Turtle Back Zoo · New Jersey · posted today
Internship: Animal Behavior & Welfare Monitoring Location: Turtle Back Zoo – West Orange, NJ Duration: 120 hour commitment Status: Unpaid / Educational / For-Credit Eligible Program Overview The Animal Behavior Internship at Turtle Back Zoo offers students a specialized educational track in Ethology and Welfare Science. This program focuses on the objective measurement of animal behavior to inform husbandry and habitat management. Under the guidance of the Animal Care Administration, interns will learn how to design ethograms, utilize industry-standard software like ZooMonitor, and translate raw data into actionable welfare insights. Learning Objectives & Project Outline The core of this internship is a structured Behavioral Observation Project. Interns will progress through the following phases: Phase 1: Foundation & Research (Approx. 30 Hours) • Shadowing: Learn daily routines and individual animal histories with the Animal Care Team. • Natural History Research: Review and update "Species Spiders" (biological profiles) using peer-referenced citations. • Methodology Training: Watch instructional modules on Animal Behavior Observation Methods and ZooMonitor via SharePoint. • Ethogram Development: Learn to define specific behavioral categories to answer: • What proportion of time are animals engaged in specific behaviors? • Where and when do animals spend their time within the habitat? Phase 2: Data Acquisition (Approx. 60 Hours) • Active Observation: Conduct daily 30-minute interval observations of focal animals (3 hours/day). • Visibility Mapping: Execute daily visibility checks of other species every 30 minutes (between 10 AM – 3 PM) to track habitat usage and guest-animal interactions. • Software Integration: Work with AC Administration to build and manage a formal study within the ZooMonitor platform. Phase 3: Synthesis & Reporting (Approx. 30 Hours) • Data Summarization: Analyze 30+ hours of collected data to identify behavioral trends. • Professional Presentation: Report findings on visibility, frequent locations, and behavioral budgets to the Animal Care Team.
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