On Tuesday, Cameron Park Zoo Veterinarian James Kusmierczyk told the council the idea for a robot zookeeper came after Director Brendan Wiley watched many of the zoo animals ignore the black vultures for months.
"[He thought] what can our animals get used to and not be bothered by?," Kusmierczyck said.
Then, Wiley approached TSTC, who is partnering to develop the robot zookeepers. The first prototype has been built by students on a much smaller scale, currently named FRANK: fecal remover and nastiness killer.
And although enclosure maintenance is a large part of the human zookeeper’s role, Kuzmierczyk says FRANK will not be replacing them. Instead, he says, zookeepers will have more time for other duties.
"They do a lot of work with the animals, they do training, they do things to enrich their well-being," he said.
Kuzmierczyk says the introduction of robot assistants will also help increase the amount of times animals spend in their exhibit and increase zookeeper safety, since not as many animals will have to be removed from their exhibits for cleaning.
The zoo has committed $45,000 to the project over the next 15 months. The money will come from Zoo budget savings.
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