Keepers Diary - August 2008 | |
© ZSLUnfortunately 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.
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Keepers Diary - July 2008 | |
© ZSLThe 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 | |
Keepers Diary - June 2008 | |
© ZSL 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 | |
Keeper Diary - May 2008 | |
© ZSLThis 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.
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Keeper Diary - April 2008 | |
© ZSLOf 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.
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Keeper Diary - March 2008 | |
© ZSLThis month I have moved sections, which is an exciting prospect, but, leaves me with mixed feelings.
Read more from the March diary | |
Keeper Diary - January 2008 | |
 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 | |
Keeper Diary - August 2007 | |
© ZSLThe 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.
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Keeper Diary - June 2007 | |
© ZSL - Oliver DupreyI 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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Keeper Diary - Spring 2007 | |
© ZSLThe 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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Keeper Diary - November | |
© ZSLThis 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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Keepers Diary - August | |
 This month we have stepped up our training programme for our young camel, Noemie, and seen one or two relocations.
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Keepers Diary - July | |
 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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Keepers Diary - June | |
 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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Keepers Diary - May | |
 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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Keepers Diary - April | |
 This month we said farewell to Sparky and Xena, two of our lowland anoas.
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Keepers Diary - March | |
 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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Keepers Diary - February | |
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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Keepers Diary - January | |
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 Diary - December 2005 | |
 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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Keepers Diary - November 2005 | |
 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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I graduated in zoology and following a period as a volunteer I was taken on as a keeper at ZSL London Zoo. I hope this diary will offer an insight into the life of a zoo keeper and explain the varied roles that this job entails.
