BonnerSprings.com

Waking up to the sight of a giraffe eating from a tree; showering next to a herd of elephants; placing your hand inside a rhinoceros’ mouth.

Though these may be unusual experiences for some, they are true accounts from Bonner Springs High School teacher Cindy Hayes and former Bonner Springs High School teacher Jacci Leib of their trip last month to the Wild Animal Park of the San Diego Zoo.

The two were chosen, as part of the zoo’s Beckman Center for Conservation Research, along with 21 other teachers from across the country for a three-day, all-expenses-paid trip. While in San Diego, they took part in lab experiments, field work and a three-hour long safari, all relating to animal conservation.

“It was amazing,” Hayes said of the trip. “You wake up and walk out of the shower and there was an elephant standing there. We were right up close and personal with all of the big animals.”

The Wild Animal Park, where many of the animals roam freely, offered day-to-day adventures for the teachers. They also spent much of their time indoors conducting numerous lab experiments, many of which were related to the conservation of endangered animals like the California Condor.

Leib said the lab work was her favorite part of the entire trip. She said the two teachers “learned more in three days than we’d ever learned before.” Her admiration for scientists working at the Beckman Center, with whom the teachers worked closely during their trip, was evident.

“It’s a dream job what they’re doing,” she said.

Hayes said she found the scientists’ work equally fascinating and came home with a newfound perspective on the work that goes into animal conservation.

“The one thing I learned about this facility … is that they are actively involved in saving endangered species,” Hayes said. “These are the people that are doing the research and saving species.”

The teachers did a bit of “roughing it” on the trip as well, spending the night in tents with no electricity and having to walk to a separate facility — one near the elephants — for showers. Hayes remembers one night where she was awakened by the sound of a lion roaring.

“There was a lion right down the hill that just roared for 10 minutes,” Hayes remembers. “It just shook (me) … off my (sleeping) pad.”

While Hayes said she expected to use much of the information she learned on the trip in her upcoming classes, she said it inspired her to look to the future as well.

“I’m wanting to become some sort of a zoo affiliate,” Hayes said of her post-teaching plans. “So it really, really sparked my interest … it really kind of pushed me towards my second career working in some way with zoos.”

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