Zookeeper’s Trip Abroad | Video

Amy Fox | 9/11/2012

For a zookeeper, a trip to South Africa is a dream come true.

"I love working with animals,” said Roosevelt Park Zoo employee Chelsea Lee. “It`s always been something that`s been a passion of mine. So, getting the experience to work with any animals is something."

"It`s a dream to go to Africa and actually see the animals we care for in the wild. And, for her, the ambition and the want to do that and to actually fulfill that, that`s amazing," said co-worker Lynsi Schneider.

For three weeks, Roosevelt Park Zoo employee Chelsea Lee had the opportunity to track, feed and work with cheetahs out in the wild.

“Being able to get the opportunity to work with is cheetahs, it`s amazing, so I had to do it," she said.

As Lee explains, the experience helped her see beyond the zoo in Minot, giving her a different perspective of the world.

"Here you get the zoo and there are enclosures and anything, but right next door, there are houses. There it`s all open, it`s the wild, you`re with wild animals all the time."

While Roosevelt Park Zoo hasn`t fully recovered from last year`s flood, Lee hopes to share her experience with visitors next year.

"What they did down there is they got the community and even the schools more involved with the animals, helping them learn and teaching them more about them and about conservation, which I really hope we can do here.”

Once Roosevelt Park Zoo opens up next spring, they hope to expand their education and outreach programs to not only benefit the visitors, but the animals as well.

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