IT'S A ZOO AROUND HERE! ANIMALS FASCINATE DOCENT VOLUNTEER.

Byline: Jennifer Hamm Staff Writer

As one of the Los Angeles Zoo's volunteers, Carole Nathanson spent her summer helping return an endangered species to the wilds of Brazil.

The Studio City resident logs up to 12 hours a week observing the mating, eating and sleeping habits of two rare golden lion tamarins that zoo keepers hope to one day set free in their native habitat.

``You feel like you are in on something very, very special,'' said Nathanson, 35. ``You just sit there mesmerized.''

Nathanson is one of a small team of zoo staff members and volunteers watching every move made by the monkeys, named Timon and Terra. As they roam freely through their designated treetops, Nathanson spends her volunteer hours taking copious notes.

On Friday, Nathanson checked in for volunteer duties after finishing up her week at an outpatient HIV clinic, where she works as a nurse. Spending time with the animals helps after the long hours of working with the sick, she said.

``I come here to kind of break away from the stresses from that,'' Nathanson said. ``When you deal so much with death, it's nice to work with life.''

Nathanson has come to love Timon and Terra, calling them the ``cutest things in the whole world.'' Since they've been moved from cages and into the trees, they've been much happier, she said. And possibly more amorous.

``We are hoping they are going to breed and have little babies,'' Nathanson said. ``They are very into each other. They are kind of going at it in public now, which we haven't seen.''

Nathanson started volunteering at the zoo last fall. Five months ago, she passed a 26-week training course that gave her the more prestigious title of docent volunteer. Docents give tours, educate the public and work more directly with the zoo keepers.

Although the Los Angeles Zoo has hundreds of volunteers year-round, the numbers do increase during the summer, said spokeswoman Judy Shay. As many students have begun to go back to school, the numbers have dropped in the last week, she said. But they'll be back.

``Once they get involved, they love it,'' Shay said. ``They make time to get involved on the weekend.''

The zoo maintains a staff of as many as 600 docent volunteers and hundreds of other volunteers who help with everything from research to office work.

``Without these people, it would be very difficult to function,'' Shay said. ``They are our right hand. It is critical to the functioning of the zoo.''

Volunteers keep coming back because of the environment, Shay said.

``You have the trees, you have the botanical gardens, you have the animals,'' Shay said. ``It's different than volunteering at an office downtown. The zoo really is a place that the more you come, the more you want to be here.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Los Angeles Zoo volunteer Carole Nathanson logs up to 12 hours a week observing two zoo-born rare golden lion tamarins.

(2) A golden lion tamarin peeks out of its nest at the zoo. The male-female pair will someday be freed in their native country, Brazil.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News