COURT HOUSE — The Cape May County Zoo, when it opened in 1978, was a shadow of what it would become; before there were mighty lions, zippy zebras and lanky lemurs, there were Sicilian donkeys, sheep and, of course, the Holstein cow.
These animals helped launch the zoo into the major attraction it is today, but quickly faded as bigger-ticket animals called the zoo home.
This “barnyard” section of the zoo was phased out by 1980, but pent-up nostalgia and a push from the zoo’s head veterinarian, Dr. Alex Ernst, helped it reemerge in the late 2000s.
The zoo’s first cow was often walked around the zoo with a harness under the direction of an animal keeper. Today, the entrance to the zoo is a familiar American scene: a bright, bright red barn is flanked by Jilly the Holstein cow, a barn full of goats fiending for scratches, and three pigs lounging in a mud bath.
Bryan Sincavage, senior animal keeper, helps run the show here. He is from Blackwood and wanted to work in a zoo since he first visited the Philly zoo in elementary school. His mornings start with a walk around the barnyard section to make sure the animals have not sustained any overnight injuries.
An app on his phone, “ZIMS,” keeps him updated on which animals need medication, supplements or shots. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, for example, the goats are given ammonium chloride, necessary because goats require a high sodium intake.
The zoo is home to eight goat breeds: Alpine, LaMancha, Nigerian Dwarf, Nubian, Oberhasli, Saanen, Sable and Toggenburg. It’s tough to keep them all straight, but all of the breeds co-exist in relative peace. The males are de-horned and neutered early in life to snuff out aggression.
All of the goats need frequent hoof-trimming because they can easily develop laminitis, an inflammation of the soft tissue that houses their foot bone and separates it from the inner wall of their hoof. It’s a lot to keep track of, but systems like ZIMS make management simple.
After Sincavage and his team check for health concerns, it’s onto the dirty stuff. Most of the care required in the barnyard is poop duty. Jilly the cow lays large “pies” for the team to clean up with a huge shovel. Most of the mess is easy to take care of, it’s just time-consuming. Goats, given their hay-forward diet, have solid refuse that is easily raked up.
Jilly just celebrated a decade of life; a bright banner that hung above her enclosure for most of 2023 wished her a happy birthday. Jilly lives directly across from the zoo’s main entrance; her friendly demeanor and excitement for treats make her a welcoming presence.
Sincavage has a rapport with the animals in his care. He and others trained to work in the barnyard section bring the animals through daily enrichment exercises. Jilly, for example, is taught to make snout contact with a rubber-tipped stick. Her reward is a treat, most of the time a handful of compact hay pellets.
Jilly is also trained in “planking,” where she stands parallel to the fence so the zookeepers can thoroughly examine her. This position makes it easy to spot injuries.
Enrichment for the goats is relatively simple: They play with toys that put them through motions similar to their behaviors in the wild. They love to bunt around a hardy ball. They also love attention: they love to be petted while their hair, and beards, get groomed.
The zoo’s three pigs are among the most intelligent animals on the property. “We’ve really trained these pigs to do a lot,” Sincavage said. They have been at the zoo since he joined the team in 2009. The three potbelly pigs here – Petunia, Wilbur and Scarlett — were born in 2008 and are well into the latter half of their lives, typically 20 years long.
Hot summer days mean sunscreen for the pigs, typically on their ears, which are less covered by hair than the rest of their bodies. A mud-lounging spot in their habitat keeps them cool, but the mud serves a second purpose, as a natural sunblock.
Scarlett is the leader of the bunch here. She can exhibit food aggression around the other pigs, but usually it’s nothing serious. The pigs are fed at a distance from one another to reduce the chances of tiffs.
The barnyard animals live in domestic contexts across America, which makes their care routine simple when compared to the exotic animals that call the rest of the property home. But still, Sincavage says, there is a deep joy that comes with caring for the cows, pigs and goats.
“I get a lot of questions like, is it repetitive every day?” he said. “No, it isn’t — anything can happen at any time, and you always have to have your guard up. I don’t get bored working here. I love building relationships with these animals. I’m more here for the animals than I am for myself. I’d do anything for them.”
Visit the Cape May County Zoo every day of the year except Christmas.
