Local attraction provides UCF students with hands-on exotic wildlife experience

"Goliath, head up!" Todd Drever said, as a 15-foot-long, 1,700-pound American alligator lifted its bone-crushing jaws into the air during an in-water training session.

The 46-year-old conservationist, locally known as Safari Todd, rewarded the seemingly ancient predator with a piece of raw chicken before asking the reptile to perform another behavior.

Drever, who serves as the director of education and entertainment at Jungle Adventures Nature Park in Christmas, Fla., uses a form of behavior modification known as positive reinforcement to train the park's 200 alligators to perform a handful of basic behaviors.

Long before the arrival of Disney, Universal and SeaWorld, dozens of roadside attractions once hugged the highways of Central Florida.

The 22-acre wildlife park, just 17 miles east of UCF, offers visitors a glimpse into this bygone era.

Drever said park guests often ask him about the dangers of working in such close proximity to apex predators like alligators and panthers.

"There's not a single one of us that's getting off this planet alive," Drever said. "You can live your entire life in fear of what-ifs or you can live your live to the fullest, and I choose to live my life to the fullest."

The Boston native, who has spent nearly a quarter-century of his life working with exotic wildlife, oversees the park's internal volunteer program.

"The reality is, somebody did this for me a long time ago, and I think it's important to give that opportunity back," Drever said.

"I have 10 more years in this industry and then after that, my body is not going to be able to handle it," he said. "If I don't give it to them, it's gone."

Hands-On Wildlife Safari is a not-for-profit educational organization based at the park. The group serves as a mobile zoo, regularly performing wildlife presentations at area resorts, schools and nursing homes.

Jessica Penrose, a junior psychology major, said interning with Hands-On Wildlife Safari is an excellent stepping stone toward a career working with animals.

"You have to start off small," she said.

Penrose, who dreams of becoming a dolphin trainer, said the internship has taught her to read animal behavior.

She said that when a panther's whiskers are faced forward, it indicates that the animal is over-stimulated.

"You have to calm the panther down before you can really do too much more interaction," Penrose said.

For Jennifer Walls, a sophomore micro & molecular biology major, becoming a veterinarian has been a lifelong dream.

She said working with the park's animals caused her to reconsider career paths within the field of veterinary medicine.

"Coming here helped me realize I liked working with exotics better than small animals," Walls said. "It helped point me towards the zoo path."

UCF graduate Michelle Olandese was Hands-On Wildlife Safari's first intern and now works as the organization's public speaker in addition to being a zookeeper at Jungle Adventures.

For Olandese, one of the most memorable moments in her career as a wildlife educator occurred during her first outreach show.

"A little girl looked up at me and told me she wanted to be me when she got older," Olandese said. "That's exactly why I do this."

She said Jungle Adventures' small size allows interns to get more interaction with the park's exotic wildlife.

"A lot of the big zoos have the red tape; they don't let you touch [the animals]," she said. "I know there's a bit of a risk, but I like the risk and I like working directly with them."

Drever said the risk is worth the results.

"You're never going to take the risk out of life," Drever said. "I think it's important that you live every single day of your life in a way that makes you happy as an individual."

Conservation educators Lynne Hawksworth and Dawn Drever co-founded Hands-On Wildlife Safari with a passion for educating the public about animals through the power of interaction.

"We work with a lot of people that have passion," Hawksworth said. "We want that passion to be handed on to children and adults alike."

Drever said she hopes to continue people's education on the animals.

"It's about transferring tactile education to people," Dawn Drever said. "We endear these animals to people so they want to save them."