The Napping Wizard Sessions - Adrienne Whiteley: The Zookeeper's Share

Published: May 8, 2019, 4:01 a.m.

Episode 2: From 1977-2018 Adrienne Whiteley worked at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY. As a voice

major in college, she found part-time work as a seasonal employee at the zoo. She didn't know then that she had

fallen into her career path. Over the next 41 years she worked her way up to the position of Senior Zoo Keeper,

Collection Manager and Registrar, overseeing most aspects of the Zoo's operation, and, most importantly, animal

care and well-being. Since 2007 she has been teaching a highly popular course at Syracuse University on zoo

animal management. In June 2018 we sat down to talk about elephants that paint, why penguins are vicious little

monsters, unpredictable lions, the heart problems of gorillas and Bambi. "There's a saying in the zoo community that

there are more tigers in Texas than there are in the wild. Nobody needs a tiger." This interview is a bonus edition to

my first episode of Premise: A Bold Move With The Cowardly Lion, also available on Brooklyn Free Speech Radio.