LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If you spend a day with Louisville Zoo Keeper Alexis Williamson, it doesn’t seem like she’s done this for 15 years. Not because she lacks skill, but because she enjoys it so much.

“From picking up poop off the floor to feeding and training gorillas, it’s all fun, and it’s an amazing experience and just being able to be around these guys, it’s amazing,” Williamson said.

She’s one of five zoo keepers at Gorilla Forest that takes care of ten gorillas and a 24-year-old pygmy hippo named Hope. The team cares for some monkeys nearby Gorilla Forest, as well.

In addition to her work at the zoo, Williamson has been very active and involved with the local chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK). She recently passed the torch after serving 14 years as president. In addition, she’s made contributions to conservation, from fundraising with AAZK to educating zoo goers about the importance of cell phone recycling to help save gorilla natural habitats.  

“And what that does is they can go in and take out the minerals from inside of the cell phone,” Williamson explained. “If they recycle those minerals from those cell phones they don’t have to go out into the gorillas habitats and mine for those materials there,” she added.

Williamson’s favorite aspect of her job is animal enrichment.

“It’s just like if you’re at home and sitting around, and you get bored very easily,” Williamson said. “So we try to make sure that doesn’t happen for our animals, and that’s what enrichment is. It’s a way to keep them occupied.”

For example, Williamson explained that enrichment can be physical, with items for the gorillas to climb on. There is also scent enrichment, where perfumes or essential oils are used to provide a different smelling atmosphere.

“We don’t use the same enrichment every day because if you see it every day, or smell it every day, or you touch it every day, it’s not enrichment anymore. It just becomes boring so we rotate every day with what we do for enrichment,” Williamson told Spectrum News 1.

She enjoys the creativity that comes with thinking of different ways to enrich the animals’ lives. For example, she was vital to the zoo’s Animal Enrichment Tree Program while serving on the enrichment committee. The program offers an opportunity for anyone to donate or purchase items to help with animal enrichment.

Williamson’s professionalism was noticed by AAZK, and she received the Lutz Ruhe Professional of the Year Award at the association’s 2019 national conference.

“It’s very nice to be honored by your peers for doing what you’re passionate about doing, and I try and step up and go above and beyond and do the best that I can for these guys and their wild counterparts, or at least what’s left of them, unfortunately,” Williamson said. “So everything I do is to help them out.”