Heyy Heyy,
This one is about my internship at Shepreth Wildlife Park.
I started my internship on the 8th January 2018 for a whole year for 4 days a week, I am also continuining this into 2019 to get more experience as needed.
It has been absolutely amazing!
Although I'm not getting paid and this is voluntary I really feel like I am getting the experience I need to become a full time zookeeper. Being a long term placement student, allows me to become more independent and learn more about the zoo industry.
I have been able to get closer to the animals, learn about them and their behaviours.
Being a zookeeper isn't all about getting closer to the animals, it's about being aware of your surroundings and conservation of these animals.
We as zookeepers dont just hug the animals and take pretty close up pictures, we do a lot more than that! We clean up after them, cleaning their faeces (poop), maintaining their enclosures (so doing essential work on them and changing them up and adding new things into them when need to for a bit of change for the animals), we prepare their diets fresh everyday for them whether it be carnivores or herbivores (or omnivores) or insectivores we do all of them to help with their nutrients making sure they have the appropriate ones for that species and the right amount. One other thing we do is enruch the animals, this means giving them something to do to help with the boredom and reduce less stererotypical behaviours. We can do this in the form of natural or man made, which means we can use things like scent trails and fur of the prey they have, or more unnatural things like boomer balls and puzze feeders.
We dont just do that though we also educate, in the form of many types. We educate through school visits, regular animal talks, online talks and seminars, animal handling, animal experiences, and much more but they are the main ones.
Being a zookeeper is not easy, its tough, its hard work. You need to be physically fit to be able to do this job. Somedays you can have a really good day where all your animals comply with you and it goes smoothly, the next day you can have a good morning then something happens and the day gets worse or vice versa for bad morning and good afternoon.
You will see many different things being a keeper, you will see good things and unfortunately bad things too. I wont mention all the things ive seen as a keeper but I will mention that you will see sick animals that need medical care and attention and might need medication as well, you will also see animals that are very sick and either die of natual causes or that for welfare reasons need to be euthanised (Put to sleep). This profession isnt for the faint hearted, you dont need to be strong, you just need to be prepared for what can happen in the industry and you need to know your stuff, as there is a lot involving animals such as their health, diet and behaviour.
I have learnt a lot from this placement, not just about the animals and how to be a keeper but a lot about myself. My confidence has grown, as I have gotten better at the tasks I am doing and gotten better at speaking to people in public (As I never really had spoken to the public and done public speaking before the placement). During my placement, I have gained a lot of skills too, not just public speaking but skills that are involved with everyday keeping such as being able to do tasks quicker,
This placement has been so much fun and educational. I have had the chance to get close to the animals that you dont see everyday in the wild, I have had the chance to train these animals so we can get closer to them and visually health check them so that we dont have to get the vet to do it all the time.
On that note, training these animals for example the Red Pandas, is very helpful for us, in the sense of veterinary checks and visual health checks we can get closer to these animals instead of being away from them and having to crate them. When we train the animals, they are doing it on their own accord, we do not force them to do things they dont want to do, it is just helpful that they do it, some are mainly food based so this helps too. This is also enrichment for them, something to look forward to and prevent them becoming bored.
As keepers we have to care for a variety of animals, which means a variety of diets and regimes. The food that most zoos get are donated from the local stores and local farm shops. This is a great way of keeping in touch with the community and educating them on how important it is for zoos to keep these endangered animals.
I have written a post previously about being a zookeeper so I wont go on wrambling about it all, as you may just want to read that.
During this placement, I have met so many inspirational people that I will not forget as they have become part of my life. I have met some fabulous volunteer keepers along the way too, some just volunteering as as side job or they are retired, some for a college or university course and some others just for a break from normal life. All these people want the same thing, good care for the animals, good health and well being for the animals.
Below is just a selection of the pictures I have taken over the time of my placement, there is quite a lot but Ive chosen just some of them:
You will see many different things being a keeper, you will see good things and unfortunately bad things too. I wont mention all the things ive seen as a keeper but I will mention that you will see sick animals that need medical care and attention and might need medication as well, you will also see animals that are very sick and either die of natual causes or that for welfare reasons need to be euthanised (Put to sleep). This profession isnt for the faint hearted, you dont need to be strong, you just need to be prepared for what can happen in the industry and you need to know your stuff, as there is a lot involving animals such as their health, diet and behaviour.
I have learnt a lot from this placement, not just about the animals and how to be a keeper but a lot about myself. My confidence has grown, as I have gotten better at the tasks I am doing and gotten better at speaking to people in public (As I never really had spoken to the public and done public speaking before the placement). During my placement, I have gained a lot of skills too, not just public speaking but skills that are involved with everyday keeping such as being able to do tasks quicker,
This placement has been so much fun and educational. I have had the chance to get close to the animals that you dont see everyday in the wild, I have had the chance to train these animals so we can get closer to them and visually health check them so that we dont have to get the vet to do it all the time.
On that note, training these animals for example the Red Pandas, is very helpful for us, in the sense of veterinary checks and visual health checks we can get closer to these animals instead of being away from them and having to crate them. When we train the animals, they are doing it on their own accord, we do not force them to do things they dont want to do, it is just helpful that they do it, some are mainly food based so this helps too. This is also enrichment for them, something to look forward to and prevent them becoming bored.
As keepers we have to care for a variety of animals, which means a variety of diets and regimes. The food that most zoos get are donated from the local stores and local farm shops. This is a great way of keeping in touch with the community and educating them on how important it is for zoos to keep these endangered animals.
I have written a post previously about being a zookeeper so I wont go on wrambling about it all, as you may just want to read that.
During this placement, I have met so many inspirational people that I will not forget as they have become part of my life. I have met some fabulous volunteer keepers along the way too, some just volunteering as as side job or they are retired, some for a college or university course and some others just for a break from normal life. All these people want the same thing, good care for the animals, good health and well being for the animals.
Below is just a selection of the pictures I have taken over the time of my placement, there is quite a lot but Ive chosen just some of them:
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