Brandywine AAZK

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Wilmington, DE
Brandywine AAZK

The Brandywine Zoo Chapter of AAZK is a non-profit organization made up of Brandywine Zoo's keepers, educators, support staff, and volunteers.
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Our goal is to expand conservation efforts through partnering with the American Association of Zoo Keepers. The Brandywine AAZK Chapter (BAAZK) is made up of zoo keepers, educators, and other zoo employees. We are committed to supporting the professional and conservation efforts of AAZK. By supporting BAAZK, you help enhance, the professional development of its members, and you also help our chapt

er through fundraising efforts, to contribute to conservation both locally and globally. Some fund raising events we have hosted include, ‘Bowling For Rhinos’, which raises money for rhino conservation. Another annual fund raising event we have hosted is 'Tango For Tamarins’. Monies raised at this event help the Golden Lion Tamarins in Brazil and here at the Zoo. We also raise money to help with professional development for the keepers. We host free 'Guest Speaker' events to help educate the public and other zoo professionals on a variety of topics. Past guest speakers have included Dr. Erica Miller, Dr.La’Toya Latney and Hillary Taylor, Delaware’s wildlife rehabilitator. Next time you are at The Brandywine Zoo, stop a keeper and chat with us. We love to talk about our jobs, the animals in our care, our AAZK Chapter and what our chapter does, and even what it takes to become a zoo keeper

Being a zoo keeper means being passionate, dedicated, hardworking, and having a love of animals and people. Zoo keepers are care givers, educators, conservationists, trainers, and a lot more. Everything we do during our work day directly affects the animals in our care. Our days include feeding the animals, cleaning enclosures, making sure all the animals are healthy and happy, both physically and mentally. We do “positive reinforcement” training and we also do behavioral enrichment for the animals. The training we do helps us better care for the animals and the enrichment keeps the animals stimulated and hopefully solicits some of their natural behaviors. Our days are also made up of problem solving, brainstorming, and progressive learning. Zoo keepers give 100% of themselves to their jobs and the animals in their care. We are constantly bettering ourselves through conferences, networking, newsletters and schooling to helps us grow and stay up on the best animal care practices. We are professionals dedicating our careers to gaining knowledge and experience, sharing this knowledge to constantly improve the care of the animals here at The Brandywine Zoo.

11/04/2024

Miss Gryphus, matriarch of the zoo, watching over everything from her perch high on the hill.

At 45 years old, Gryphus is one of the oldest animals in the zoo, but Andean Condors can live to be over 75 in human care!

10/31/2024

Everyone's getting in the spirit! 👻 The animals all enjoyed their special themed enrichment - Happy Halloween!! 🎃

📸1 - Keeper Mark
📸2, 4 & 6- Keeper Doug
📸3, 5, 7, & 8 - Keeper Emily

10/31/2024

Happy Halloween!!🎃
Spooky fun and yummy treats with all our pumpkins!

📸1 + 5 - Keeper Allyson
📸2 - Keeper Connor
📸3, 4 & 6 - Keeper Emily
📸7-9 - Keeper Doug

10/30/2024

Late night from Blue and Squeakers in celebration of

10/28/2024

Take it from Tahiry, Gopher, and Cashew: you don’t want to miss the BZAAZK booksale this weekend! We will be open during Scout Night this Saturday (11/2), and from 10a-3p on Sunday (11/3). Hope to see you there!

10/28/2024

The ravens Dichali and Kanga look very excited for Halloween; already dressed for spooky season.🐦‍⬛

10/27/2024

Were you able to visit our Ruffs and Rings being very ✨ lemur✨, very ✨mindful✨ this past week as we celebrated world lemur fest?!
Thank you to those who stopped by our information table or watched a training session!
For those who weren’t able to make it, but would like to support lemur conservation, visit https://madagascarpartnership.org
to learn more about the variety of projects and programs run by field stations throughout Madagascar.

10/21/2024

Sometimes you might not be able to see our caracal, Blue, in her exhibit. But she sees you.

She always sees you.

10/14/2024

Each year, the third week in October is recognized as National Veterinary Technician Week. For us that means recognizing and celebrating Janey, our Vet Tech/Lead Keeper/Hospital Manager. She fulfills a critical role in the care of our animals, from drawing blood and giving vaccines, to administering medications, taking x-rays, treating wounds, cleaning teeth and more. All this while gladly using her experience to educate keepers on a wide variety of topics and skills.

Thank you Janey for all that you do!!

10/07/2024

Blue Beard the blue-tongued skink is our resident fashion icon, seen here modeling the newest in Fall headwear.

09/17/2024

Answers from yesterday:
Sandy the Sandhill Crane
Mandrake the Eastern Box Turtle
Miss Gryphus the Andean Condor

09/16/2024

Did you know that there's multiple animals at the zoo that have red eyes? Can you identify them?

09/09/2024

Tang is having a lazy Monday morning 😴

09/02/2024

Kipp's eyes are bigger than his mouth sometimes.

08/26/2024

Technically we installed a large area mister to help increase humidity for J-Law the sloth, but Julio has been loving his morning showers lately too.

08/19/2024

Squeakers really enjoying her enrichment, having a great time rolling around in some h**p bedding.

08/17/2024

I guess my invite to the Saturday Lemur Cuddle Puddle Session got lost in the mail? 🤔 Maybe next time! 🤞

08/12/2024

Bushmallow's hurdle training for the 2028 Olympics is officially underway.

08/05/2024

On these hot summer days, Sandy knows that nothing beats splashing around in some nice cool water.

08/04/2024

Happy 🍉🍉🍉 from us to you!

08/01/2024

Thank you, Claudia van Wijk, for the fun enrichment gifts for the animals!

If you’d like to send a little gift for the animals like Claudia did, here’s our Amazon Wishlist!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3B5KU9TU7FW04?ref_=wl_share

07/27/2024

Aaaaaaand that is a wrap on 2024! 🥳🐾♥️ Thank you for the all the love and support shown to our keepers this week. To show our gratitude, a group picture was taken (no - we definitely didn’t photoshop absent keepers into the picture). As well as, some pictures that didn’t make it into the earlier posts this week. And of course, the keepers working hard! 💪 We love our zookeepers and the community that surrounds us; thanks for celebrating with us! 🫶

07/26/2024

Keeper Spotlight: Janey

We are highlighting our last (but definitely not least!) keeper at the Brandywine Zoo for , Janey! She began as a Seasonal Keeper April 8th, 2002, and two years following became a Full-Time Keeper. Now, Janey is a Lead Keeper and our Veterinary Technician. With over 22 years under her belt at Brandywine, she is the glue for our zoo! If anyone has a question or concern, Janey is one of the first to know and the first to provide an answer/solution. Keepers voted her “Most likely to give you solid advice on anything and everything” 💡 and “Most likely to ask for a f***l sample” 💩. Janey is a bright spot at the zoo, and all the keepers look up to her! We appreciate her immensely, and are grateful for the work she puts in with the health and care of our animals. Thank you, Janey! You’re a gem! 💎

07/26/2024

Keeper Spotlight: Doug
(He was not present this week to get a photograph with his awards, but fear not, we have great photoshop skills).

Doug has been an Animal Keeper at the Brandywine Zoo for nearly two years! He did a lot of veterinary technician work with his family before joining our team. Doug is focused, driven, and conscientious. Anytime he has a spare moment he’s ready and willing to help out somewhere else in the zoo. Keepers voted him as “Most likely to be your go-to person for an extra hand” 👏 and “Most likely to be mistaken as Mark Bosshardt (sorry!)” 🫣. We appreciate Doug for the endless attention and care he gives to the animals at the zoo. Thank you, Doug, for being a keeper we can count on! 🙌

07/25/2024

Keeper Spotlight: Allyson

Allyson is our Area 1 Lead Keeper and has been at the Brandywine Zoo for a little over two years! Allyson is always full of new ideas to improve the care of our animals. She is an optimistic and energetic leader that makes keepers smile. Keepers voted her as “Most likely to say “wait, can you send me that picture”” 📸 and “Most likely to use a multi-tool and let you borrow hers, too” 🪛. Allyson’s bright personality is something that makes her standout. We are incredibly grateful to have a Lead Keeper like Allyson! Thank you, Allyson, for your leadership and your hard work! 🧡

Address

1001 N Park Drive
Wilmington, DE
19802

Telephone

+13025717788

Website

http://paypal.me/BAAZK

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Videos

We think Sandy has some pretty sweet moves, dont you? #sandhillcrane

Back at it with another #tongueouttuesday 🎥: Keeper Eliza

Squeakers really enjoying her enrichment, having a great time rolling around in some hemp bedding.

Queen Gryphus on her throne 👑 Miss Gryphus can be seen wiping her face/beak on different enrichment items and rocks around the exhibit after eating

Bushmallow's hurdle training for the 2028 Olympics is officially underway.

On these hot summer days, Sandy knows that nothing beats splashing around in some nice cool water.

Jumping to conclusions like… #happywednesday 🦎

Slow-Mo Monday: Tim Tam the bearded dragon showing you how he (tries) to hunt crickets. Bearded dragons are omnivores meaning they eat plants and meat. When they're young they eat primarily live prey, but become more herbivorous as they get older. #slowmomonday

It’s a Toco Toucan kind of Tuesday (try saying that five times fast)! Lancaster isn’t the only animal at the zoo who loves a shower, Julio is all a flutter about it! Make sure to stay hydrated and keep cool. Julio knows tou-can do it! ❤️💧🪶

Slow-mo Monday: Dawn enjoying a nice dust bath. Chinchilla fur is so dense that if it gets wet the moisture gets trapped and is very difficult to dry, leading to issues like fungus growth. Instead, they bathe in fine dust that traps dirt and oils in their fur and then falls away harmlessly.

Since there’s a heatwave this week everyone’s looking for ways to cool down. ☀️ Some enjoy some air conditioning, a dip in the pool, or an ice cold lemonade, but Lancaster enjoys taking a shower! 🚿 What ways are you chilling out this summer? 😎 📸: Keeper Lydia

Sound on for some quality Juniper cronch ASMR.

You’ve made it half-way through the week! 🥳 Now that is something worth dancing for! 💃

Monday morning fitness with Tahiry the lesser Madagascar hedgehog tenrec. Get those steps in!

Slow-Mo Monday: Miss Gryphus shaking off the rain yesterday. Also a glimpse of her nictitating membrane: condors, like many birds, have a see-through third eyelid that closes horizontally to protect the eye while still allowing them to see. A useful adaptation to have when digging around in a carcass.