Away from the front gates, the San Antonio Zoo keeps several endangered species and vulnerable creatures in multicolored shipping crates that have been repurposed to hold tanks and filtration systems. Although the zoo is currently pursuing public-facing projects like Congo Falls, an entire conservation department works behind the scenes to ensure the safety of species from all over the world.

In charge of maintaining this care system is Kamryn Richard, senior conservation technician, class of ‘16. According to her, an adviser at Trinity encouraged her to pursue work at the zoo after she received her degree in studio art and environmental studies, and she has worked at the zoo for over seven years. After bouncing around different departments at the zoo, Richard said she landed in a position that involves mostly caring for the animals.

“I was a little unsure at first, but yeah, after graduating, I got an internship,” Richard said. “I jumped around different departments and stuff, and especially once I found out about this department, I was like, ‘Whoa, I had no idea zoos were so involved with boots-on-the-ground conservation.’”

Richard also helps run Project Selva, a program that pays Indigenous Peruvians to sell handmade arts and crafts. Along with this,  she currently cares for endangered species at the zoo, such as Texas blind salamanders, blind Oklahoma cave crayfish, Texas horned lizards and Mexican blindcats. She often stays at the zoo to provide daily care for the species there. She also takes trips to the Ozarks in order to to survey at-risk species near the Arkansas border. 

“I remember when I learned about that, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s actually jobs out there that combine art and animals.’ I thought that was the coolest thing ever,” Richard said. 

Richard’s work in her most recent project involves the rearing and release of Texas horned lizards. The San Antonio Zoo cares for both juvenile and adult lizards, and the first release of the year happened Oct. 15. The lizards now live on a sector of private land in Blanco, Texas. Richard said in an email that each lizard represents years of science, care and dedication, and that the release was an overall success.

However, not all of the zoo’s information is hidden behind a veil. Jacob Downing, the zoo’s social media manager, has worked there nearly seven years, filming and uploading videos to Instagram. Because of Downing’s work, the zoo’s Instagram account has gained over five million followers in the last five years.

“My big passion, though, is just telling the story of the animals in the zoo, because they all have unique stories and things about them that I love to show off,” Downing said.

Downing and Richard both said they work to increase awareness around the zoo’s conservation department and their research. According to Richard, the San Antonio Zoo stands out because of the focus on discovery as opposed to exclusively education and public outreach.

“Of course, the overall mission of all good accredited zoos is to encourage the public to better appreciate animals to support conservation,” Richard said. “But it is pretty unique to have an entire department that is getting to focus on research and field work and native species.” 

Downing said that the biggest projects involve intense field work and doing things for the very first time. Both Downing and Richard said that they work on several projects at once, and these projects are often focused on groundbreaking research.

“We’re having legitimate, actual scientific breakthroughs happen yearly,” Downing said.

The zoo is right down the road from Trinity, located at the end of St. Mary’s Street. Jennifer Mathews, professor of sociology and anthropology, teaches classes on human evolution and primate behavior and ecology, both of which rely on the zoo for items on their syllabi. Students attend private tours at the zoo and participate in varying levels of field work. They work to develop tools such as ethograms, a tracking device that students use to measure different behaviors in primates. According to Mathews, the zoo is a crucial part of her students’ educational experience.

“I’m drawing students from all over because [it] counts as a behavioral science class, and a lot of students have said to me that the zoo project was one of the most memorable things that they did at Trinity, because it’s very different than a lot of classes,” Mathews said. “And you know, I’ve had students that come back for alumni weekend, and one of their goals is to go to the zoo to go visit their primates.”

On Oct. 14, the aquarium team at the San Antonio Zoo has received an award from the Zoological Association of America for their groundbreaking work on the Conchos Pupfish Recovery Project. According to Richard, visiting the zoo supports all of their conservation efforts, and it allows them to do so much more than simply support their animals: They’re learning more about them every day.