--- title: Behind the scenes: a day with the keepers — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Behind the scenes: a day with the keepers», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Long before the gates open, at about 7 in the morning, the keepers walk round the zoo and the first job is simple: look at every --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Behind the scenes: a day with the keep… # Behind the scenes: a day with the keepers Lesson 109 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/0/) — Long before the gates open, at about 7 in the morning, the keepers walk round the zoo and the first job is simple: look at every animal and count them, to be sure all are there and all are well. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/1/) — Then comes the real work: shovelling dung, scrubbing pools, cutting food, writing notes, and every day of the year, Christmas included, because animals need care whatever the date. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/3/) — In Madagascar the zoo animals slip out at night and ride the subway to the city; real escapes are rare, and zoos practise for them like a school fire drill, with teams, radios and nets. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/4/) — A keeper's day starts before the zoo opens with checking and counting every animal, then cleaning, feeding and writing notes, and keepers work in shifts because animals need care every day, weekends and Christmas too. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/5/) — Keepers write down what each animal ate, how it acted and anything unusual, because small changes over days show illness early, and many zoos share records on a system called ZIMS. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/6/) — Cleaning is a big part of the job, and dung is checked, because its look and amount tell keepers about an animal's digestion and health; some zoos sell «zoo poo» compost from plant-eaters to gardeners. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/7/) — A keeper never goes into the den of a dangerous animal like a tiger while it is there; the animal is first moved through slide doors, with two-step locks, checks, radios and keepers often working in pairs. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/8/) — Keepers have «hands-off» rules for dangerous animals and «hands-on» care for gentle ones. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/9/) — Keepers usually study animal care or biology and start as volunteers or trainees, and many specialise in birds, reptiles or big mammals; the job needs knowledge, safety and lots of patience. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/10/) — Keepers tell animals apart by marks, scars, shape and behaviour, which helps them see who is ill, who is boss and who needs extra care, and some animals also have tiny microchips under the skin, like pet dogs. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/11/) — Many animals have quiet off-show areas where they can rest and hide; good zoos let animals choose whether to be seen, which is why you sometimes see an empty enclosure. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/12/) — Reptile and amphibian rooms have heaters, lights and mist machines controlled by computers to copy each animal's home, and reptiles need special UV lamps to make vitamin D for strong bones. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/13/) — Zoos practise escape drills with teams, radios and nets, a bit like fire drills at school; real escapes are rare, and a famous escaper was Ken Allen, an orangutan at San Diego Zoo in the 1980s. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/14/) — Keepers build trust with animals over months and years through calm, regular routines, which makes health checks easier, and many keepers find it hard to say goodbye when an animal moves to another zoo. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/109-behind-the-scenes-a-day-with-the-keepers/15/) — Some zoos have night staff to check animals that are ill or about to give birth, because births often happen at night, and cameras let keepers watch without disturbing the animals. - ← previous: [The South American area: sloths, anteaters, piranhas and giant otters](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/108-the-south-american-area-sloths-anteaters-piranhas-giant-otters/) - next →: [Behind the scenes: the zoo vet and the animal hospital](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/110-behind-the-scenes-the-zoo-vet-and-the-animal-hospital/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)