For this blog I wanted to celebrate International Zookeeper Day on the 4th October. We are a dedicated and maybe crazy bunch for going down this career path. However, it’s one of the most rewarding and exciting workplaces you can get. I’ve chased down a few of the WWP team to find out why they became a zookeeper and what they enjoy about it!
Brooke, Mammal Keeper
“I saw a penguin at a zoo, and I wanted to be a zookeeper.”
Brooke has been with us for a few years. I work directly with her for giraffe training and here’s what she has to say about being a keeper.
“I’ve always wanted to be a zookeeper. Since I was about 10, I was fascinated by animals, always looking up animal facts and working with giraffes was my goal. I now have my dream job working with giraffes. My favourite part about the job is the training we get to do. I enjoy the opportunity to bond with the animals and gain their trust, letting them know I am a safe place for them. I find that really rewarding”.
A memorable story
“Once one of the giraffes, Robin, wanted to do training so badly that he decided to present his hoof for us in the wheelbarrow while we were cleaning the paddock! He was so proud of his accomplishment and awaiting his reward. We had to try to explain to him that’s not his foot block, made us laugh.”
Meghan, Bird Keeper
“I think what made me want to work with animals was watching David Attenborough and Steve Backshall as a kid. My favourite part of the job is getting to build relationships with a lot of different species and learning all their different quirks and habits“.
A memorable story
“One time I was dancing with JoJo and Jack, the African greys, whilst sweeping, in my own world and I turned round to realise there was a large crowd of people watching me!”
Matthew, Cover Keeper
Matthew works across several sections at the park including carnivores, mammals and primates. This is a great way to gain lots of experience with several different species.
“I’ve always been interested in animals and used to drag mum and dad to zoos up and down the country and that inspired me to become a zookeeper. I enjoy the variety that I get to work with being a cover keeper“.
Dawn, Carnivore Keeper
Dawn looks after a wide variety of animals including moon bears, big cats and binturongs! I caught up with dawn during some bear training.
“I’ve always loved animals, always dragged my family to every single zoo we came across. As soon as I realised that the job existed to work with animals, I did everything io could to get there. At 14 I started volunteering at a farm, then at a zoo when I was 16. I then did an internship and finally got the job here as carnivore zookeeper. My favourite thing about my job is learning the personalities of the animals, seeing them interact with enrichment I‘ve made and finding out what they enjoy.”
A memorable story
“When I was cleaning out the flamingo house the mats were very slippery. I fell on my bum and was covered in flamingo poo from head to toe. I stank for the rest of the day! One thing I’d say about zookeeping is not to underestimate the job. It’s not just playing with animals. A lot of blood, sweat and tears go into the role and the animals become family. I wouldn’t change what I do!”
Holly, Primate Keeper
Holly is one of our primate keepers who works with orangutans, chimps, mandrills and many other species.
“I was brought up on my grandparent’s farm and went to a college that had exotic animals and fell in love. I like working with the mandrills the most. Everyone says they’re the smelliest but I love them!”
A memorable story
“Every day is memorable there’s always a funny story to tell. I did get spat at by Georgia the chimp and a small piece of poo landed on me!”
Kyle, Mammal Keeper
Kyle is one of our mammal keepers and has been a WWP for a few months now.
“When I was a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. But then one day when I was about 9 or 10 my uncle asked me a question about a modern animal. I think it was something like ‘what continent do tigers come from?’ and I didn’t know the answer. I remember being so angry at myself for not knowing. Then it hit me that I was spending so much time thinking about the animals of the past that I wasn’t appreciating the animals of the present all around me. So, I decided to learn all I could about them and enjoy them while I could.
“The best parts of the job are, naturally, interacting with the animals. Knowing I’m contributing to aiding and caring for, at times, extremely rare animals like red pandas and Visayan pigs. Also, talking to the guests and helping people gain a newfound respect for the animals. Or advancing someone’s knowledge of their favourite animal. Those moments are particularly rewarding personally.”
Matt, Head of Mammals
Matt has been at the park for 12 years. He manages the mammal section which includes giraffe, Tapir and red pandas.
“I’ve always wanted to work with animals, but not necessarily a zookeeper, I wanted to be a farmer. I realised you had to inherit farms or have a lot of money to buy one. No one in my family had a farm and I didn’t have enough money to buy one. I then thought about the veterinary industry, but my A-levels didn’t go quite according to plan, so I took a year out, volunteered at WWP . They gave me a job, and voila I’m a zookeeper!
“Where I’ve been here for so long, I’ve seen a lot of animals arrive on their first day, seen them grow and develop their personalities and built a bond with them. For instance, when the pigs first came, they were petrified and wouldn’t come anywhere near us. Now they are like big dogs and love attention from us, which is quite rewarding to see.”
A memorable story
“Being sprayed in the face by Nando when I was picking up something from the floor! I looked up, realised I was at the wrong end of Nando and managed to turn my face in the nick of time and got sprayed on. Luckily it was just the side of my face!”
Georgia (me!), Head of Training
For me I realised I wanted to work with animals when I decided to volunteer in South Africa with black rhino. I completely fell in love with the excitement of the job and how it’s different every day.
I’m very fortunate to have worked my way up to Head of training. I love my job as I really do get to bond with so many animals. I’m very proud of what I have achieved so far. Some of the highlights of my career have been hand injecting Molly the orangutan with anaesthetic, gaining the trust of the giraffes to enable us to do hoof care with them and vaccinating the big cats by hand injection.
One of my favourite things about the job was when I was target training Kali the binturong and I had built him an assort course to play on. I don’t know why but binturongs look so funny when they’re running along the ground.
Becky, Head of Birds
Becky runs the bird section and works with an amazing variety of species including penguins, palm cockatoos and pelicans.
“Originally, I didn’t want to be a zookeeper! I always wanted to be a marine biologist, but I was learning to dive while I was at university and was terrified of it. I also didn’t like being on a boat! So, I started volunteering at a zoo during summer holidays and they offered me job and haven’t looked back since. I got my love of animals from my mum; she was always taking in injured animals when I was growing up.
“My favourite thing about my job is that I get to work with just birds. You can’t do that at a lot of places, they are normally part of another section. My favourite single job to do is the penguin walk every morning. I also love giving out parrot enrichment as they really show appreciation for it every time so it’s quite rewarding. Whereas the emu is not so impressed and just looks at you like you’re crazy!”
A memorable story
“Most of my funny stories involve Matt. But if I had to pick just one, I would say it was the time we had to catch all the ducks and geese up from the lake and move them into their indoor housing due to bird flu.
“Matt bravely volunteered to put the waders on to corral them out of the water. Then before I knew it, he was screeching in the middle of the lake because he’d sunk down to his chest in the middle of the lake and was stuck. I’m afraid I was no help for the first 10 minutes as I was too busy laughing at his misfortune. I eventually tried to pull him out with a stick which nearly ended up with me going in with him. As I’m sure you’ve seen we did manage to rescue him with a big stick! I just wish I’d taken a picture!”
