It took a trip to study giraffes in Africa to convince zookeeper Jill Erzar just how good we have it in St. Paul — to have a place like Como Park Zoo to visit.
Como Park zookeeper knows giraffes. A tidbit: Females like the taller guys
Jill Erzar has been caring for hoofed animals at St. Paul's favorite zoo for the past six years.
March 15, 2022 at 10:32AM
"They have these wonderful [wildlife] reserves but they are not really there for the people of Africa," said Erzar, who is from Bloomington and now lives in North Branch. "Kids don't get to see the animals. Giraffes are the national animal of Tanzania, but [children] don't know they're cool."
Erzar knows. And it's the Bloomington native's job to share those cool — and occasionally wacky — traits of giraffes and other hoofed animals with Como's nearly 2 million visitors a year. Holding bachelor's and master's degrees in zoology from North Dakota State University, the new mom recently returned to work and decided to share some giraffe knowledge with Eye On St. Paul.
This interview has been edited for length.
Q: Tell us a little about being a zookeeper at Como. You work with the giraffes?
A: I do. I work with all the hoofed animals: zebra, lesser kudu, bison, arctic reindeer, Dall sheep, ostrich.
Q: Ostrich?
A: They act very much like a hoofed animal. They are very much motivated by the same things [safety, finding food]. In the summer, we keep the giraffes and ostriches together, just like we do with the zebras and kudu.
Q: How long have you been at Como?
A: Six years. I've been a zookeeper for 16. Before Como, I was in Kansas City, and I worked at a couple of North Dakota zoos while I was at North Dakota State.
Q: I see that you've been to Africa. What did you do there?
A: I was there twice, in 2017 and in 2019. In '17, I was there working with an all-women rangers group called the "Black Mambas" that is working to reduce poaching of rhinos. They use the "Broken Windows" technique with boots on the ground, patrolling the reserve. It's not always safe.
In 2019, I went to Tanzania to do giraffe-based work. It was much more up my alley. We were working on the demographics of giraffe. We did that primarily with photos, to help track them. They keep the same spotted pattern for life.
Q: How has that trip informed your work here?
A: I really learned that giraffes are pretty much the same there as here. Giraffes are strange [laughs], whether they are in Africa or at Como Zoo.
Q: How strange?
A: The giraffe is interesting. Its scientific name [Giraffa camelopardalis] means "leopard camel." Yet, they are like a horse in body and have the digestive system of a cow with a four-chambered stomach.
Q: Is it true that giraffes' long necks evolved so they could better reach leaves from trees and not have to compete with other animals?
A: That's one [idea]. There's also some evidence that females go for the tallest males.
Q: What are the challenges of caring for a warm-weather African animal at a cold-weather zoo?
A: Really, the biggest challenge is them being inside part of the year. Just like all of us, there is a little bit of cabin fever. But they are a prey animal. It's not so bad for them to be in an enclosed space. Inside is safer. And we provide a lot more enrichment in the winter time.
Q: How so?
A: We do food activities — they are very tactile with their tongue, so we give them puzzle feeders that make them work for their food. We also give them boxes to stomp on and balls to kick. We've set up a DVD player. With these guys, cartoons are more popular than a normal movie. Giraffes can see all spectrums of color.
Giraffes [in the wild] only move about a kilometer a day. In fact, giraffes prefer a small home range. At Como, we have smaller spaces, but if we can give them more dimension to their life it's not always a hindrance.
Q: What are some other things we might not know about giraffes?
A: They can kick any direction. Males, their skulls are like a wrecking ball. They swing their heads in battle with each other, but also use them to intimidate predators. If they survive the first couple years of life, they're really not prey anymore. They grow to weigh more than 2,000 pounds and can reach heights of 19 feet.
Females bond with their [female] friends for life. Males are more nomadic. They go from female group to female group to female group. He's always looking for new mates.
Q: Your job sounds super interesting.
A: I love that about my job, I learn something new every day.
I was one of Como Zoo's first interns. Back then, I wanted to be a zoo veterinarian. But I knew I wanted to be a zookeeper since Day 2, because on Day 1, a penguin bit me in the butt. Nobody likes going to the vet [laughs].
They all want to see the zookeeper. When we show up, [animals'] eyes light up.
