"There are many ways to get there from here. But the path you take is yours. It is unique to you and what you make of it along the way." The Tiger. Like many in my line of work, it started with an early childhood obsession. For the most part I think I was curious about all animals as a kid, but the obsession started with cheetahs and tigers. I can remember I did my first big school report in second grade about cheetahs. I was enamored with their speed an how their body w

In honor of National Zoo Keeper Week, July 15-21, 2018, I wanted to share something I wrote several years ago in a social media post, so here it is. Actually, wait. Before we get too far into this, let's clear something up right now. Is it Zoo Keeper or Zookeeper? The answer is yes. And sometimes, it depends how you are using it. In some dictionaries, the definition for Zoo Keeper and Zookeeper are the same. Another source puts Zookeeper as one employed by a zoo to care

I have spent many years speaking and presenting about the plight of elephants and rhinos due to poaching and habitat degradation. And the whole time I was doing so, giraffes have been silently walking towards extinction right beside the elephants and rhinos. For almost a decade, elephants and rhinos have had most of the attention when it comes to large species conservation in Africa. And that's completely understandable with all of the aggressive poaching they have had to de

If you had asked me what my favorite species was when I was in elementary school, I would have said the cheetah. In the second grade, I did my formal school report on the cheetah and was enamored with their speed and non-retracting claws. By high-school, I was obsessed with tigers, big cats in general, but mostly tigers. I was certain I would work with tigers for the rest of my life. They were majestic and powerful - yet they needed our help because they faced an uncertain fu