Hi guys!
Hope you’ve been really enjoying my posts so far. As some of you may know, this
week is National Zookeeper Week!
This
started in America, with the AAK (American Association of Zookeepers) having an
annual celebration in the third week of July each year! This year it falls
between the 18th and 23rd of July, and is a week
dedicated to zookeepers! The celebration hopes to raise the profile of zoo and
aquarium keepers throughout the year, and recognise all the hard work they do
to look after and conserve many endangered species.
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| Amur tiger at Leipzig Zoo |
Zookeepers
work 365 days a year, working long hours, to care for many incredible species!
Many work on Christmas day and New Year’s Day, but it doesn’t phase them!
Extreme weather conditions are also a battle, but zookeepers power through
because their animals need them! As well as the well known job of picking up
poo, keepers are also great observers, able to notice the slightest change in
an animal. They are nutritionists, constantly changing diets to suit the
species, animal trainers, heavy lifters, gardeners, DIY experts, able to solve
problems, and most of all, hard working.
Lots of
keepers have also published academic papers regarding topics such as behaviour,
enrichment, training, husbandry and diets, among others. These papers help
other collections manage their animals, sharing ideas on what works, and what doesn’t
work, as well as how different individuals of the same species can be so diverse
in personality.
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| ABWAK logo |
Here in the
UK, we have ABWAK (Association of British and Irish Wild Animal Keepers), which
many of UK keepers are members of! It’s great for organising workshops, and as
mentioned in a previous post, holds an annual symposium (gathering of
zookeepers!) All members of ABWAK are also automatic members of the
International Congress of Zookeepers (ICZ), which aims to connect keepers
worldwide. The international sharing of information really benefits all
collections involved, conserving worldwide biodiversity. The ICZ also hold
congress’, with the most recent one being held at Leipzig Zoo last September
(2015). After speaking to those who went, it sounded like an absolutely awesome
event, something I wish I had attended!
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| ICZ logo |
Anyway,
enough of my rambling, Happy National Zookeeper Week to all the keepers out
there!
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