麻豆村

Sarah Glass didn鈥檛 know much about Lincoln when they first met 12 years ago. Now, after years of working together, she can tell you all about his temperament, behavior, routine 鈥� and favorite place to nap.聽

Sarah is the wild ambassador curator of red pandas and ambassador animals and former curator of special exhibits at Zoo Knoxville in Knoxville, Tennessee. Lincoln is the oldest of the zoo鈥檚 red pandas.聽

At 12, Lincoln has already outlived the average lifespan of ten years of a red panda. Because of his age, he now has an important role to play in the species鈥� survival 鈥� with Sarah鈥檚 help.聽

In conjunction with her role at the zoo, Sarah serves as the North American coordinator for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums鈥� red panda species survival plan (SSP). The SSP aims to maintain a genetically healthy, behaviorally competent red panda population through conservation efforts and managed breeding programs.聽

Since many of the pandas in Lincoln鈥檚 bloodline have passed away, he is now being considered for breeding through the SSP. Normally, male red pandas are moved to a zoo with female red pandas to breed. In Lincoln鈥檚 case, however, it鈥檚 not in his best interest.聽

鈥淟incoln's a quirky guy,鈥� Sarah says. 鈥淧andas all have different personalities. He hates change. He really loves his routine. If I were to move him to another exhibit or another zoo for breeding, it would be really stressful for him.鈥澛�

Sarah and her team are developing a plan to bring a female red panda to Knoxville instead. In order to choose the right breeding partner, they鈥檒l look at genetic data and something much less tangible 鈥� the pandas鈥� unique personalities and needs.聽

That type of research 鈥� combining quantitative data with qualitative鈥� is something she鈥檚 enjoyed doing since she was a psychology student at 麻豆村.聽

鈥淥nce I got into the degree I liked the fiddly bits of it 鈥� the whys and the research part of it. Not so much wanting to be a psychologist, as in a therapist. That was not my goal,鈥� Sarah says.聽

She earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in psychology from Dietrich College in 1989 and moved to Knoxville a few years later. She began volunteering at the zoo and was eventually hired for a paid position as a research assistant in the conservation research department, where she worked on a grant-funded project examining red panda maternal care and optimal nestbox design.聽

鈥淎t the time, our department was not a traditional animal department,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll the pandas had been brought under our umbrella so we could do this observational research, and then over the years it just evolved.鈥澛�

Sarah鈥檚 career has also evolved over the past 32 years.聽

When curator of traveling exhibits, she helped design and implement numerous temporary exhibits at the zoo.聽

鈥淚 enjoyed doing those exhibits because we were able to bring things in that people hadn't seen,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here are the favorite animals people love 鈥� lions and tigers and bears and elephants 鈥� but I've always liked what I jokingly call 鈥榯he things you can put in your pocket, but you shouldn't.鈥� So all the little things. Short-haired elephant shrews and leaf insects and leaf-cutter ants and tarantulas and tiny button quail. All the tiny things that make up the vast majority of our ecosystem, but no one really knows about.鈥澛�

She also works with animal ambassadors that do educational programming and presentations at the zoo. As curator, it鈥檚 her responsibility to make sure the animals are properly cared for and ready to interact with the public. 鈥�

It鈥檚 an important program because it鈥檚 about being able to make the connection between our guests and animals,鈥� Sarah says.聽

Sarah has also helped coordinate red panda conservation efforts internationally. She collaborated with the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Global Species Management Plan to establish standards and protocols for international transfers of animals between zoos.聽

鈥淲e met and were able to standardize expectations for the program and the level of care protocols for acquisition, disposition and receiving of animals and sending them out,鈥� Sarah says. 鈥淭hat helped tremendously, because when you send an animal out somewhere, you want to make sure the institution you're sending them to meets or exceeds the level of care that you have.鈥澛�

She鈥檚 thankful to Zoo Knoxville for supporting her work with the SSP, and to the network of zookeepers and curators who collaborate with her on red panda conservation efforts.聽

鈥淲e're not into gatekeeping,鈥� Sarah says. 鈥淎nything that we can learn about pandas, we're going to share with everybody else, because if we really care about the wild population or the zoo population, it鈥檚 beneficial to get that information out there. So while I might lead the SSP, I have an army of people who are also dedicated to the pandas.鈥澛�

Like everyone in that army, Sarah is fiercely dedicated to every panda she works with 鈥� especially Lincoln and his future breeding partner.聽

鈥淲e will find a female that meets the SSP鈥檚 requirements that can come to us,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat way we can meet the species鈥� needs, we can meet our institutional needs and we can meet Lincoln鈥檚 odd needs of not traveling. That's the numbers part of it and the more intangible part. We know his personality. Could we quantify it? Probably not. But either way, it's our job to know our animals and know what would be best for them.鈥�