You could say that Maggie Raglin is the cat’s meow.
Raglin is an animal caretaker specializing in carnivores at the Little Rock Zoo. She originally went to UCA with the intention of majoring in history and international relations, but after learning more about animals and animal-oriented careers in her science classes, she realized she could care for large, exotic animals instead. She transferred to Oklahoma State University where she got a degree in zoology, and has been at the Little Rock Zoo for 11 years now. Her specialty is large and small cats, and she enjoys educating the public about the different wildlife they encounter during a day at the Zoo.
“It’s really nice to be able to link different communities together. Being able to do research and conservation from my home in Little Rock is super special. It’s a really nice way to have a career, to have a passion and stay in my home city,” Raglin said. “Something most people don’t know about zoos is that most of us aren’t local — I’m one of the few locals. The Little Rock Zoo is my home zoo and I’m pretty connected to it. A lot of my co-workers are from Philadelphia and California, so this is really close to me personally.”
Raglin has had opportunities that she never could have dreamed of because of her work at the Little Rock Zoo.
“In 2018, the Zoo sent me to Namibia in Africa, where I worked on cheetah conservation. Most people don’t realize that the Little Rock Zoo does a lot of funding for cheetah conservation, and part of the entry fee to get into the Zoo goes straight back to that conservation. A lot of people don’t realize that they’re doing something amazing just by joining us that day,” Raglin said.
Raglin offered a glimpse into her day-to-day responsibilities.
“Post-COVID, we’ve realized there’s so much more you can do virtually, so there is a lot more paperwork, video requirements and advertising for us now — we’re helping our PR department out quite a bit,” Raglin said. “I come in in the morning and get food ready and do checkups, cleaning and training with jaguars and tigers for blood drawing. They back their own tails into a port. Most of our animals are trained for that. Then I’ll do paperwork and research, catching up on different committees, logging reports on every single animal, training, food, enrichment, medicine, then meetings on meetings for animals and making sure we’re all on top of animal care.”
But Raglin’s career hasn’t come without challenges.
“One of the biggest challenges is losing some of your charges. You put your life into these animals and they’re ambassadors for their species. When you put so much time and effort in, losing them is one of the hardest challenges,” Raglin said.
Raglin shared some of the successes that she has had throughout her zookeeping career.
“For me personally, in terms of successes, we’ve had two different litters of Malayan tiger cubs. There are about 100 of these tigers left in the wild and there are exactly 50 in accredited zoos. We’ve been able to add to and bolster that number. It’s been huge to be able to help those populations and have mother-raised cubs here. We’ve had great moms and great cubs,” Raglin said. “I’ve also been thankful that every year, I’m learning more about different cat species and their husbandry, and learning more about their environment, particularly how to make it bigger and healthier for them. Offering them more pushes us to be better for them.”
Raglin has also had to the opportunity to work with animals outside of her feline speciality.
“I’ve also done a lot of work with the maned wolf species and their survival plan. I’ve been asked to join the board related to that endeavor — it’s nice to be able to use my expertise to help other zoos improve their relationship with animals, promote conservation, and have a lasting impact,” Raglin said. “When you appreciate exotic wildlife, it helps you appreciate local wildlife too.”
Raglin shared a word of advice for individuals interested in pursuing a career in zookeeping.
“Internships and volunteering are really important. Most zoos have teen volunteer programs that let teens get involved with keepers. We have an internship program here for college students, and we’ve had interns who have realized that this is not for them, or they’d rather do research, they don’t want to do it at all or it’s all that they want to do. Just getting your feet wet is really important,” Raglin said. “A lot of people want to work with animals and there are so many different fields that people can go into that they don’t know about. There’s education, research, medicine, in addition to zookeeping. Experience is anything you can get. I recommend volunteering with our education animals, because it gives you a glimpse and a taste. Trying some things out and experiencing life a little bit is important for knowing where you want to be.”
Lastly, Raglin shared several of the life lessons that she has learned from her career in zookeeping.
“To get to the same goal, we all have to work together,” Raglin said. “Sometimes you’re not always right, and that’s okay. Life is too precious to worry about the small stuff.”
Feature photo by Karen Caster
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