life

<p>What&#39;s it like to take care of the most interesting &mdash; and in some cases, dangerous &mdash; animals in the world? Only a few people know for sure. And a lot of them are zoo employees.</p><p>A<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/n08nbd/zookeepers_of_reddit_whats_the_lowdown_dirty/"> recent Reddit thread</a> asked, &quot;Zookeepers of Reddit, what&#39;s the low-down, dirty, inside scoop on zoos?&quot; Here are the most fascinating answers &mdash; with an emphasis on dirty.</p><h2>1. Be very afraid of jaguars.</h2><blockquote> <p>worked in a zoos warehouse for a couple years. next time you go, ask someone which animals are &quot;kill on sight&quot; in an escape. the answers will suprise you.</p> <p>lions and tigers are typically on the &quot;tranq and capture&quot; list, but a jaguar the size of a golden retriever is KoS. the zoo i was with, the 2 jags were the only animals on site that were on the shoot to kill list. even the silverback was the tranq first list.</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p> </p><blockquote> <p>jags will kill for sport, and if they escape they will claim an area as their own, then hunt and kill anyone in that area that they perceive as a threat (to them, or their food). all those videos of jags rubbing their paws on the glass near children? they weren&#39;t hungry, the kids just look fun to kill to the jag. - Nytherion</p> </blockquote><h2>2. This makes getting murdered by a jaguar sound pretty good in comparison.</h2><blockquote> <p>Be careful walking by the open air monkey enclosures, because poop isn&#39;t the only thing they&#39;ll fling at you. It&#39;s like that scene from Silence of the Lambs, when Clarice is going to see Hannibal Lecter...you know the scene I mean. Only much, much worse. - Funkotastic</p> </blockquote><h2>3. They should warn you more about this...</h2><blockquote> <p>Our lions will urinate on guests if they get too close, which is always funny to see. Not so funny to smell. - epshuche</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>4. Excellent pointer! Followed by a sad fact.</h2><blockquote> <p>Used to work at a zoo, cold weather makes the animals more active so go on a chilly day or first thing in the morning to see the best show from the animals.</p> <p>Also, those free roaming peacocks are really stupid and sometimes go in the lions exhibit and get torn up. - MapleTopLibrary</p> </blockquote><h2>5. Gross.</h2><blockquote> <p>The poor penguin keepers can never quite get rid of the miasma of dead fish that envelopes them. As for me, the stinkiest job I ever had to do was cleaning out the duck ponds. Managed to empty a whole train carriage that evening, even though I had changed and my work clothes were double-bagged. - ShadyElmm</p> </blockquote><h2>6. Sounds like a lonely life.</h2><blockquote> <p>If you work with the animals there&#39;s a good chance you&#39;ll not be able to have any kind of social life, between the long hours/weekends and the stench.</p> <p>I&#39;ve been kicked out of stores after work because I apparently stunk way worse than I thought I did - even after scrubbing off!</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p> </p><blockquote> <p>And I&#39;m around animals every day, but I still can&#39;t stand when otter / sealion keepers are around me in &quot;all-hands&quot; meetings. The rotten fish + ferrety otter smell combo is a gagger. Meanwhile, I work with apes, and they say that I smell like I haven&#39;t showed in a decade (again...even after I shower) - bindobub</p> </blockquote><h2>7. This would make a great reality show.</h2><blockquote> <p>I worked in two completely different departments (elephants and neonates), but the drama between keepers was insane in both. Like, attempted murder level insane. - Ginger-Spinner</p> </blockquote><h2>8. There are too many bodily fluids at the zoo.</h2><blockquote> <p>Our camels will spit if you piss them off, and it&#39;s not just saliva like most people think.</p> <p>You really really really really don&#39;t want to upset our camels if you have any plans the rest of the week, please and thank you! - leepingphal</p> </blockquote><h2>9. Don&#39;t touch the monkeys. Got it.</h2><blockquote> <p>Let&rsquo;s talk about diseases! Our good pal rabies is a great one! Rabies vaccines are NOT produced specifically for every exotic animal species, so a vet will do the best they can by giving high risk animals the closest version of an appropriate rabies shot. The closest version does NOT guarantee no rabies! You tried to touch a monkey that is undoubtedly covered in saliva from grooming? Better go get your rabies shots! Not to mention the abundance of parasites and human foreign diseases that exotics can carry or we can pass on to them. - Mission-Ad542</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>10. And don&#39;t feed the animals!</h2><blockquote> <p>The number of zoo animals that die from incorrect food in their systems is staggering. The average person has no idea which animals can be killed from an apple core, a piece of bread, or a grape. Even just picking leaves and grass from outside of the enclosure. A guest has no idea what an animal&rsquo;s digestive system cannot tolerate and can place a death sentence on an animal just because they wanted a special interaction. - Mission-Ad542</p> </blockquote><h2>11. Wow, that&#39;s pretty dumb.</h2><blockquote> <p>The job is 24/7. Even where you&#39;re not working, you&#39;re still working. And it&#39;s like 90% cleaning poop, pee and food leftovers/food containers and buildings. And answering some very dumb question such as &quot;Is the cheetah right there the youngster of a lion?&quot;. That kind of question truly make you understand how dumb people can be and how much they need to be educated about wildlife. - Correct_Lie_1633</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div><h2>12. Zebras aren&#39;t messing around.</h2><blockquote> <p>The zebras and Przewalski&#39;s horses are ruthless and will tear apart any unfortunate kangaroo that dares break into an enclosure. They love the thrill of the chase... and the subsequent kill when they get bored. - NutcaseCreates</p> </blockquote><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

12 people who've worked at zoos share the secrets they learned on the job.

What&#39;s it like to take care of the most interesting &mdash; and in some cases, dangerous &mdash; animals in the world? Only a few people know for sure. And a lot of them are zoo employees.A recent Reddit thread asked, &quot;Zookeepers of Reddit, what&#39;s the low-down, dirty, inside scoop on zoos?&quot; Here are the most fascinating answers &mdash; with an emphasis on dirty.1. Be very afraid of jaguars. worked in a zoos warehouse for a couple years. next time you go, ask someone which animals are &quot;kill on sight&quot; in an escape. the answers will suprise you. lions and tigers are typically on the &quot;tranq and capture&quot; list, but a jaguar the size of a golden retriever is KoS. the zoo i was with, the 2 jags were the only animals on site that were on the shoot to kill list. even the silverback was the tranq first list.   jags will kill for sport, and if they escape they will claim an area as their own, then hunt and kill anyone in that area that they perceive as a threat (to them, or their food). all those videos of jags rubbing their paws on the glass near children? they weren&#39;t hungry, the kids just look fun to kill to the jag. - Nytherion 2. This makes getting murdered by a jaguar sound pretty good in comparison. Be careful walking by the open air monkey enclosures, because poop isn&#39;t the only thing they&#39;ll fling at you. It&#39;s like that scene from Silence of the Lambs, when Clarice is going to see Hannibal Lecter...you know the scene I mean. Only much, much worse. - Funkotastic 3. They should warn you more about this... Our lions will urinate on guests if they get too close, which is always funny to see. Not so funny to smell. - epshuche 4. Excellent pointer! Followed by a sad fact. Used to work at a zoo, cold weather makes the animals more active so go on a chilly day or first thing in the morning to see the best show from the animals. Also, those free roaming peacocks are really stupid and sometimes go in the lions exhibit and get torn up. - MapleTopLibrary 5. Gross. The poor penguin keepers can never quite get rid of the miasma of dead fish that envelopes them. As for me, the stinkiest job I ever had to do was cleaning out the duck ponds. Managed to empty a whole train carriage that evening, even though I had changed and my work clothes were double-bagged. - ShadyElmm 6. Sounds like a lonely life. If you work with the animals there&#39;s a good chance you&#39;ll not be able to have any kind of social life, between the long hours/weekends and the stench. I&#39;ve been kicked out of stores after work because I apparently stunk way worse than I thought I did - even after scrubbing off!   And I&#39;m around animals every day, but I still can&#39;t stand when otter / sealion keepers are around me in &quot;all-hands&quot; meetings. The rotten fish + ferrety otter smell combo is a gagger. Meanwhile, I work with apes, and they say that I smell like I haven&#39;t showed in a decade (again...even after I shower) - bindobub 7. This would make a great reality show. I worked in two completely different departments (elephants and neonates), but the drama between keepers was insane in both. Like, attempted murder level insane. - Ginger-Spinner 8. There are too many bodily fluids at the zoo. Our camels will spit if you piss them off, and it&#39;s not just saliva like most people think. You really really really really don&#39;t want to upset our camels if you have any plans the rest of the week, please and thank you! - leepingphal 9. Don&#39;t touch the monkeys. Got it. Let&rsquo;s talk about diseases! Our good pal rabies is a great one! Rabies vaccines are NOT produced specifically for every exotic animal species, so a vet will do the best they can by giving high risk animals the closest version of an appropriate rabies shot. The closest version does NOT guarantee no rabies! You tried to touch a monkey that is undoubtedly covered in saliva from grooming? Better go get your rabies shots! Not to mention the abundance of parasites and human foreign diseases that exotics can carry or we can pass on to them. - Mission-Ad542 10. And don&#39;t feed the animals! The number of zoo animals that die from incorrect food in their systems is staggering. The average person has no idea which animals can be killed from an apple core, a piece of bread, or a grape. Even just picking leaves and grass from outside of the enclosure. A guest has no idea what an animal&rsquo;s digestive system cannot tolerate and can place a death sentence on an animal just because they wanted a special interaction. - Mission-Ad542 11. Wow, that&#39;s pretty dumb. The job is 24/7. Even where you&#39;re not working, you&#39;re still working. And it&#39;s like 90% cleaning poop, pee and food leftovers/food containers and buildings. And answering some very dumb question such as &quot;Is the cheetah right there the youngster of a lion?&quot;. That kind of question truly make you understand how dumb people can be and how much they need to be educated about wildlife. - Correct_Lie_1633 12. Zebras aren&#39;t messing around. The zebras and Przewalski&#39;s horses are ruthless and will tear apart any unfortunate kangaroo that dares break into an enclosure. They love the thrill of the chase... and the subsequent kill when they get bored. - NutcaseCreates 

What&#39;s it like to take care of the most interesting &mdash; and in some cases, dangerous &mdash; animals in the world? Only a few people know for sure. And a lot of them are zoo employees.  A recent Reddit thread asked,...