KIMBERLY SWEETMAN
The Corsair
The PJC Zookeepers Club is “Going Ape.” Students and faculty have been asked by the Club to donate items for the Center for Great Apes.
“This is a wonderful facility whose mission is to provide a permanent sanctuary in a safe and enriching environment for orangutans and chimpanzees in need of lifetime care,” Joyce Kaplan, Director of the Zoo Animal Technology Program, said.
Students involved in the zookeepers club are being offered a great opportunity in return for all the donations they receive.
Graham Northup, Zookeeper Club vice president, said. “We are collecting donation items such as old clothes, children’s books, toys, ect. to donate to the Great Ape Center. Great apes and primates are of course very intelligent animals and need lots of things to do to keep from becoming bored. The Great Apes Center needs lots of these items and in return, they are giving us a behind the scenes tour of their amazing facility.”
The club was founded in 1996 when the Zoo Animal Technology degree was first offered at PJC.
“It was formed by the students in the program for the purpose of providing opportunities for educational enhancement in the field of animal husbandry through extracurricular field trips, campus presentations for the college community, and service activities,” Northup said.
Normally, the club meets twice a month, but when trips and events such as the Ape Drive come up the club meets every week.
“We discuss and plan activities such as community service ideas, trips (when and where to go), and fundraising events. We also discuss club budgeting and money to be spent on upcoming trips/events and fill out necessary paper work for these trips.”
All PJC students are invited to join the club. Some of the many opportunities include trips to zoos in Florida and surrounding states where students are offered training with the animals and behind the scene tours.
“We learn about exhibit design, the different ways zoos are run, the captive management of their collection and all the other fun stuff that goes into running and working at a zoo,” Northup said.
The students involved in the club also have other opportunities to serve in their community.
“We are involved in community service, educational field trips to zoos and other animal facilities, and fundraising events,” Northup said. “We try to do animal related community service, for example we have gone to the Escarosa Greyhound adoption facility to help bath, trim nails, and give any medications to greyhounds up for adoption. For fundraising events we’ve done different things such as selling candy at school to selling artwork from members of the club at the Pensacola interstate fair.”
For more information about “Going Ape” visit www.prime-apes.org. For information about where to drop off items and how to get involved in the Zookeepers Club e-mail Joyce Kaplan at jkaplan.pjc.edu. All items must be donated before the club members leave for their 3 day long trip to Tampa to visit the Center for Great Apes on Nov. 20.
Ape Wish List: Old towels, blankets, t-shirts, etc., Baby toys (no batteries/small parts), Little Tykes kid toys, Childrens books, Non-toxic paints, Chalk, Carabiner clips (large for hanging enrichment items), Chain (large for hanging enrichment items), Metal kabob holders, PVC tube (varying sizes), Burlap, Butcher paper, Milk crates, Paper lunch bags, Non bleached paper plates, Phone books, Plain (non-colored) boxes, Paper towel tubes and/or wrapping paper tube (with or without wrapping paper still on them), Sisal rope, Heavy duty dog toys, Parrot toys (not acrylic), Coconut fiber or corn husk toys, Kong toys, Untreated wooden blocks (with nickel sized holes drilled in center), Boomer balls, Dried fruit