Paul Duggar is something of a professional when it comes to feeding giraffes at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo.
As part of the Independence Academy at Lincoln Public Schools, the 19-year-old works at the zoo a couple days out of the week, often helping hand out lettuce to zoo-goers to feed the giraffes.
So, when the annual Sensory Safari rolled around, Duggar was ready.
With his Super Mario Bros. T-shirt on, he extended leaves of lettuce out to the spotted animals, aiming for the giraffe named Mario.
“He's been kind of a show off,” Paul's father, John Duggar, said as the duo stopped at the giraffe deck.
This was the Duggars' first time attending the event, but they already have plans to return next year. Cheetah cubs, fur pelts and animal skulls were enough to convince the two to come back.
They were just two of the more than 450 people who showed up at the zoo Wednesday morning for the Sensory Safari, created to give students, children and adults with visual or sensory impairments a special chance to explore the zoo.
The Lincoln Children’s Zoo has put on the Sensory Safari for more than 25 years in partnership with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Mary F. Tous Charitable Foundation and the Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired.
With stations scattered across the 10-acre zoo, visitors were able to not only see the 400 creatures the zoo is home to, but use all five senses to learn more about nature and animals.
From feeding goats to petting guinea pigs to holding snakes and touching skulls, a wide variety of opportunities were available Wednesday. Other booths featured taxidermy, nature sounds, Nebraska's plants, an armadillo and a fish tank.
This year, there were 18 booths set up, four more than last year, requiring dozens of volunteers.
Pam Buhrmann, who works in accounting at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, was among them. She has been volunteering at Sensory Safari for five years and loves the opportunity it brings to interact with children.
On Wednesday, she was in charge of the “Smells of Nature” station, allowing kids to sniff samples of smells on cotton balls in plastic tubes, like lavender, peppermint and strawberry. Skunk and fish are among the least popular scents, she said.
“My favorite part is watching the kids and seeing how they react to all the smells,” Buhrmann said. “It's fun to do and the kids enjoy it.”
Noah Keck, a teacher at the Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired, was back for his second year in a row with around 15 students.
“We're just on an excursion,” he said. “We have a lot of different kids who come from a lot of different backgrounds and this is a place that's kind of close to everybody that we can get to be comfortable. There’s not a ton of people here. It's nice. It's a really relaxing environment.”
One of the first stops Keck and his group made was at the penguin exhibit to watch the animals eat their daily dose of herring — a favorite activity of some of the students. From there, they caught a train ride and continued exploring.
“We're trying to get out and about and see what goes on at the zoo,” Keck said, “and try out the different sensory experiences that are here.”
John Chapo, the zoo's president emeritus, said the event is something he’s really proud of and passionate about — something he wishes they were able to do daily.
“We want the community to embrace this day, embrace how important it is for us to serve everyone to the best of our ability,” Chapo said, choking up. “We want our guests here today to feel as many senses as possible, and be just amazed by what they're experiencing.
Skye Shipley-Parris, 16, a student with Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind or Visually Impaired, sniffs a sprig of yarrow on Wednesday during the Sensory Safari at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo. “It smells like honey,” she says.
A guest pets a ball python with his index finger on Wednesday during Sensory Safari at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo. John Chapo, the zoo’s president emeritus, says the event is a tradition more than 25 years in the running.
Claire Cude, a kindergartner at Fairbury Public Schools, laughs as she feeds lettuce to a giraffe on Wednesday during Sensory Safari at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo.