Our digital series, Pride In Our People, features the incredible staff at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium through written first-person narratives and/or podcast interviews.

Today, we are featuring Mark, a mammal animal care specialist!
This is his story…

It has always been my dream to work with exotic animals. As a Penn State graduate, I got my first animal experience working as an attendant in Kid’s Kingdom at the Zoo. Afterward, I moved to Florida and worked for several years as an animal care specialist in West Palm Beach. I was thrilled when I finally got the call to return to my hometown Zoo. I got my dream job of working with the big cats!

During my seventeen years here at the Zoo, I have had the privilege to not only work with big cats, but also with rhinos, polar bears, and sea otters. My current area is “The Islands,” which contains siamangs, clouded leopards, and warty pigs.

My favorite part of the job has been creating relationships with my animals. Not only do I enjoy training and enrichment, but I have had the honor to help raise two litters of clouded leopards and two siamang babies. It was a lot of work, and luckily I had a great team of animal care specialists including my wife who is also on the team.

Education is very important to me. I am part of the internship program for future animal care specialists. It has been fun mentoring the interns and helping them achieve their goals. I also enjoy talking to visitors and educating them about our animals.

Thank you for all you do, Mark!