Public Employee Press

Safari in the City

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

A Komodo dragon climbs onto a hot crag and stretches out like a sun worshipper on a tar roof. His tongue flicks to sniff out prey.

It's the return of the dragon to the Bronx Zoo. Stubby and his two sisters, Rose and Ivy, moved from Los Angeles to the Bronx Reptile House in 2011 and are its first Komodo dragons in more than 50 years.

"Dragons are solitary creatures, predators. We keep them separate because they are also cannibals," said Local 1501's Andrew Kathriner, a Wild Animal Keeper at Reptile House. Frequent visits to the Bronx Zoo as a kid fueled Kathriner's interest in animals. In graduate school he studied reptiles in Indonesia where the Komodo dragon is found. Stubby, one of the world's largest lizards, is just five feet now but will grow to be about nine feet long, 300 pounds.

Rare Southeast Asian dragons, petite fairy penguins of Australia, giant Central American anteaters - and more animals than in Noah's ark - live at the 265-acre Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo.

Members protect wildlife

The vast collection of animals, great and small, are cared for by the members of New York Zoological Society Local 1501. "In nature there is food, wind, rain," said President Jeremy Sanders. "As Keepers we take nature's place in caring for these animals."

Thanks to Local 1501's 400 members at Wildlife Conservation Society's zoos and the aquarium, New Yorkers and tourists can embark on safari in the city to see up close wildlife from faraway islands and continents.

Moasi's thunderous roar reverberates across the African Plains exhibit. The 13-year-old African lion leads a pride that includes his three Bronx-born sons, who turn 2 in August.

"This exhibit was groundbreaking when it was first built in 1951 because it recreates the natural habitat," said Ralph Aversa, a 30-year veteran Zookeeper. Other zoos have patterned their exhibits after the world-famous Bronx Zoo. The African Plains exhibit has Thompson gazelles, Nyala antelope and flamboyant peacocks that appear to roam free but - spoiler alert - deep moats keep them apart from the lion pack.

Aversa walks in the lions' den. He separates the 270-pound cats that feed on a special daily diet that includes seven to 10 pounds of meat. Outside are their toys, huge logs to scratch and pulleys suspended in trees that exercise and strengthen their muscles. "Their mother perfected their stalking techniques from birth," Aversa said. "Their DNA dictates their behavior."

Local 1501 members love and protect animals. As a teen Aversa worked summer jobs and volunteered at the Bronx Zoo, which hired him at 19. He tags, monitors and records how much the lions eat, their activity levels and cycles. "They know me," Aversa said, calling the lions' Swahili names. "They recognize the jingle of my keys and my uniform."

Recordings of caws and the patter of raindrops fill the recently renovated Rainforest Aviary to amazing affect. Artists painstakingly painted murals and Gardeners in Local 1501 planted giant palms and vines where birds nest.

Senior Keeper Myra Dremeaux tosses handfuls of crickets and worms to the colorful South American birds. Dremeaux "got tired of making jewelry for rich people," and left her jewelry manufacturing business 12 years ago to work at the Bronx Zoo. An avid birdwatcher since college she said, "This gives my life more meaning. It's my dream job."