My City September 2021

“I leT pEoPlE ToUcH tHe anIMalS AnD we TElL tHem abOuT EacH One. It’S veRy imMErSivE. PeOpLe lOVe It!”

field to teach,” she reports. She previously worked at Potter Park Zoo in Lansing as an animal caretaker and has past experience in the field at various other locations. Along with community events, N2SA will set up displays at private functions such as birthday parties, showers and more. “It is a teaching experience,”Wagner says. “I let people touch the animals and we tell them about each one. It’s very immersive. People love it!” As an example, Wagner has been invited to bring animals to a private birthday party for the last couple of years. One of the more popular animals is a red-tailed boa constrictor. “Amy grew 1.5 feet in a year!”Wagner exclaims. “It was interesting to everyone to see how big she has gotten.”

Videos of the animals can be viewed on Wagner’s and N2SA facebook pages. Whenever the zoologist gets a new creature, she offers internet viewers an opportunity to name it. “All of our animals have names,” she says, “and the public has chosen them.” As a zoologist, Wagner studies animals in the wild and in captivity and teaches what she has learned. While she loves teaching her students during the day, her passion is the animals. What does she like best about it? “From a conservation standpoint, I like exposing people to animals and educating them. Honestly, I like it when people say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that’ or, ‘I didn’t know the animal would feel like that.’ I truly enjoy the one-on-one conversations.”

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