In the cool first light of morning, Klay Cameron is one of the first zookeepers to arrive at the Taronga Institute of Science and Learning.
She checks the board for today’s schedule to confirm which animals she’s working with and then gets to work.
Today, it’s one of her favourites-reptiles!
“We have the most diverse mix of animals in the entire zoo. So as keepers in the Institute, we have to know how to work with a big range of species,” explains Klay.
First up…breakfast. Not for Klay, but for the hungry mouths in the terrariums next door. She methodically prepares each dish with fresh food according to the specific instructions provided by the Zoo’s in-house nutritionist. It’s a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, egg, and supplements for the lizards and hand-fed live crickets for the frogs.
Feeding each animal is part of the husbandry that the keepers are responsible for. This also includes cleaning out each area, replacing the organic matter that’s used to mimic the natural habitat, and carefully checking the health of each animal. They are all an important part of the Institute’s education programs, so they are given the utmost care and attention.
It’s a normal weekday at the Zoo, but as any keeper will tell you, ‘normal’ does not mean slow or predictable. When you’re looking after some of the Zoo’s 4000+ animals, no two days are the same.
“I love the job because it is multi-faceted,” says Klay.
“I enjoy spending time with animals. I like being active on my feet and I really love the educational component at the Institute. I get a lot of satisfaction out of being able to share the animals with different groups, changing their perceptions of them, and sharing conservation stories.”
Klay hasn’t always been a Zookeeper. Her previous career as a live captioner for the hearing impaired was office-based and didn’t provide the job satisfaction she craved. She always had an interest in animal conservation and volunteered with groups like WIRES, so she decided to pursue her passion further.
In addition to being a public zoo and a scientific conservation hub, Taronga also offers training and education courses. Klay’s journey began with Certificates II and III in Animal Care and she became a full-time Zookeeper five years ago.
The Taronga Institute is a relatively new addition to the Zoo and was officially opened in 2018 by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It is leading the way in conservation, animal healthcare, and nutrition and at its core is education.
Instead of being a zoo that does conservation work on the side, Taronga has switched its focus to one that is conservation-centered, informing the next generation about our delicate and diverse natural world is the first step.
Within the Institute are the immersive habitat rooms that have to be prepared for the student visitors. There is the Rainforest Classroom, which is home to agile primates and birds; the Dessert Classroom which is a cacophony of chattering finches and the Woodlands Classroom where students can see lizards and macropods.
The idea is to bring the students into the animals’ habitat to observe their natural behaviour, rather than the other way round.
“Each species is so different, so I am humbled by what there is to learn about them,” says Klay.
“I like to think that what we do here is positive and helps some of these species survive. I hope that generations coming through develop a connection with the natural world and that it sparks some interest and awareness of the world around them. There is so much to look at and so much to protect.”
