Working Among the Wild Things

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Posted on October 23, 2017

Marketing and Communications

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Six years ago, while studying at the University of South Alabama, Austin Everett found his dream job. When he shows up each morning, he is greeted with unbridled enthusiasm. 鈥淓very day I wake up and I鈥檓 excited to go to work,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 awesome.鈥�

Two of his colleagues, he confesses, have 鈥渟tolen my heart鈥� 鈥� Salt, a Siberian tiger, and Cindybara, a capybara. They reside at the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, in Gulf Shores, where Everett is a zookeeper.

Capybaras, the world鈥檚 largest rodents, come from South America. Sometimes called giant hamsters, they鈥檙e the size of a medium dog (but stockier) and love to swim. Cindybara weighs 120 pounds. 鈥淪he鈥檚 got a wonderful personality,鈥� Everett said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 always happy.鈥�

As for Salt, 鈥淪he just gets excited to see me every day. We have a really good relationship. She鈥檚 16 years old, so she鈥檚 an old girl, but she doesn鈥檛 act like it. She鈥檚 still young at heart.

Everett, 26 years old, is head keeper for hoof stock (hoofed animals). He鈥檚 also a carnivore keeper. He has loved animals as far back as he can remember. Growing up in Grove Hill, Ala., 75 miles north of Mobile, he had dogs, cats and horses. 鈥淢y dad is in the forestry business,鈥� he said, 鈥渟o he always would find a turtle or a snake or something, and he鈥檇 show them to me.鈥�

As a child, Everett told everybody he wanted to be a zookeeper. Adults told him he should instead be a veterinarian, to make more money.

鈥淪o I was intending on being a vet,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was going to go to South and get my biology degree because it鈥檚 nice and close to home and to the beach.鈥� Then, on a cruise to Mexico, he saw an episode of 鈥淭he Little Zoo That Could,鈥� an Animal Planet TV series. It documented the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo鈥檚 evacuation of its animals during several hurricanes. He applied for a job. He started at the zoo in 2012, working summers until he graduated in 2014, then full time.

Everett uses what he learned at South every day. 鈥淲ith the deeper parts of the job, like knowing your animal鈥檚 background and physiology, it helps out a huge amount, especially in talking to guests,鈥� he said.

He remembers biology Professor John McCreadie with particular fondness. 鈥淗e was a great guy,鈥� Everett said. 鈥淗e was good to talk to, and he really cared. I really learned a lot.鈥�

The Gulf Coast Zoo is a small, intimate facility that emphasizes personal contact with animals. For an extra $5 to $10, visitors can have 鈥淓ncounters鈥� with lemurs, kangaroos, sloths, anteaters and various reptiles, including turtles, lizards and alligators. Everett said it鈥檚 a treat for the animals as well as the humans. 鈥淭hey love the interaction,鈥� he said, 鈥渆specially the lemurs.鈥�

The Encounters have a deeper purpose: inspiring wildlife conservation. When children (or adults) feel the muscles rippling beneath a snake鈥檚 smooth skin or giggle as inquisitive lemurs climb up to perch on their heads, 鈥渢hat is something they鈥檒l live with forever,鈥� Everett said. 鈥淎nd then they can pass down their love for animals and their love for conserving these animals to others. Instead of just seeing one at a distance and not really caring about it, you touch one. You feel it. You have a connection with it.鈥�

Everett spends a lot of time with visitors. 鈥淢ost zookeepers would say they鈥檙e animal people, not people people,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I really enjoy talking to people. I love educating people about what we do. I love talking to them about animals, especially my animals 鈥� the ones I take care of that I know personally.鈥�

He speaks passionately about the role of zoos in saving species from extinction and building support for habitat preservation and anti-poaching measures. Only 3,000 to 4,500 tigers still exist in the wild. Poachers kill 100 elephants a day for their tusks. On the other hand, zoos have played a major part in breeding and reintroducing to the wild such animals as the black-footed ferret, once thought to be extinct. The Gulf Coast Zoo itself has hatched and released into the wild several gopher tortoises, which have decreased sharply in numbers because of habitat loss.

Some losses are more personal. Everett said tigers typically live 10 years in the wild, 20 years in captivity. Salt is 16. Cindybara is 12, and the average lifespan of a capybara is seven to 10 years. When a beloved animal dies, 鈥渋t鈥檚 gut-wrenching,鈥� Everett said. 鈥淎lso, though, it鈥檚 part of the job. You can鈥檛 let that affect your care for the other animals.鈥�

Even after their passing, Salt and Cindybara will always remain in his heart. And he can comfort himself with the knowledge that they played a part in the worldwide effort of zoos to educate and preserve habitat for wild animals, help them thrive in their natural environments and even bring them back from the brink of oblivion.

鈥淲e devote our whole lives to these animals,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verything we do is in regard to our job.鈥� He wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way.

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