Keeper's Diary

Happy New Year to all readers! This month the focus has again been on dealing with the icy weather as we have had another unseasonably cold winter.

Read more from Adam's January 2010 diary

Throughout the last couple of months I have had the privilege of working closely with ZSL London Zoo's two giant anteaters, Sauna and Bonito.

Read more from Adam's October 2009 diary

Recently I have been helping out with some of the animal training programmes in Animal Adventure.

Most of the animals kept in Animal Adventure are trained to some extent so that we can look after them easily and without causing them any stress.

Read more from Adam's August 2009 diary

Summer weather has come to the zoo this month, and it has become important for us to make sure that all the animals are able to cool down on hot days.

Read more from Adam's June 2009 diary

This month I have swapped bearded pigs for kune kune piglets and Bactrian camels for llamas and alpacas, as I have moved sections to work on the new exhibit ‘Animal Adventure’.

Read more from Adam's May 2009 diary

Spring seems to have arrived at the zoo this month - and we have also experienced a baby boom on Outback as many of the female wallabies now have young joeys to look after.

Read more from Adam's April 2009 diary

As the days are getting longer we have more time to spend with the animals, and the opportunity to be a bit more creative in our work.

Read more from Adam's March 2009 diary

An important part of looking after animals is maintaining and modifying enclosures to ensure that they remain suitable and interesting for the species which are housed in them.

Read more from Adam's February 2009 diary

This month we have been busy keeping all our animals warm during the Arctic temperatures we have been experiencing recently.

Read more from Adam's January 2009 diary

One of the more unusual animals kept on Mammals South is the Ornate Nile Monitor lizard that lives in Gorilla Kingdom.

Read more from Adam's December 2008 diary

Winter has arrived on Mammals South this month with the much talked about migration of our two Pygmy hippos, Thug and Nicola, over to their winter home in Zoo World.

Read more from Adam's November 2008 diary

This month we have again been busy introducing more animals into our collection on Mammals South, with new arrivals to both Zoo World and the Meet the Monkeys walkthrough.

Read more from Adam's October 2008 diary

Through writing this diary, I hope I am able to let readers know about all aspects of the role of a zookeeper at ZSL, and what it is like working on a large and diverse section like Mammals South. I hope the diary remains as interesting and entertaining as Ollie has made it over the last few years!

Read more from the Adam's first diary - September 2008

Unfortunately this is the last zoo diary that I will be writing, or at least for a while. I am leaving the zoo to go and study veterinary medicine and so have to say a sad farewell to all the lovely animals I have worked with over the past five years.

Read more from the August diary

The most important role of a zoo keeper is looking after the animals they care for. This involves feeding, cleaning out, noticing and getting any illnesses treated and also keeping the animals busy.

Read more from the July diary

This month has been very busy with enclosure refurbishment. In the last two weeks alone, we have and rebuilt homes for four species of monkey, two species of rat, the otters and also the tamanduas, which are tree anteaters.

Read more from the June diary

This month I returned to my old section to say goodbye to the bears, who were moving to their brand new home at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. I was asked to help as I had trained the two younger bears, Colombo and Ursula to take hand injections for anaesthesia.

Read more from the May diary

Of the many skills that can be gained from working as a zoo keeper, team work is surely the one that is most important for the successful management of animals, team morale and completing the projects needing to be done.

Read more from the April diary

This month I have moved sections, which is an exciting prospect, but, leaves me with mixed feelings.

Read more from the March diary

Happy new year to all readers, from everyone at ZSL. It’s a strange thing working at the zoo over the Christmas and New year period as wherever you go, there is a building up and excitement about the festive season.

Read more from the January diary

The sloth bears that we house at London Zoo - Colombo, Ursula and Lanka - must have yearly vaccinations to protect them against diseases such as leptospirosis. Because of the potential danger of these animals, this has previously always been done using blow darts as it is not safe to go in with the bears.
Read more about the August diary

I have just returned from my holidays which I spent in Mongolia of all places. The reason: to see wild Bactrian camels and work with a herdsman herding goats and his domestic camels. How strange to spend your holidays essentially just doing your job in another country!
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The beginning of a new year at a zoo and as ever very busy!! On Mammals South there have been plenty of goings on, including two monkey departures in Kindi our male Diana monkey and Kikwit our male Owl faced monkey.
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This month I have been working in the sloth bears enclosure on the Mappin terraces. Working alongside the other bear keepers to revamp our older bear Lanka’s paddock.
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This month we have stepped up our training programme for our young camel, Noemie, and seen one or two relocations.
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We said farewell to three of our primates this week, as two of our red bellied lemurs and Max the head male of our Francois languor troop all relocated to Belfast Zoo.
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Aside from the obvious highlight of spending time with animals, my favourite part of the zoo keeper job is developing enclosure facilities for the animals.
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The summer’s here and the sunshine and warmer weather signals nice times for the keepers, but it also signals different tactics in looking after the animals.
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This month we said farewell to Sparky and Xena, two of our lowland anoas.
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This month I have started a training programme with the bears, another group of animals that are looked after at Mammals South, the section of London Zoo where I work.
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The camels that I look after are of the two humped variety and have the very original Latin name of Camelus bactrianus, but are more commonly known as Bactrian camels.
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London Zoo is open to the public every day of the year except Christmas Day, but for us keepers and the animals that live here it’s business as usual 365 days of the year.
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Keepers have daily routines to follow, plus we have weekly routines, but there are also much rarer events, one of which was carried out this week – the great pygmy hippo migration.
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As you can probably guess a big part of a zoo keeper’s job is to clean the animals out and keep them fed and watered.
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