Training A Rhino, Training For Life
10/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 12, 2006
This past summer Michigan State University field hockey senior Becky Bolen was far from the typical student-athlete. Like the rest of her team, she practiced and fine-tuned her skills, but Bolen did more than just train for the upcoming season--she also trained a rhino.
Bolen, a Zoology major and right back for the Spartans, spent five months working with Ebony, a 12-year-old rhino at the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing. She started at the zoo in March as a volunteer, and the work eventually turned into an independent study that lasted thru August. Bolen worked an hour each day with Ebony during the five-month period, teaching her several important skills.
"I taught Ebony target commands, which allow her to stay in a headchute while she is being examined by the vet. Treating the animal this way allows for less stress because she will not have to be put under sedation.
"Ebony also paints, so I was responsible for giving her the target command to paint on the canvas. Since she is a black rhino, her lip comes to a point and you can put washable paint on her lip," Bolen stated. Even though she mostly worked one-on-one with Ebony, Bolen was also able to work with the zoo's other animals, including another rhino, 13-year-old Spike.
Training the 2,700-pound rhinos was not an easy feat. It took hard work and dedication to teach Ebony, who wasn't always so keen to participate.
"The hardest part was in the beginning, when she didn't always want to cooperate. Sometimes she wouldn't come inside, so I would have to go outside to work with her. If she wouldn't cooperate, I would work with Spike. That made her jealous, so by the end she would come inside and we wouldn't even have to call her."
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Despite juggling the independent study and an on-campus painting job, Bolen did not allow her busy schedule to interfere with her field hockey responsibilities. She continued to train daily, and was even able to take what she learned this summer working at the zoo and apply it to her role on the team.
"The experience I had working with Ebony allowed me to learn patience, because an animal of that size does not always want to cooperate. As a [field hockey] defender you need to stay poised and have patience," she said.
While a hectic schedule and a lack of cooperation from Ebony was sometimes frustrating, for Bolen, the reward was worth the commitment.
"It was such a positive experience, a good learning experience. Working at the zoo made me realize that I want to do more animal behavior work. The best part was the interaction I got to have with the animals," she said.
Bolen was also able to get a greater understanding of all of the factors that go into running a zoo. The keepers at Potter Park gave her hands-on experience, which allowed her to apply things she had learned in her previous zoology classes.
"I think that you realize how many different factors go into the zoo. A lot of people feel that it's horrible and that we're caging the animals. But the reason that we're doing the training is so we can draw blood, check her hormones, and see when optimal breeding time is. The two black rhinos at Potter Park Zoo are in a species survival program because black rhinos are decreasing very quickly. It is interesting to be a part of that," she stated.
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"It gave me the experience that will hopefully help me with my future career. I hope to go abroad after I graduate and work in an animal wildlife setting, or maybe another zoo. I also want to go to a graduate school program for animal behavior," she said.
Bolen hopes that the dedication and patience that was necessary while training Ebony will stay with her during practices and games, and help her to accomplish her goals throughout the field hockey season.
"Our team goals this season are to make it back to the NCAA tournament and to be Big Ten Champs. Personally, I hope to leave everything out there on the field because it's my last year," she stated.
From feeding rhinos to defending goals, it's certainly a year Bolen will not forget.
- By Sports Information Student Assistant Trisha Poling
