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  • (majestic music)

  • (lion roaring)

  • (wolf howling)

  • (lions roaring)

  • - Hi everybody,

  • welcome to the Animal Park at the Conservators Center,

  • we're gonna take you on a little behind

  • the scenes tour just to take a look at

  • how we are functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • So without being able to have our public tours here,

  • the animals are definitely getting

  • a little bit less attention than they're used to.

  • Thankfully our staff is committed to their behavior

  • and their health.

  • Ah so what were doing to protect

  • the animals is wearing masks

  • and covering our hands in gloves.

  • The mask that I am wearing right now was actually made out

  • of autoclave material

  • and donated by one of our local veterinarians.

  • So thankfully as we are an all weather facility,

  • the keepers have had to wear face masks around

  • the animal just to be able to protect ourselves from

  • the cold or any kind of nasty wind.

  • So the animals have been pretty well desensitized.

  • I wouldn't say that they are totally used to it

  • and they don't love it.

  • They do use a lot of facial cues to be able

  • to kind of communicate with us.

  • Thankfully, within our team we're really well trained

  • and we know to kind of be ready for that.

  • And the bigger thing for us

  • to be able to show them is more our eyes

  • and our attitude.

  • And we just make sure to take our time

  • and either use it as a training tool or change our husbandry

  • so that the animal stays as comfortable as possible.

  • Being a behavior specialists we are able

  • to actually share space with our wolf pups.

  • They just turned a year old about a week,

  • maybe two weeks ago.

  • And we've been with them

  • since they've been about eight weeks old.

  • (wolf barking)

  • - Oh. - Oh.

  • For the bubble bath

  • that we're providing them with,

  • kind of provides a lot of different stimulus.

  • Our northwestern wolves are very interested

  • in water in general.

  • So any time that we can make that water

  • a little bit more exciting is gonna give them something else

  • to think about within their environment.

  • By adding something as simple as bubbles,

  • now they can't really see the bottom

  • of the pool.

  • It adds another texture,

  • another smell,

  • and just a general complexity to their environment.

  • Something that they don't engage

  • with every single day makes it

  • so that it's a little bit more interesting

  • when we do provide it for them.

  • One of our large concerns here

  • of course is how long this quarantine is going to last.

  • Making sure that we keep track

  • of things like our supply chain,

  • the animal health,

  • keeping our veterinarians up

  • to date on everything that's going on.

  • We've been kind of limiting

  • how many resources we are using at a time

  • to ensure that we can use them for as long as possible.

  • Thankfully as a small nonprofit we are still able

  • to keep all of our paid staff employed right now.

  • But everybody is doing things that are

  • a little bit outside of their normal task regimen.

  • They're helping out in construction more,

  • they're helping out in animal care when they can.

  • It's more of our social animals may get

  • a little bit more needy if they are just used

  • to seeing the same people over and over again.

  • So changing how we engage with the animals,

  • may be taking our lunch break with them,

  • taking a book out to read.

  • The longer that this goes on it's basically just

  • the more creative that we're gonna have to become.

  • So as you can see,

  • we provide the animals the choice

  • in control to be a part of their therapy.

  • So while I had the light on Lena,

  • for just a quick moment to see how she felt,

  • she left the area and I didn't follow after her.

  • Versus Oz who if you do anything

  • that's on the ground,

  • he just wants to be part of your life.

  • And he doesn't even really notice that there is a light

  • or any kind of therapy or anything happening

  • on his back end.

  • Careful.

  • Now he wants to say I love you

  • or pee on me, yeah.

  • I want to thank you all for joining us today

  • on our little behind the scenes tour.

  • We cannot wait to have visitors be able to come back

  • on grounds and join us for

  • a real tour here with us and with the animals.

  • In the meantime,

  • if you have anything to spare we are

  • so grateful for any kind of donation.

  • You can find a lot of our options on our website

  • animalparknc.org.

  • You can also follow us on social media.

  • We have Facebook,

  • Twitter, Instagram,

  • and even some really cute videos on TikTok.

  • If you have time to reach out to any

  • of your local institutions as well,

  • We are all in this together.

  • (upbeat music)

(majestic music)

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