Jon Wassner

          When I was three years old, I visited the Indianapolis Zoo with my mom and brother.  At the giraffe pen, a giraffe leaned over the fence and licked me on the side of the face.  Right then I knew my life’s path would lead me back to a zoo.

          As I grew older, my interest in zoos and animals grew with me.  Family vacations included at least one, and usually multiple, zoo visits.  In 1995, a family friend gave me a perfect compliment to all of these trips – The Zoo Book: A Guide to America’s Best, written by Allen Nyhuis.  With it, I was so much more informed for each of my zoo stops and soon it never left my side.  Since then, I made it a life goal to write an updated version for the next generation of families to enjoy.  It is my hope that each person who reads our book will get the same pure joy I received every time I opened The Zoo Book.

Eventually I got to college and used my first two summers to gain experience within the zoo field.  Initially, I worked as an Intern Zookeeper at the Potawatomi Zoo in South Bend, Indiana.  Being a small zoo, I was lucky enough to work with every part of its animal collection, from chimpanzees and tigers, to cranes and snakes.  Most of my time was devoted to the hoofed animals, including warthogs and Bactrian camels, as well as eland and addax antelope.  My biggest contribution was designing and renovating an empty yard to adequately hold Sichuan takins (a rare Chinese goat) and a new species at the zoo.

The following summer I spent as an Intern at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, which has one of the longest running and largest zookeeper intern programs in the nation.  My assignment there was in The Swamp, an indoor replication of two North American swamps.  Inside, under cypress moss, were wetland birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and invertebrates.  I narrated a weekly chat about American alligators and did impromptu presentations on other bog animals.  Additionally, I conducted two research studies on the exhibit’s pair of river otters, examining their activity and grooming patterns.

Following my graduation from Ball State University, I became a full-time seasonal keeper at the Indianapolis Zoo in the Australian section of the Plains Biome.  Here, I cared for and organized public feeding sessions with a flock of over 30 lorikeet parrots and watched over a mob of a dozen kangaroos.  I was fortunate to also help maintain a herd of African elephants, including two calves.

My other big interest in relation to zoos is wildlife photography.  I took over 6,000 pictures for America’s Best Zoos, and continue to take hundreds of pictures on each of my zoo trips.  I have, currently, visited over 70 zoos and aquariums in North America, and hope to see more and more every year.  I am currently pursuing several career paths within zoos, including research projects and exhibit design. 

Outside of zoos, my favorite hobbies are playing soccer, golf, and volleyball.  I live in Indianapolis with my wife and travel partner Kelly (a first grade teacher) and our cat Maddie.

Check out Jon's Zoo Blogsite at:  America's Zoo Scoop