I WAS able to fulfil a lifelong ambition to work with animals of all types when I was invited to experience being a zoo keeper for the day at the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay.
My day started at 10am when I met Animal Collection Manager Peter Litherland as visitors and school children were excitedly filling the zoo car park.
Peter took me behind the scenes of the zoo to where he and the 13 other keepers, including three trainees, prepare the morning snacks for birds to tigers.
After my health and safety induction we began loading up buckets of fruit and veg as well as bagging live and frozen mealworms.
The zoo uses £3,000 to £4,000 worth of fruit and veg in a week feeding the animals and have a driver who collects donations from supermarkets getting rid of the goods that are past their sell by date.
“We still have to be quick to use it but we get it all for free,” said Peter who has been at the zoo for 11 years.
Our first task was to head to the African Aviary where there are eight species of birds totalling around 80 hungry feathered friends.
Peter, 47, was a fount of knowledge and has been working in zoos since he was 17.
I picked some blueberries and grapes and hand fed them to one of the most beautiful types of birds I had ever seen, I was in awe of all the amazing colours and sounds and felt privileged to be able to get so hands on.
“We can keep birds alive way beyond their natural span, birds in the wild if they live to be two or three is an achievement but some here are nine years-old,” said Peter.
“Some of the things that make life short are taken away here for them.”
Next door to the birds is Yogi the European brown bear who has been at the Welsh Mountain Zoo for 10 years and is a rescued circus bear.
On the Keeper for the Day scheme, you feed from a distance the more dangerous animals such as Yogi and the tigers.
We scatter fed Yogi by throwing grapes over his barriers, Peter said keepers will also go in when the bears are in another compartment and hide food, these methods help the animals to still think about hunting and not have everything handed to them on a plate (no pun intended).
Next we went to feed some newer animals to the zoo, the meerkats.
I was able to go right into the meerkats’ enclosure and sit down with them to scatter some mealworms for the lively family.
I was surprised at how cute and small these creatures were as I had never seen them before, apart from on the obvious TV advert.
Peter said he has really been enjoying getting to know them and loves their combination of being so bold but yet nervous at the same time.
“They are lovely little things.”
The meerkats gathered round me as I fed them and I suddenly felt like Snow White as they climbed on my legs and scurried around my feet.
My day continued to get as surreal and fascinating as I then went onto feed the sea lions.
Before throwing them fish I was taught some signals to show to them which they will respond to, like back flip, and then to reward them with their dinner.
The highlight of my Keeper for the Day session was getting up close with the tigers and penguins.
I have always loved watching big cat programmes but to be able to be a few feet away from Bryn, the Sumatran tiger, and feed him through the mesh fence was quite emotional.
I could have stared at Bryn and his female companion, Zeta, all day and watch them prowl around their territory but a zoo keeper’s work is never done and we had to get on to feed the penguins!
After the penguin parade we followed them back into their enclosure and I was given a bucket of fish to hand out to the small Humboldt penguins.
I was slightly nervous of them at first and their snappy beaks but they all waited patiently for a fish to be dangled over them and once they are full they waddled off.
It was strange to see the penguins waddling over grass but Peter informed me there are 19 species of penguin and only four need ice and water.
The keeper for the day was one of the best experiences I have ever had and is a must for animal lovers.
The Welsh Mountain team only take on one person at a time for the day, so participants are given a personal and one-on-one experience.
“The oldest we have had come on the day is 82 and the youngest was 16,” added Peter.
“We can really cater for everyone’s needs and so if someone is really into big cats we can spend longer with the tigers and fit the itinerary around them.”
For more information contact the zoo on 01492 532938 or visit www.welshmountainzoo.org