Over four decades poured into nutrition, growth at Henry Doorly Zoo
Linda Pettit has spent 43 years leading a crucial piece of Henry Doorly Zoo.
Linda Pettit has spent 43 years leading a crucial piece of Henry Doorly Zoo.
Linda Pettit has spent 43 years leading a crucial piece of Henry Doorly Zoo.
For Linda Pettit, it's business as usual with an early wake-up call.
"We are making a daily diet for the Agouti in the dome," she said.
She hums as she chops the leafy greens, places them out on the scale and packs them away for animals at the Zoo.
"Everyone has their own recipe. All of the diets are formulated by the nutritionists," Pettit said.
A different landscape than when Linda first got her start in the diet kitchen four decades ago.
"At the time, I was a graduate at University of Nebraska, Omaha, in the biology field. Back then, biology was about as scientific as you got," she said.
As Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo has evolved and grown, Linda said, "Once a week, I used to get maybe seven to eight cases of bananas every week. And now we're up to almost 50 cases every week."
So has the nutrition and dietary needs of every species.
"This is what we worked on. This is what I worked out of 43 years ago," she Pettit said.
From a handmade book.
"It was very, very simple, very basic. We just scribbled or we used whiteout," she said.
To a digital database housing each recipe based on the research of food habitats in the wild, the physical aspects of each animal and science.
"Where it'll bring up the diet we'll be working on next," Pettit said as she prepared meals for the day.
The powerhouse of the Zoo had both a different look and location. Once standing and operating at the very place of the desert dome.
"Forty-three years ago, it was the diet kitchen right across from the nursery and hospital building," she said.
But through the years, one thing has remained untouched.
"Listening to all the kids and the excitement, and how excited everyone gets to be," Pettit said as she walked through the Zoo.