By Christian Ley
Here at Delaware Valley University, we have many great zoos in the area where students have the opportunity to get internships and work experience in their chosen field.
Elmwood Park Zoo in Montgomery Township is one of them.
While many students get internships at zoos through Delaware Valley University, students can also go directly to the zoo’s websites and fill out applications.
Students Hannah Citron and Sarah Ludemann shared their experiences from their time at Elmwood Park Zoo.
Ludemann interned at Elmwood park zoo over the summer. She, unlike most Del Val students, did not go through the school to get her internship. Ludemann discovered Elmwood Park Zoo in her search last year.
She said, “Originally I was looking for internships to do over the summer, so I went to all the zoos that I could realistically drive to everyday, and I knew Elmwood was there, so I just filled out their application online on my own. I didn’t go through the school. The process was fairly easy, they gave me an interview and they accepted me, I was one of twenty interns over the summer.”
Ludemann explained that she was an ambassador care intern so she worked with all their education ambassador animals. She told me she worked with “skunks, porcupines, a coati, two rabbits, two ferrets, three chinchillas, a salmon crested cockatoo, a three banded armadillo, 6 different species of snakes, a tegu, three different kinds of turtles, two tortoises, two hedgehogs, and two different kinds of skinks.”
Ludemann highlighted her favorite Elmwood Park experience.
“My favorite experience was probably at the end of my internship they asked me if I had anything that I didn’t get to do earlier and I got to learn how they prepare bird of prey diets, because I didn’t work with them directly, but they are under the education department, so I learned how they measure diets, how they cut up the rats, I got to cut up the rats myself, and then they surprised all the interns by letting us practice training our black vulture, so I got to catch our black vulture and feed her which was pretty cool.”
Hannah Citron is currently an intern at Elmwood Park Zoo working on completing her E360 credits.
“I got involved with Elmwood Park Zoo through DelVal’s E360 program. For my major, I have to complete two zoo internships, one being education and one being animal care. Over the summer, I completed my animal care internship at the Lehigh Valley Zoo and so I just needed to complete the second internship. Because I wanted to complete this internship during the fall semester, Elmwood was the perfect option for me, since I have limited transportation,” Citron said.
She spoke about the favorite animal that she got to work with.
“This is honestly one of the hardest questions that you could ask. I love all the animals I work with, but if I really had to pick a favorite (or one I look forward to working with the most) I would definitely have to say it’s Pesto the Skunk. Last week, I got to help create Pesto’s PM diet, which is more like a puzzle since he eats so quickly, and the process was so much fun. I can’t wait to work with him more and get more experience creating intricate enrichment,” explained Citron.
Overall, she appreciated the array of real-life work she did at the zoo.
“My favorite experience of Elmwood so far has definitely been working with the animals on daily husbandry. I found out pretty quickly that I love doing husbandry and doing it at Elmwood has been no exception. I love the variety of Ambassador Animals that I work with and appreciate getting to learn the husbandry of such diverse species. This internship has definitely been a completely different experience from the one I had over the summer, and I greatly appreciate the learning opportunity that it has provided me,” said Citron.