'Tales from Gorilla Girl': Former Cincinnati zookeeper looks back on 53-year career

If you've seen the 1998 film "Dr. Dolittle," then at some point, you might have dreamt of a career working with animals as a veterinarian, trainer or zookeeper. Unfortunately for many of us, our paths in life often change as time passes.

But 76-year-old Ann Southcombe knew at a young age that caring for animals is what she was born to do. This passion led the Madeira native to embark on a 53-year career as an animal care specialist.

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Having begun her journey at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in 1970, Southcombe has worked with every animal imaginable at facilities like the University of Tennessee, Stanford University, Performing Animal Welfare Society (P.A.W.S.), the Lowry Park Zoo and Kerulos Center.

Although Southcombe has enjoyed every role, the first seven years spent raising baby gorillas and other primates at the Cincinnati Zoo was one of the fondest times of her life and earned her the nickname "Gorilla Girl."

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Southcombe sat down with The Enquirer to discuss her journey as an animal care specialist, her work with Sam and Samantha – the first gorillas born at the Cincinnati Zoo – and her books "Tales From Gorilla Girl - The Magic and Mystery of my Life with Animals" and “The Gorilla Diaries."

Here are a few highlights that stood out from our chat.

These excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How did you discover your passion for working with animals?

A: That started as early as I can remember when I had my first cat at like 3. I just always had an affinity with animals more than I did with humans. My mom was an animal lover, and they just encouraged my passion as I grew up. I was always saving little animals that were out in the wild or worms that were on the driveway and things like that. I never wanted to do anything else but work with animals. I just related better with them, and I knew I could help them in captivity. The only animal place I knew of growing up was the Cincinnati Zoo. I applied as soon as I graduated from high school, but they weren't hiring women at the time, so I had to wait a few years before I got the job.

Q: Can you tell me more about your work at the Cincinnati Zoo?

A: I started corresponding with the man who was in charge of the children's zoo and the animal nursery when I was in Hawaii. So, that's where I started. My job was at the children's zoo, taking care of all the animals there in the summer.

I always wanted to raise the baby gorillas, but they were the first gorillas born in Cincinnati, and they were like little gems, and they had nurses taking care of them at first and not the zookeepers. It was about six months before the children's zookeepers, which was me and another man, started taking care of the baby gorillas, and I was in heaven. I started out with Sam and Samantha. Then my first baby from birth was Ramses I. They were just like kids, you know. I had seven baby gorillas to raise while I was there, as well as lions, tigers, bears and other animals that I really loved too. I got to raise all the babies. I had a bush baby (galago) named Pogo that was born. ... I got really attached to him, and the zoo let me have him. I had him as a little family member for 13 years.

Q: What have been some of your favorite memories over the years?

A: There's nothing that could top raising seven baby gorillas. I worked on several rescue ranches too, where I felt like I was doing a lot of good.

My last job was the hardest in a lot of ways, both emotionally and physically, but it was also the most rewarding because I was working with native wildlife. To be able to heal them and let them go back into the wild is an amazing feeling.

Q: Can you tell me more about your books?

A: "Tales from the Gorilla Girl" took me like 30 years to write. My mom encouraged me to write it after I left the Cincinnati Zoo, and I did little bits and pieces of stories and I did slide shows for a long time. When the guys from Heartisan Films decided to do a documentary on my life, that kind of gave me the push to finish the book. I wanted to finish the book when the movie was finished.

"The Gorilla Diaries" book is sort of a companion to "Tales from Gorilla Girl." I had a diary that I kept from day one to when I ended. I'm so glad I kept it. It's just my diary, and then I turned it into a little book called "The Gorilla Diaries," and it's just what I went through raising baby gorillas.

Q: How did you get the nickname "Gorilla Girl?"

A: It just came with the book and the movie. I don't know if I would call myself "Gorilla Girl." But how many people have raised seven baby gorillas and taught sign language to gorillas? So, it just kind of stuck.

Q: What are your thoughts on the death of Harambe at the Cincinnati Zoo?

A: It just sounded like something that was an unfortunate thing that had to be done. It's one of those quick decisions, and in hindsight, maybe something else could have been done, but the kid could have died, so nobody knows which is really the best decision. But in a quick moment, I'm thinking it probably saved the kid, as sad as it was.

Q: What advice would you give those interested in becoming an animal care specialist?

A: If you wanted to work at a zoo, be a volunteer and see what it's really like to work there and then get all the education that you need to get a job there. I just would look at the animals that you would like to learn about, and then go from there. See what kind of qualifications you need to get in that kind of position.

Q: What are some of the most important lessons you've learned in your 50-plus-year career?

A: All animals have an emotional life, very similar to humans. The more we learn about them, we will find ways to treat them better. They have thoughts and feelings, and they feel love and hurt, and pain. Back in the day, when I first started working with animals, they didn't think they had much other than instinctual behaviors. But they do have deep emotional lives. I learned a lot of lessons from them and how to treat them with more compassion and understanding.

Q: Do you keep in touch with any of the gorillas that were in your care?

A: I think the last one, Samantha, passed away a few years ago in Cincinnati. Of all the seven babies that I raised, only two are still alive, which is very sad. Ramses I and Amani, they both live at the Fort Worth (Texas) Zoo right now. I calculated the other day that of all the kids that my kids had, I have 15 grandkids.

Q: What next for the "Gorilla Girl"?

A: I'm kind of in an in-between state. I'm 76, so I'm looking for a new path of passion. Being hands-on with animals all my life, it's real hard to get used to not doing that anymore. I feel my next step really is education. There's a lot of education I could be doing, as well as just entertaining people with the unusual stories of these animals.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Zoo's 'Gorilla Girl' zookeeper reflects on 53-year career