Generation ROC: Pittsford scout’s project supports healthy giraffes
ROCHESTER, N.Y. ( WROC ) — Crane your necks way, way up to the tip top of a Masai giraffe's ossicones, and you'll see dangling above some new enrichment feeders at Seneca Park Zoo, courtesy of local scout Cameron Halpin.
When it was time to pick his Eagle Scout project, Cameron says he wanted to help wildlife and particularly the giraffes stay happy and healthy.
"I grew up around here in the Rochester area, and I've always ended up coming to the zoo with my family and it was always such a fun experience," he explains.
"We give enrichment to a lot of the animals here at the zoo. We give them items they play with, puzzles, feeders that they have to figure out how to get their food out of instead of just laying it right in front of them," says General Curator David Hamilton.
Cameron contacted Hamilton, who works with any scout looking to help the zoo and he shared what the animals needed. Though the inspiration came from him, he says the execution was entirely Cameron's.
The nine month project began with asking the Pittsford Fire Department to donate their retired hoses. Cameron then wove them together into durable feeders with plenty of crevices to secure food and hide treats.
Cameron says it was fun watching the giraffes gallop right up.
"When I came in and installed the feeders, they came up and instantly we put food in the feeders, and they instantly loved it," he says.
"They need to use their tongues a lot. That helps them salivate so they can digest their food better," Hamilton explains. "In the wild, they'd be eating leaves off of trees. Since we don't have that in their habitats here at the zoo, giving them devices like these and a different way of getting their food simulates natural behaviors."
On top of making the habitat feel more like home, the feeders can also help prevent a disease that spreads when giraffes don't use their tongues enough. Cameron says if the giraffes are happy, then he's happy.
"It's really a cool feeling to be able to, like, go to the zoo and, like, see something that I did, because I just know that, like, I've impacted this place that had such, like, a huge effect on my upbringing," he concludes.
