As an Animal Keeper my role in the zoo was noticeably stepped up from my volunteer placement and I am now able to work with the more high maintenance or dangerous animals. I now work with almost every animal held in the zoo (I only have restricted access to the snow leopards- Panthera uncia and do not conduct daily husbandry with them). This ranges from very small animals held indoors to medium/large animals in outdoor enclosures, including examples from most major taxons. my job also involves interactions with members of the public, a part of the job I used to dislike due to anxiety issues surrounding public speaking, which now is a part of the job I relish in taking part in, I truly enjoy teaching visitors about the animals in my care and I do so at every opportunity.I am thoroughly enjoying my job in this position. Lakeland Wildlife Oasis has always been a zoo I visited before I was old enough to begin work there so its a dream come true to be able to become a part of its story and help it progress to become a fantastic small zoo with big ambitions.

I started volunteering as soon as I was old enough to apply, luckily I was accepted into a 10 day volunteer placement, being an unpaid worker I was, of course, restricted to less senior roles within the zoo such as the day to day maintenance of enclosures and general cleaning of the site. This however made me feel like i was very involved in the running of the zoo and was made to feel like another member of the team, as such i stayed far beyond my volunteer placement period, for aproximately two years. i am confident that the skills and knowledge gained in this role is what gave me an edge when an internal job vacancy arose.