career services and alumni relations coordinator Barry Delks characterizes as the “ Animal Planet generation,” who grew up exposed to a wide array of animals on round-the-clock television programs. Animals were more often kept for pleasure than profit, and pets were members of the family.
During summer 2003, Caruso interned at Black Pine Animal Park, a rescue and retirement sanctuary for exotic animals and endangered species. The Albion, Ind., refuge is home to lions, tigers, chimpanzees, monkeys, leopards, bears, birds and reptiles from around the world. While there, Caruso discovered a fascination with the big cats. “I have so much respect for them,” she says.
Caruso, who is currently applying to vet schools, says her experiences at Black Pine, Disney and Purdue have helped her find direction. "Conservation is a big thing for me.”
Due to students' increasing interest in zoo and exotic animals, the animal sciences department began offering a new course, Zoo Animal Conservation Science, last year. Rebecca Krisher, associate professor of animal sciences, developed the course. “We still don't know a lot about zoo animals,” says Krisher, who has worked on collaborative research projects with zoos. “Research on zoo animals is very new, particularly when you compare it with how long we've been researching domestic livestock.” The course covers such topics as ethics, nutrition, genetics, behavior, and reproduction, and requires a service learning component at a local zoo.
Undergraduates will have another new opportunity this summer when Krisher takes a small group of Purdue Agriculture students to Pelindaba, South Africa. For the past four years, Krisher has been going to South Africa to develop techniques for assisted reproductive technology for antelope conservation. While she has previously been accompanied by graduate students, she will take undergraduate researchers for the first time. Students are spending time in the lab during spring semester to prepare to conduct research in the field this summer.
Making connections
It's a combination of experiences that prepares students for careers in the zoo industry. Caruso says the networking opportunities and seminars that are a part of the internship program added to her experience working at Animal Kingdom. In turn, Matuszewski-May relies on universities like Purdue for a source of qualified student interns who help bring Animal Kingdom and its mission of conservation to the public. “Purdue is one of the top schools that we recruit from,” she says. “It's such a well-rounded curriculum. It's a great match with so many of our programs.”
Sidebar Feature:
Animal Planet generation explores career opportunities
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