Working at Birdland is an amazing experience, take it from Alistair Keen who has worked there for 19 years and took up the role of head-keeper in 2009. After sharing his experiences during a zoom interview, which he did whilst sat in the penguin enclosure, it became clear that there is more to his job than you may know.
1) COVID 19 hasn’t ruined their days
Although COVID 19 has had an impact on many peoples lives at work, those working as keepers at Birdland haven’t been affected in their day to day work life too much. If anything, it’s been a benefit for them. Since they don’t have to accommodate to hundreds of visitors turning up daily, they have all day to do jobs which usually they may have needed to rush through or delay so visitors weren’t disturbed. Not only this, but they get the benefit of finishing half an hour early at 4.
2) Once in a lifetime opportunities arise
One thing can be said for certain: working with almost 400 animals on site makes each day interesting, but it also means that opportunities that others only dream of arise. Alistair himself had the opportunity to hand-rear two of the penguins, Spike and Charlotte, and even taught Charlotte how to swim. Although he did end up developing asthma from the conditions of the water, Alistair was just amazed to have that opportunity. “It was worth it and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, showing just how much he loves his job.
3) All penguins have character, but not all penguins are cute
Although most penguins are lovely, and they come across and cute and cuddly, some are not as adoring. They all have character, and, like people, they all have their own personalities. Spike likes to be the centre of attention with his high levels of confidence, having the luck to meet Sir David Attenborough himself. Seth is also a celebrity penguin having starred in Batman Returns and being Europe’s oldest male kings penguin. Alistair described his walk to have “swagger as if he knows he’s a film star.” But not all of them are that sweet: Olly is anti-social and cold. He growls as warning to those who approach him before hitting them with his wing, which he did to Alistair and fractured his wrist.
4) They work for the conservation of the animals
Birdland’s main aim is to protect the species of animals they look after, having many natural endangered species on site. They are part of multiple breeding programmes and are part of an international network to help pair up single birds and can prevent pairs from the same bloodline. In fact, this year was the first year the flamingos raised their own chicks and first time they bred in 10 years, one of which was a flamingo that Alistair had hand reared himself 11 years ago. They also keep high awareness of bird-flu to prevent it being brought onsite and being a danger to their birds, putting multiple safety precautions in place, such as foot baths.
5) Finally, the world is your office
“When you have this as your office, why would you want anything else?” is what Alistair said over zoom whilst sat in the penguin enclosure. Despite the cold and smelly conditions, the stroppy penguins, and the negatives, it’s worth it overall for the experiences the keepers have. Nothing could ever compare.
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