Lions' roar, tigers' chuff is music to ears of Memphis Zoo veteran keeper Louie Bell
Photo by Mike Brown, The Commercial Appeal
Louie Bell uses meatballs to get 3-year-old lion Thabo to stand up so he can inspect his paws at Cat Country. Bell landed his permanent job at the zoo in 1971.
from: commercialappeal.com
By John Beifuss
December 24, 2012
Each year beginning on Dec. 1, Louie Bell dons a red fuzzy cap with the words "Merry Christmas" stitched into its white fur trim, and his resemblance to Santa Claus becomes unmistakable.
The hat complements Bell's snowy Kriss Kringle beard and his easy laugh. But the animals Bell works with every day would have Donner and Blitzen for breakfast. And we don't mean as guests.
On Savannah, on Kota, on Kumari and Akeelah. On Thabo, on Rahtu, on Mohan and Orissa.
Savannah is a lioness. Kota is a black panther. Orissa is a white tiger. They are among the 24 lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, pumas, cheetahs, ocelots, servals and caracals — plus red pandas, meerkats and a few other nonfeline species — that Bell feeds and watches over as a senior zookeeper at Cat Country, the 4-acre, open-air exhibit at the Memphis Zoo that will celebrate its 20th anniversary in April.
Photo by Mike Brown, The Commercial Appeal
Louie Bell uses meatballs to get 3-year-old lion Thabo to stand up so he can inspect his paws at Cat Country. Bell landed his permanent job at the zoo in 1971.
from: commercialappeal.com
By John Beifuss
December 24, 2012
Each year beginning on Dec. 1, Louie Bell dons a red fuzzy cap with the words "Merry Christmas" stitched into its white fur trim, and his resemblance to Santa Claus becomes unmistakable.
The hat complements Bell's snowy Kriss Kringle beard and his easy laugh. But the animals Bell works with every day would have Donner and Blitzen for breakfast. And we don't mean as guests.
On Savannah, on Kota, on Kumari and Akeelah. On Thabo, on Rahtu, on Mohan and Orissa.
Savannah is a lioness. Kota is a black panther. Orissa is a white tiger. They are among the 24 lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, pumas, cheetahs, ocelots, servals and caracals — plus red pandas, meerkats and a few other nonfeline species — that Bell feeds and watches over as a senior zookeeper at Cat Country, the 4-acre, open-air exhibit at the Memphis Zoo that will celebrate its 20th anniversary in April.
Photo by Mike Brown, The Commercial Appeal
Louie Bell holds Justin, a young red panda, inside his display area in Cat Country. Bell began at the Zoo in 1971.
Bell, who turns 61 on Thursday, is the zoo's most senior of senior employees. He's been at the zoo 41 years, longer than any other worker — and apparently any creature, except Julie the hippopotamus, a lifelong Memphian born 51 years ago at the zoo.
Bell's date of service — he started on Nov. 6, 1971 — is just one of the statistics he has at his fingertips.
"I have 226 padlocks in Cat Country," he said. "I've worked with five zoo directors. I've worked with eight head veterinarians."
Did we say fingertips? Here's another stat: Bell has just nine of them. He lost the top half of his right pinkie when a chimpanzee slammed it in a metal door.
read more:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/dec/24/lions-roar-tigers-chuff-is-music-to-ears-of-zoo/
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