PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla — Lion Country Safari is celebrating National Zoo Keeper Week by featuring four of their nearly 50 staff that take care of over 1,000 animals.
The team has about 790 years of combined animal experience.
#NationalZooKeeperWeek @LionCountry's Tina oversees the chimpanzee care program. Her favorite chimp is Higgy, a strong and huge alpha male chimpanzee with a secret goofy side. pic.twitter.com/Ldk5bvAODI
— T.A. Walker (@timallanwalker) July 21, 2020
Tina has a Ph.D from the University of Utah. She co-founded a chimpanzee census and conservation site in Sierra Leone to help monitor wild chimpanzee populations and mitigate chimp-human conflict.
#NationalZooKeeperWeek. @LionCountry's Denise has fallen in love with the lion care routine and handsome K’wasi in particular. She loves when the lions roar, and learning the differences in the roar of each individual lion. pic.twitter.com/ADHpUv5Wgk
— T.A. Walker (@timallanwalker) July 21, 2020
Denise grew up fascinated with animals, watching wildlife documentaries more often than cartoons. She attended Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo.
#NationalZooKeeperWeek. @LionCountry's Dan has been a zookeeper at Lion Country Safari for nearly 8 years. Dan loves working with our rhinos and his hope is that sharing his passion and knowledge about rhinos will inspire others to help protect and conserve them! pic.twitter.com/A2G8GuIX3H
— T.A. Walker (@timallanwalker) July 21, 2020
Dan graduated from FSU. He the opportunity to talk to VIP tour guests one on one about rhinos during encounters.
#NationalZooKeeperWeek. @LionCountry's Jonathan most often takes care of antelope or lions. By working at LCS he is fulfilling his dream since his childhood days of watching the amazing and sorely missed Steve Irwin. pic.twitter.com/6WQP094JQS
— T.A. Walker (@timallanwalker) July 21, 2020
Jonathan is trained on several of the keeper routines and enjoys working with such a great variety of animals. He started his time at Lion Country Safari as a Safari Day Camper before becoming a camp counselor and ultimately a zoo keeper.