It's Careers Week 2021! To celebrate, we're gonna be chatting to four wonderful women working different jobs in the animal sector and doing short interviews with them. There are so many exciting and diverse animal careers to discover! Yesterday, we heard from the awesome Lyn. Today, we have George. Over to her!
AnimalEd: Hi George! Awesome to talk to you again! So, question number one: what do you do? What's your job?
George: I currently work at Jersey Zoo on the Mammal department. I'm very lucky - I get to split my time across four different sections, which covers 12 different species from teeny tiny Bokiboky to our enormous silverback Gorilla. I am responsible for the daily care and maintenance of the animals on my section, as well as hosting our public talks, creating enrichment, training animals and lots of other different jobs - it's always a busy day!
AnimalEd: That's so cool, congratulations! We can't wait to visit when it's safe to! In your opinion, what's the most important part of being a zoo keeper?
George: Tough question. My number one priority on a daily basis is ensuring the animals that I am looking after get the best possible standard of care and welfare - doing as much for them as possible to ensure they are living their best life in as natural a way as possible. While also fulfilling their role at the zoo, whether that be as part of a captive breeding programme or to be ambassadors and help to raise awareness about their species' plight in wild.
AnimalEd: Absolutely. You guys do an amazing job for the animals! What do you like most about keeping?
George: Every single day is different. There's something new to learn at every corner and you can never predict how the day is going to go. Some of the species I get to work with are quite uncommon in captivity so it is also a real privilege to get to work with them first hand.
AnimalEd: Awesome! Lastly, what would you say to somebody looking to get into zoo keeping?
George: There's not one easy way to get into this job, or one perfect person either. Do everything you can to better yourself, whether than be through extended education, hands-on experience or just getting out there and getting involved. This is a very competitive field and it takes a lot of different personalities and abilities working together to keep a zoo running successfully. Don't give up if it takes you a little time to get into your first keeping role. Or if you're lucky like me and end up in one quite quickly, then never forget how much of a privilege it is to get to do your job and keep striving to improve yourself!
There you have it! A big thanks to George Pritchard at Jersey Zoo for taking the time to talk to us for Careers Week. You can find her @george_bears_99 on Instagram! Check back again tomorrow when we'll be looking at our final animal-based career path...
Thanks for reading, and remember to always keep learning!
-- Charlie and Tiana
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