Job at zoo is a fantasy come true

Molly Shore

GRIFFITH PARK -- Not many adults live out their childhood fantasies,

but Burbank resident Scott Haist is.

Haist, 38, said when he was a youngster his idea of a dream job was to

work in a zoo. “It was something I always wanted to do,” he confessed.

You could call him a modern-day Dr. Doolittle. He gets to talk to the

animals, especially Billy, Tara, Ruby and Gita, the four resident

elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo. Haist works at the zoo full time as one

of the animal handlers.

“Every day when I show up, it’s like I’m a little kid,” he said.

Haist volunteered at the zoo for three years, and was hired as a

part-time animal keeper in 1994. Two years later, Haist was promoted to

full-time animal handler.

On a typical day in the elephant compound, Haist feeds the giant

beasts, cleans their living quarters, yards and pools, exercises them and

bathes them.

“Probably the hardest thing we do is foot work,” Haist said, referring

to the pedicures he gives the elephants every two to three weeks. “You

start sweating a lot when you’re filing an elephant’s toenails.”

There’s a lot of work that goes into those pachyderm pedicures,

including nail buffing and cuticle trimming. “There’s a fine art to

this,” he said.

Haist also provides the elephants with what he terms “behavioral

enrichment.” This can take the form of “painting pictures” with brushes

in their trunks, or playing musical instruments.

The elephants might not be Picassos, but Haist said a painting Gita

whipped up fetched $4,000 at a zoo fund-raiser. Gita, a 43-year-old

female Asian elephant, is multitalented; she also plays harmonica,

blowing all the notes at the same time.

Haist said she also tried to play the drums, but in her zeal to learn

the instrument, she broke it.

Ruby, a 40-year-old African bush elephant, also plays harmonica, “but

one time she tried to eat it,” Haist said.

Eating is something the animals do a lot. Because of their massive

weight, Haist said they’re hungry all the time. A typical meal consists

of a bale of hay with vitamin pellets and 40 pounds of carrots.

When he first began working with the elephants, Haist said he didn’t

dare talk to them; instead, he accompanied two experienced handlers

through the day’s routine so the animals would get used to him. Over a

period of time he started giving commands. “After awhile, it’s like

working with four friends,” he said.

Haist has worked with just about every animal in the zoo, noting that

he has spent a lot of time with the chimpanzees. “Chimps are the most

difficult to work with,” he admits. “They’re intelligent and can

sometimes outsmart me.”