Zookeepers are being celebrated for all the hard work they do in taking care of an array of beautiful and interesting animal species.
CD was taken behind the scenes at National Zoo and Aquarium as the award-winning tourist attraction celebrates National Zookeeper Week.
To mark the occasion, CD spoke to zookeepers, put food out for sun bears, patted a cheetah and fed some (very tiny and very adorable) monkeys.
Small primate team lead Courtney Hawkins said she knew she wanted to be a zookeeper since she was about three years old.
“It’s the closest thing you get to those childhood dreams of talking to animals and hanging out with animals all day,” Courtney said.
“But when I discovered more about it and kind of delved deeper into zookeeping, I just knew it was why I was put on this Earth.”
Courtney said it was nice to have a week that recognised what zookeepers do.
“We don’t do this for the glory of it. We do it because we love these guys and we want to give them the best life possible,” she said.
“There’s a lot of really hard work that goes on behind the scenes, so any kind of light that shines on that and the appreciation is really great, especially for all my fellow zookeepers who have their hard days.
“They have their good days but at the end of the day, it’s still an amazing role to have.”
Zookeeper Jemma Walsh said it was special to be celebrated.
“It’s not all easy and glorious, we are out here 365 days a year, including Christmas Day, rain, hail or shine,” Jemma said.
“We work in -8 all the way up to 40 degrees, so everything we do is for our animals, it’s definitely a passion job. We wouldn’t be able to do it if it wasn’t for that.
“So I guess the reason that we get a day like this is because of the beautiful animals that we look after.”
For bear team lead Serena Robbie, she knew from a young age she wanted to work with animals.
“As I grew up, I started to understand the conservation side of working with animals and all the impacts of humans and all sorts of things around the world that essentially are endangering these beautiful animals,” Serena said
“So that’s sort of what made me get into zookeeping, knowing that, especially the National Zoo, is really focused on the conservation side of things, so we send a lot of money back to conservation efforts every year.
“So as soon as I got to be able to work with the cheetahs and do encounters and raise that really important awareness and funds, I was quite excited.”
Serena said it was awesome to have their work recognised.
“Especially because we put our heart and soul and we don’t switch off at the end of the day. We go home and we take it all with us, so the day we’re having, recognising us is really beautiful,” she said.
Serena said for anyone interested in being a zookeeper, you do not need to have a zoology degree, but are required to have a Certificate III in Captive Animals.
The week will end with the zoo running its annual Junior Zookeeper Conservation Weekend on 26 July where all Junior Zookeepers will participate in talks and fundraising endeavours for conservation causes all around the world.
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