Zoo & Veterinary anecdotes
Wildlife Photography… but first get to know Rick, part 2
Near-death experience by lion
It was the summer of ‘73, between my junior & senior year at Cornell. I secured a job working for the now defunct drive thru zoo Jungle Habitat in West Milford, NJ. I was a 20 yr old hired as a LION KEEPER with no prior experience working with BIG CATS. What could possibly go wrong?
Thinking back, it is truly amazing at how little emphasis was placed on training and safety. To be honest, there was NONE! OHSA was in its infancy. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration had only been enacted by Nixon 2 years earlier in 1971.
My early morning duties as a lion keeper entailed hosing out the cinder block building that housed the lions during the evening when not roaming free in the daytime drive thru compound. The building was divided into 3 sections. Each dividing wall had a guillotine gate built into the wall to allow movement of the lions from one section to another.
Guillotine gate design Lioness stare by Rick Beldegreen in S. Africa
My near-death experience occurred one early morning as I hosed lion excrement from the overnight enclosure. I was in the middle section. There were 22 lions in the section to my left and a single adult male lion, named Nemo, in the right section.
As I hosed down the concrete, I noticed Nemo out of the corner of my eye, pushing the guillotine gate with his head. Suddenly, the obviously defective gate simply fell out of its tracks, creating a huge rectangular void in the concrete block. A 500 lb. male lion headed straight towards me.
My only protection was the fire hose with which I was cleaning out the enclosure. When just several feet from me, Nemo stopped as I pummeled him with a 5” diameter stream of fire hose water. Completely unfazed, Nemo just opened his mouth wide and took the full force of the fire hose directly into his oral cavity as if doing an early morning gargle.
After what seemed like an eternity, although I know it was no more than a few seconds, Nemo trotted past me within arm’s length. He headed out into the lion compound. I collapsed into a heap on the wet concrete, shaking uncontrollably.
Male lion by Rick Beldegreen in Zambia
I can laugh now as I tell the story of being face-to-face with an adult male lion. But whenever I see a news headline about a zoo keeper mauled, trampled or crushed by an animal under his/her care, I realize how truly lucky I was on that day.
My second horrific experience at the ill-fated zoo occurred one blistering hot afternoon. A car over heated and burst into flames inside the lion compound. The occupants jumped out of their car! The lions immediately became interested in the “human prey”
As a lion compound animal keeper, I was issued a high powered BB air rifle. Of course no training necessary! I began spraying BB pellets in the direction of the approaching lions to thwart their advance.
Lioness on alert in S Africa by Rick Beldegreen
I received a reprimand for using my BB gun in front of the public!? So what circumstances warranted its use??? I quit shortly thereafter. Plagued by mishaps and poor management, Jungle Habitat closed its gates in 1976 after a short 4 year run.
I subsequently worked in 2 other zoos without incident. I had a summer job at African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton, Ohio which is still in operation and while in veterinary school, I did an externship at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
My SeaWorld experiences…
During my years at SeaWorld, I participated in countless marine mammal stranding rescues covering the coastal areas of Florida and beyond. We were always ready to respond whenever The Florida Marine Patrol contacted us about a beached or injured whale, dolphin or manatee.
Whale & dolphin, wild animal capture…
Although I would absolutely not consider this an acceptable practice today, animal collection for zoos & aquariums was still widely accepted in the 1970’s. As a member of the SeaWorld Animal Care team, I participated in the capture of bottlenose dolphins around Florida and the collection of beluga whales in Hudson Bay, Canada.
I was one of a few selected to capture beluga whales with the native Inuits in Canada. Per our permit issued by National Marine Fisheries, we were required to capture using traditional methods of the local Inuits. It was truly a “rodeo” style capture technique (see below).
SeaWorld Dolphin collection
SeaWorld’s dolphin collection methods were used in this veterinary textbook in the chapter on “Marine Mammals; Capture, Transport and Restraint”. In the above photo, I am the one in the middle reaching down towards the dolphin.
SeaWorld bottlenose dolphin capture in 1978. As the net is pulled in, the dolphin becomes trapped in the net. I am the one in the water cradling the dolphin.
Veterinary tales…
a possible “Guinness Book of records” C-section
When I first opened my veterinary hospital in 1987, my wife Gigi and I operated the entire hospital alone. So when I was faced with a VERY pregnant Rottweiler that required a C-section, I needed to recruit some help fast! After radiographing the dog, I determined this dog was carrying pups numbering in the high “teens”. So with the help of the owner, my wife, and next door neighbor, I successfully delivered NINETEEN live pups!
Googling “largest recorded Rottweiler litter” I found this statistic from AKC dated Nov 2023. If this is truly accurate, my unreported 19 puppy Rottweiler C-section may actually be a record.
Volunteer work for the Carolina Raptor Center
I performed veterinary surgical services for The Carolina Raptor Center for 20 yrs. This eagle had been shot and sustained a broken wing.
After surgical repair of its wing and months of rehab at the Carolina Raptor Center, I was given the honor of releasing this eagle back to the wild.
So that’s my story.
Enough about me. My next post will be all about wildlife when I return from Botswana. Until then…
Stay focused,
Rick