mane as she opens the front door. Figuring out how to create an ideal lion habitat while somehow maintaining the building’s architectural and historic integrity was “a huge, daunting task.” Inside, a dozen red-cheeked visitors mill about a massive hall with vaulted Guastavino-tile ceilings. A sleek glass wall runs the length of the building, behind which spreads a rugged landscape of naked tree branches and boulders (some of them heated) and grass. Though it’s not all visible to the visitors, the state-of-the-art exhibit
SANTA BARBARA ZOO
offers the pride a variety of climates and microclimates, sunshine and shade, pockets of privacy, and elevated ledges from which to peer down on the unsuspecting tourist, engaging their predator instincts. Here, Ross highlights the latest real-world results of ZooMonitor. Data collected from the app before the redesign revealed that the lions spent half their time in the shaded areas of their exhibit, and half the time in the sun. When the zoo finally approached architects for the job, they mandated an exhibit with at least 50% shade. “We’re providing them
what we think they would choose if they were given that choice,” Ross says. Behind the glass, the pride lazes about the rocks: one busily grooming its tail, the rest contentedly observing the human passersby. Heads pressed to the glass, a small group of older women, regular volunteers, approach Ross. “Oh, wonderful! Wonderful,” one of them says. “Look at that,” says another. “This habitat is fantastic.” “I’m so glad you’re enjoying it,” Ross says. “And the cats like it, too.”
DR. ESTELLE SANDHAUS Estelle Sandhaus, MS Psy 04, PhD Psy 13, began her career with the Santa Barbara Zoo as a conservation and research coordinator in 2006. She had always wanted to work with animals, but as a kid, she says, “I think the only animal-related career that I was really aware of was veterinarian.” It wasn’t until later that she began to understand the “wider range of possibilities.” After completing her doctorate at Tech, she was promoted to director of conservation and research, and in 2018, to director of conservation and science. “When I think about how nature inspires me, what first comes to mind is some of my favorite wild places—the rugged mountains in the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in Southern California, the curious silhouettes of saguaro cactus in the Arizona-Sonora Desert, the spectacular, colored lakes of Jiuzhaigou in China’s Sichuan province,” she says. “Each of these places is unique in some way and inspires a sense of awe with its sweeping landscapes and unique plant and animal residents.”
56 SPRING 2022 | GTALUMNI.ORG/MAGAZINE