Animal Instinct

Sandra Elliott ’81 intended to use her animal science degree from UMass Amherst to become a farmer, but an unexpected opportunity presented itself: an opening at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA. Elliott was recently profiled by The Boston Globe about her job caring for the zoo’s animals over the past four decades. “The thing that’s kept me here for all this time is we know we’re going to make the right choice by the animals,” she told the Globe. She also shared some of her favorite stories, excerpted here. 

Elliott was struggling to control [the not-very-nice, 6-foot, 300-pound llama] Nisha when she saw a couple approaching with a non-verbal child. The parents, meanwhile, were struggling with the agitated young boy. Elliott, already nervous about Nisha, thought it was too late to take the llama away without appearing rude. […] 

It was “one of the most amazing things I have witnessed in my career: The child stopped fighting and walked calmly up to us. Nisha relaxed and lowered her head down to the child and let him touch her cheek, something she had never done before and never did after.” 

…

The benches in [Betty the very smart orangutan’s] outdoor exhibit needed repair. Through the bars of her indoor enclosure, Betty watched the keepers work on them all day. They accidently left one of their wrenches behind and when Betty was returned to her exhibit, she knew just what to do. 

“She spent the next two hours using the wrench to take all the benches down,” says Elliott. 

…

Always enterprising, Major [the polar bear] expanded his pool with the help of some unruly visitors who would occasionally throw cans into his exhibit. Major used these to plug the pool’s drainage holes, flooding it and making it bigger. 

As for his den, Major found ways to avoid going in. When keepers needed to clean his exhibit, they would try to lure him into the den with food and close the door behind him. But Major caught on. He shoved his back foot in the path of the door while eating, forcing the keepers to climb an outside wall and use a fire hose to clean. 

Read the full profile in The Boston Globe for the complete stories and others.