Bear Hollow Zoo provides learning opportunities to UGA students
On any given day, D.J. can usually be found relaxing on a raised platform under shady trees. On her afternoon stroll, Kelly Garrison may notice him and call down with a greeting.
He doesn’t respond — not with words at least.
D.J. is an American black bear and one of the many animals at the Bear Hollow Zoo, a hidden gem in the Athens-Clarke County community. This county-funded zoo houses various animals that you would naturally find in Georgia.
The animals of Bear Hollow are non-releasable due to disability or other circumstances that would make it difficult for them to live in the wild. Now, they serve as ambassadors for their species, motivating visitors to protect wildlife.
“It’s not every day that you get to go to a free local zoo,” said Garrison, the zoo coordinator of Bear Hollow. “It gives a lot of opportunities to all of the residents of Athens-Clarke County and even the surrounding areas to have a fun attraction that they can go to and learn a bit about.”
Garrison manages zoo animals, maintains their habitats and collaborates with staff, volunteers, and University of Georgia students on essential zoo tasks.
Helping (and Healing) Hands
Summit St. John, a fourth-year wildlife sciences major in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, said she gained invaluable experience by volunteering at Bear Hollow under the Animal Care Internship program.
“I like learning how to contribute to animal care and how to make sure animals have the resources that they need to thrive,” St. John said. “I’ve interned at Zoo Atlanta, but Bear Hollow has given me the chance to work with so many animals that I didn’t have the opportunity to work with.”
In the program, St. John assists the full-time zoologists with animals such as the American alligator. She and other interns handle smaller animals like the opossum siblings on their own.
UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine has supported the zoo’s animal health since its founding, providing care for animals like Ginger the deer and Cypress the beaver. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital handles everything from checkups to treating issues like toothaches. “We have a great partnership with the UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital,” Garrison said. “It’s a really cool opportunity for not only the animals of the zoo, but also the vet students.”
Students in the College of Veterinary Medicine participate in various rotations in the exotic animals division’s veterinary services. Under the guidance of professor Joerg Mayer, fourth-year students spend three weeks on the clinic floor.
“Now is the time to potentially transition their book smarts to something tangible in the field,” Mayer said. “They know the physiology, and they know the anatomy. If they want to become a veterinarian, this gives the students hands-on experience for what they’re going to be spending the next 35 years of their lives doing.”
Reaching Visitors
Public relations students in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication have also recently taken part in the zoo fun. For the fall 2024 semester, David Clementson, an associate professor in the college’s advertising and public relations department, has structured his capstone course around the Bear Hollow Zoo. In the semester-long program, students work together to integrate new advertising techniques for the zoo.
“The students are coming up with all kinds of great strategies and deliverables that they’ll be presenting to the client,” Clementson said.
Students conduct surveys with members of the community to better understand how the zoo can reach visitors, and they examine previous ads used to promote the zoo. In completing the finalized advertising recommendations, the students have substantial work to add to their professional portfolios and indispensable knowledge of the public relations industry.
“I’ve never had a public relations internship. It’s always been marketing based,” said Reese Mitchell, a fourth-year student in Clementson’s capstone course. “This is really important to me because it lets me see if this is something I might want to continue to do when I graduate.”
Working with the zoo and interacting with the community has allowed the students to have a better understanding of the zoo’s impact.
“Almost everyone we’ve heard from has children,” said Cheylan Baker, another student in the course. “They always talk about how much their kids love it here and how it makes them super excited. It seems like a place for community.”
This is evident with events like Bear Holloween, a time for children to put on their Halloween costumes and visit the animals. During one night in October, the zoo takes part in the holiday festivities with a variety of Halloween decorations, photo opportunities and candy.
Events like Bear Holloween serve as a reminder of the importance of the zoo for members of the community. The ability to connect with nature is increasingly valuable to many families across Georgia.
“It is so important to be able to have the exposure to animals for our kids and for us as well,” said Michelle Jones, a mother in attendance at Bear Holloween with her daughter and husband. “We’re glad that she can learn about nature and be able to observe the animals and habitats.”
The Bear Hollow Zoo remains a vital fixture for the Athens and UGA community, providing education and opportunities for indispensable experiences to students in colleges around the university.
Story by Averi Caldwell
Photos by Dorothy Kozlowski, Chamberlain Smith, and Andy Tucker
