An array of wildlife animals roamed the Rhatigan Student Center, giving students and other passersby the chance to meet and pet the animals.
On Wildlife Wednesday, two employees from Tanganyika Wildlife Park traveled to campus with four exotic animals: an African crested porcupine, a three-banded armadillo, a sulcata tortoise and a two-toed sloth. Each animal was featured for 30 minutes to ensure all had their time to get pets or give high-fives.
Students lined up for a chance to pet the animals in the designated area. A small group of students were able to get an up-close experience for each ambassador animal, and then a new group would cycle through.
Taylor Craig, an animal experiences specialist at Tanganyika, handled animals and talked to students. In her role, she usually handles interactions between the guests and animals.
“We get to work with lots of animals, which is my favorite part, but we’re the ones that do things like meet and greets or education stuff,” Craig said.
Before each event, employees traveling with the animals conduct study sessions, where they catch up on fun facts through shared Google Docs and research of their own.
Credit for the Wichita State event belongs to Vanessa Bell, the director of marketing for the Rhatigan Student Center, who found online that Tanganyika offers opportunities for their team to bring animals and educate people about them.
“I thought college students might like the chance to interact with animals they might get to, or they may not make it all the way to Goddard to Tanganyika,” Bell said.
Tanganyika offers meet and greets like the event at the RSC as well as presentations for larger audiences. More information about Tanganyika can be found on its website.
