Adventures in Volunteering by Jana Richards

I recently started volunteering at Assiniboine Park Zoo in my city. I’m what they call a “Zoo Ambassador”,  which means my job is to greet visitors, help them to find their way around and answer any questions they may have, if I’m able. Typical questions are “Where can we get food?” and “Where are the bathrooms?” But the question I get asked most often is “Where are the polar bears?” Everyone wants to see them and for good reason. They are magnificent, beautiful animals. Most of the polar bears at our zoo came from northern Manitoba on the shores of Hudson Bay. They were orphaned and wouldn’t have survived on their own. The goal in conservation is always to have animals remain in the wild, but sometimes that isn’t possible.

Assiniboine Park Zoo currently has seven polar bears living together in the expansive “Journey to Churchill” area (referring to Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay), five males and two females. That number will soon be reduced to five as two of the male bears will be transferred to the Calgary Zoo this fall.

The polar bear enclosure is huge at the zoo and if the bears decide they don’t want to be bothered by people, they have plenty of places to make themselves scarce. Fortunately, one of their favorite places to nap is right in front of the viewing windows. It’s always fun when I can direct visitors to a close-up look at a polar bear. It really makes their visit. A lady asked me the other day if a sleeping bear was all right, perhaps because it hadn’t moved from its spot in hours. I assured her that the bear was fine, and that was how bears spent their afternoons on a hot summer day.

A lot of the animals are less active on a hot summer afternoon. The big cats especially tend to find a secluded, and probably cooler, place to sleep. Tika the mountain lion and Yuri the Amur tiger are a couple of my favorites, but you’ll probably have to visit the zoo in the morning if you want to see them.

It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses. I’d likely have many more pictures on this blog, including some great shots of Yuri the tiger, but my phone was lost/stolen. When I used the washroom, I took my phone out of my back pocket so it wouldn’t fall in the toilet. I set it on the toilet paper dispenser, as I have done many times in the past. Unfortunately, this time I forgot it there. I didn’t realize my mistake until an hour later, and by then, it was gone. I checked with lost and found several times, but it was never turned in. One of my friends figured the thief removed the SIM card and set the phone back to factory settings and then sold it for a few bucks. The phone was over five years old and probably would have had to be replaced soon, but still, it’s infuriating. I had to replace the phone, which cost extra money. I’m currently rebuilding my contact list, which isn’t all that easy. I couldn’t remember my own daughter’s phone number!

I was surprised by how emotional I felt about losing my phone. I never thought of myself as being dependent on my phone, but I guess I’m more connected to the device than I realized.

Grey Wolves

Anyway, aside from that drama, I’m enjoying my time as a zoo ambassador. The shifts aren’t onerous; just one three-hour shift per week, which still leaves plenty of time for writing and other summer activities. They ask that we commit for a year. I’ll reassess next summer and decide if I want to continue, but for now, I enjoy getting to know the animals and helping visitors.

What volunteer activities are you involved with?

P.S. I just created print versions for two of my sweet romances, RESCUE ME and TAKE A CHANCE ON ME. Check them out on Amazon!