Catlin Gabel grads improve the lives of Oregon Zoo elephants

Trevor Burtzos, Natalie Farci and Cole Perkinson used their engineering skills to simplify a device designed to help the elephants get more exercise

By Kalie Wooden

The Beaverton Valley Times, Aug 27, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jonathan House / Times Newspapers

Sam, the Oregon Zoo’s most famous youngster, enjoys the zoo’s water feature last Wednesday.

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The Asian elephants at the Oregon Zoo can now experience part of the wild with their new environmental enrichment device created by three recent Catlin Gabel graduates. The three students repaired an out-of-order hay-feeder at the elephant exhibit for their senior project as part of the school’s robotics team.

Trevor Burtzos, Natalie Farci and Cole Perkinson used their engineering skills to simplify a device designed to help the elephants get more exercise. The new-and-improved mechanism consists of two sensors in the elephant yard and an automatic hay dispenser, which releases hay at completely random times for the elephants.

The Catlin Gabel students worked closely with senior elephant keeper, Bob Lee, to create a device that would uniquely benefit the elephants.

“The elephants are encouraged to move around and investigate the sensor just like an animal in the wild doing those behaviors to get food,” Lee explained.

The device also helps the elephants exercise throughout the night when the keepers are not present. It simulates the wild because “it’s an enrichment device that puts out their hay all night, instead of giving them their food at the last check before we all leave,” Lee said.

Perkinson, a 2009 Catlin Gabel graduate who plans to attend Reed College in the fall, provided his opinion on how the device will benefit the elephants.

“Asian elephants are not used to living in confined spaces like the zoo,” Perkinson said. “They require a lot of exercise and can stay awake until as late as 4 a.m. — far after the zookeepers have left.

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