Washington, DC — Dell Guglielmo is not your average cat lady.
Like all pet owners, Guglielmo feeds, entertains and takes care of her cats. But they aren’t normal house cats – they are great cats.
A zookeeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, Guglielmo has turned her love of animals into a lifelong profession caring for the zoo’s tigers.
“Wanting to conserve and save tigers is my life passion. It’s what I do every day,” said Guglielmo.
Growing up, Guglielmo always loved animals. She wanted to fill her home with pets, but her mom wouldn’t let her.
“She once said to me, ‘When you grow up and get your own apartment, you can fill your life with animals and fill your apartment with animals.’”
Now that is exactly what she’s done.
Her job at the National Zoo is to make every day unique for the great cats. She feeds them different food, practices different training exercises, moves them to different exhibits and changes their schedules.
The daily training is an especially important part of Guglielmo’s job. During training, she can monitor the tigers’ behavior and determine if anything is wrong.
All the one-on-one time with the tigers means she has formed a special bond with them.
“To have them just look in your eyes is a pretty powerful feeling,” said Guglielmo.
But zoo keeping is more than just protecting the animals in her care. Guglielmo’s mission is to share her passion for conservation with others.
Tigers are endangered with an estimated population of 3,890 in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Of the nine subspecies of tigers, three have gone extinct in the last 80 years. Two of the subspecies are considered critically endangered, meaning they face an extremely high chance of extinction in the wild, according to Tigers in Crisis.
“It’s very hard for me to think that an animal I work with every day would be extinct in the wild,” said Guglielmo.
There is hope though, Guiglielmo said. She has noticed that kids and young people who visit the zoo have a better understanding of global issues related to animals.
“I have some faith in the next generation that they’re going to grow up and have the same passions about our environment and tigers as I do,” Guiglielmo said.
