Lorien Self
Co-owner
Animal Science Educator

       Lorien has a great love of animals and a fascination with animal behavior, which she loves to share with others. Her interest in human and animal behavior earned her a B.S. in Psychology from Brigham Young University. An internship at the San Diego Zoo's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES) with endangered Douc Langur monkeys led to a fascination with primate behavior and an internship at the Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute, Central Washington University. Lorien fell in love with Washoe, Moja, Tatu, Dar and Loulis, five incredible chimpanzees who communicate in American Sign Language for the Deaf (ASL)! She earned her M.S. in Experimental Psychology with an emphasis in Animal Behavior at CWU while caring for the chimpanzees. Lorien returned to San Diego to begin work at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park as an educator guide and loved her daily close encounters with rhinos, giraffes and other animals from around the world! She also presented educational outreach programs for Animania, Explorations in Animal Science, LLC, and greatly enjoyed teaching children animal science using live exotic animals in San Diego elementary schools. Most recently, Lorien worked as an educator at Utah's Hogle Zoo.

Nephi Self
Co-Owner - Business Support:

       Nephi is Lorien's husband and co-owner of Wild Things. After serving in the USMC, Nephi is currently working in the engineering field and is pursuing a Business degree. Sharing Lorien's love of animals, he assists in many aspects of the company, especially in the area of marketing, technical logistics and website design.