Page 27 - Gateways_2019-Fall

GRMAOYN'SITOR

Mark Herbert Are there any particularly interesting
aspects of their day?
Brookfield Zoo is one of the few zoos
accredited by the Association of Zoos “When animal care staff go into their habitat, the
and Aquariums to house Gray’s monitor monitors are very curious. They sometimes try to
lizards—and we have two! Here, lead climb up the caretaker’s pants looking for food!”
keeper Mark Herbert shares some
information about this rare species. Are these animals social?

What do these animals typically eat? “Both animals communicate with each other
using body language throughout the day.”
“We feed them fruit (papaya, grapes, pear, and banana),
horned worms, other insects, fish, mice, shrimp, snails, How does animal care staff interact
hard boiled eggs, and chicks a few times per week. with these animals?
They get their food several ways: we hand feed them
via tongs, we place food in food dishes, and we hide “We have a respectful relationship with these lizards. We are
food throughout the exhibit so they have to find it.” working toward being able to handle them without gloves,
but we know these lizards can cause a lot of damage with
What are their sleeping habits? their bite. Until the trust is there, care staff uses gloves to
weigh the lizards and we use long tongs to feed them.”
“They’re diurnal, meaning they sleep at night. They also
sleep throughout the day, on and off. They typically
sleep and rest on the highest branches in their habitat.”

What do you do for enrichment?

“We regularly give them new plants and branches
to climb on, and hide food items that they have to
find. We also have mistings to mimic rain, and are
beginning to train them to feed at a station.”

BROOKFIELD ZOO | FALL 2019 23