Who's Who at the Zoo: Wildlife Wellness Team

A critically endangered western lowland gorilla considers the Apex training unit.

By Morgan Purvis, Communications and Public Relations Representative

Animal wellness begins with a deep understanding of the preferences and needs of each species at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Optimal wellness is obtained when each animal thrives. The more the animal's behavior resembles free-living wild animals, the more likely that wellness has been achieved.

Our wellness department has one of the most productive programs in the country, with students, staff, and faculty partners working in tandem to not only ensure animal wellness at our Zoo, but also publish high-quality research papers annually to improve animal wellness throughout the industry.

Terry L. Maple, Ph.D.

Terry Maple, Ph.D.

Professor-in-Residence, Director of Wildlife Wellness

Our commitment to wildlife wellness would not be possible without the work of Dr. Terry Maple. As the Director of Wildlife Wellness, he helps the Zoo utilize wellness in the day-to-day processes of animal care. Primarily, this includes work through writing and mentoring, however he also has organized meetings and workshops along with assisting in exhibit design. He came to the Zoo in 2014 and was instrumental in the design of African Forest, his favorite exhibit at our Zoo.

Raised in San Diego County, Dr. Maple earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in California. He was a fulltime college professor before he became the President and CEO of Zoo Atlanta. He has mentored 27 graduate students who now work at zoos across the nation and he has also written several books. In his spare time he enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife and three daughters.

Fátima Ramis

Fatima Ramis

Wildlife Wellness & Research Officer

As the Wildlife Wellness and Research Officer, Fátima Ramis manages the welfare assessment process at the Zoo. She also works with the University of North Florida (UNF) to promote our partnership with the biology and psychology departments. She started here in 2017 as a behavior research fellow, primarily studying giraffe behavior at the Zoo to understand guest-giraffe interactions through feeding programs.

During her undergraduate, Fátima studied primate ecology and behavior, as well as behavior and maternal investment in snakes. This experience gave her an appreciation for wildlife conservation and the importance of welfare in success. Fatima’s favorite area of the Zoo is Wild Florida, where the animals represent local wildlife and help us better understand how to interact with the species that we share landscapes with every day. In her spare time, she enjoys the time outdoors with her dogs, gardening, and going to the beach. She is also a PhD student at the University of Florida, studying human-wildlife dimensions.

Lindsay Mahovetz, Ph.D.

Lindsay Mahovetz

Research Fellow, Animal Health

Dr. Lindsay Mahovetz came to the Zoo in August 2020 as the Animal Wellness and Research, Post-doctoral Fellow. She is working to establish our research program, spending time getting equipment functional and collecting baseline behavioral data. She grew up in central New Jersey and has wanted to work with primates for some time. She majored in Animal Behavior and Psychology as an undergrad, doing research with capuchin and squirrel monkeys. Dr. Mahovetz volunteered as a field assistant on primate-related projects in St. Kitts and Costa Rica and interned at Zoo Atlanta. In graduate school, she worked with chimpanzees and bonobos, including the ones at our Zoo, and was a Visiting Assistant Professor at UNF before landing her role here.

Dr. Mahovetz’s favorite animal is the capuchin monkey, although if she had to pick a species at our Zoo, it would be the bonobos. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and camping with her partner.

Aimee Little

Aimee Little

Wildlife Wellness Administrative Assistant

Aimee Little started volunteering at the Zoo in 2019 as a master’s student at UNF, soon after deciding to focus her master’s thesis on visitor-stingray interactions at Stingray Bay. This past January she started working as the Wildlife Wellness Administrative Assistant. Her role is to help manage the annual Wellness Assessment to review, maintain, and improve the wellbeing of the animals at our Zoo. She helps compile surveys for keepers and meets with animal staff to discuss the reports and develop action items to help the Zoo toward a proactive approach in animal wellness.

Aimee grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where she spent much of high school trying to decide between vet school and animal behavior research. She majored in Biology as an undergraduate where she had the opportunity to work in a fish behavior and cognition lab. She was interested in studying sharks but realized she could combine her interest in animal health and wellness with behavioral research. She loves to hang out with the stingrays and really enjoys African Forest—especially the lemurs. Outside of the Zoo, you can find her in the outdoors, whether it is running, biking, or swimming.