Eloise Ogden/MDN Rex Sisco, a longtime volunteer at Minot’s Roosevelt Park Zoo, watches the black-footed ferret, Hawksbill, in the ferret exhibit in the zoo’s Visitor Center on Thursday.

A longtime volunteer at Minot’s Roosevelt Park Zoo says what he likes about volunteering there is the people, the work and how much he’s appreciated as a volunteer.

Rex Sisco of Minot has volunteered at the zoo for about 40 years. For the first about 30 years he volunteered off and on and then for the past 10 years he’s been volunteering at the zoo every Tuesday.

Today, zoo staff will honor him for his years of volunteering there. Dr. Logan Wood, zoo director, said they want to celebrate Sisco and his accomplishments.

“We really, really appreciate everything that he does,” Wood said.

Initially, Sisco started his volunteer run with the zoo as a member of the Greater Minot Zoological Society’s Board.

Sisco came to Minot in 1975, transitioning from airplanes at Tucson, Arizona, his previous base, to missiles at Minot Air Force Base. He was at the Minot base for 16 years and then retired from the Air Force in 1991. He then worked for Walmart in Minot for 23 years.

“They came to town in March of ’91 and I started working for them in September ’91. Then I stayed through November of ’14,” he said.

When he retired from working, he started volunteering at the zoo on Tuesdays.

“I would come here for two or three hours on Tuesdays, and I did some animal transports and some of those things over the years. Once in a while I’d take a vacation but most Tuesdays for 10 years I’ve been here.”

He recalled going with zoo staff members on transports of several zoo animals, including a camel and a warthog.

“We went to Idaho and picked up a camel. They didn’t like his name so they named him after me,” Sisco said.

Sisco. the camel, remains a resident at the zoo.

“I can go over there and call him. He’ll come to me sometimes. He wouldn’t come out the other day. Quora (a female camel) came out and he stood in the barn and looked at me. He wouldn’t do it, but sometimes he’ll come right over to the fence,” Sisco said.

When Sisco volunteers at the zoo, he does whatever needs to be done.

“I have a routine where I do some cleaning and I service the grain bins,” he said. “I usually get anywhere from two to four hours.” He said the work helps the zoo staff.

Sisco gives tours of the zoo and also is involved in all the zoo events and fundraisers.

Last year the Minot zoo had about 1,400 volunteers, Wood said. The number includes school groups and other large groups, including some squadrons at the base who volunteer on a regular basis.

The zoo also supports protecting and saving wildlife from extinction, and Sisco has participated in those efforts.

“He’s one of our key conservation volunteers,” said Wood, noting Sisco has taken part in the black-footed ferret spotlighting project.

Volunteers taking part in the spotlighting (or scanning) project count the number of animals and monitor those living in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Black-footed ferrets are considered one of the most endangered mammals in North America.

“Ryan (Pederson of the zoo staff) and I went to Wall, South Dakota (in October 2024), and we still hold the record for the number caught. We caught 21. That was about the third or fourth time I’ve been on that,” Sisco said. “Before that I think we had 10 or 12. We stayed for a longer time so we got more of them this time.. Another group came closer to us but they didn’t beat us.”

“We go out about 10:30 at night and stay until about 6:30 or 7 in the morning. They’re nighttime animals so they go into the prairie dog holes,” Sisco said. The ferrets depend on the prairie dogs for their food and shelter.

“We see their little green eyes sticking out of the prairie dog hole. When they see our spotlight, they go back down in it,” he said.

The ferrets are trapped and taken to a hospital trailer in the park where they are given shots and a chip is put in their neck if they do not have one.

“We take it back and put it in the same hole we got it out of in the middle of the prairie,” Sisco said. To find the hole again, they use GPS.

“Almost all the ones we caught this year had to have something and I think three or four had never been caught so we’re showing new animals. They’re being productive; they were extinct,” he said. “I guess we’ve got 300 or 400 of them now (at sites in U.S.) so it’s showing progress.”

Sisco also is a volunteer with several other community organizations.

“I get 40 hours or better a month volunteer time. Sometimes I get as many as 60 (hours) because I’m involved with the DAV program and with the American Legion, and the soup kitchen,” he said. He volunteers at the Immanuel Baptist Church soup kitchen. He’s also part of the Minot Honor Flight planning committee.

Sisco said he likes to be at the zoo to see all the activity and what is going on there.

“There’s been a lot of progress in the last five or 10 years with these exhibits that have been completely redone, and more to come,” he said.

As for his years of volunteering at the zoo, he said, “I do it because I enjoy doing it. I like the animals, and the people I work with are appreciative. They’re just a good bunch of people to work with and we have a lot of fun.”

He said all that makes it well worthwhile.