66 Royal eventually settled in as a biology major on a pre-vet track, but she quickly discovered a passion for the program’s animal behavior emphasis. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biology in Fall 2015. A few months later she landed a six-month zookeeping internship at Chehaw. “If you want to be a zookeeper, you almost always have to start at an internship level, and most internships require a degree and aren’t paid,” she said. “But I got really lucky in finding an internship at Chehaw that was not only paid but also housed.” Royal has been at Chehaw ever since, transitioning into a part-time keeper position after her internship and then into her current role in September 2018. Every day Royal does a lot of behind-the- scenes work, such as monitoring the animals’ behavior and cleaning out the exhibits and holding stalls. There is a lot of poop involved in her job, she said. If there is time, Royal works on training some of the animals, an effort that proves useful during wellness checks. She is teaching the kangaroos to stand on their hind feet when asked so she can check their pouches and body conditions. She is also working with the zoo’s three cheetahs — named after the “Game of Thrones” dragons Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion — to encourage them to present their tails for blood draws. “All of this is done in a way that the animal is willing to participate, so it doesn’t cause any stress,” she said. “The goal is to not have to go in and restrain the animal in any way but rather have them willingly participate through operant conditioning. “We work on our relationships with the animals. We learn their body language and their expressions to know when they don’t want interactions, and we don’t interact with them if we do not have to. They go about their business, and we go about ours. “As much as we are around and love these animals, we respect that they are wild animals. These guys are exotic. They aren’t your dogs and cats. We have protocols and things in place to ensure the safety of them, us, and our guests.”